What you get is a sustainable and strong ally in the most unstable portion of the globe. It is,also, the only democratic state in the region which grants us a certain affinity with them as two democratic states have ever warred against one another. Basically, what you get is a base of operations in a region that is the greatest source of American foreign fears, a strong ally in Middle East negotiations, a sustained democratic state in VERY nondemocratic region, & loyalty that comes with long term relations. The latter is especially important in a time when America is viewed as a vigilante who strikes at will when, and where, it pleases. Helping Israel lets the foreign community at large know that America remembers who its allies are and doesn't hop ship when things get rough.
Disclaimer: This is the official story on what a strong relationship with Israel gets the American public and only gets my partial endorsement. I don't think we should hang our good friends in Israel out to dry, but I do think their Palestinian issues have gotten way out of hand and their policies are simply wrong and need to be corrected. Conversely, we aren't going to get them to change their ways by disserting them now. Friends can change your opinion, but an enemy never will.
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"The courts that first rode the warhorse of virtual representation into battle on the res judicata front invested their steed with near-magical properties." ~27 F.3d 751
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