Israel's military power hasn't improved its strategic position and friends of the Jewish state must point out its mistakes--beginning with Gaza - By Stephen M. Walt | Stephen M. Walt

Israel's military power hasn't improved its strategic position and friends of the Jewish state must point out its mistakes--beginning with Gaza - By Stephen M. Walt | Stephen M. Walt: "The moral of this story is that there is no reason to think that Israel always has well-conceived strategies for dealing with the problems that it faces. In fact, Israel's strategic judgment seems to have declined steadily since the 1970s -- beginning with the 1982 invasion of Lebanon -- perhaps because unconditional U.S. support has helped insulate Israel from some of the costs of its actions and made it easier for Israel to indulge strategic illusions and ideological pipe-dreams. Given this reality, there is no reason for Israel's friends -- both Jewish and gentile -- to remain silent when it decides to pursue a foolish policy. And given that our 'special relationship' with Israel means that the United States is invariably associated with Jerusalem's actions, Americans should not hesitate to raise their voices to criticize Israel when it is acting in ways that are not in the U.S. national interest."