Israel isn’t a vassal state of the U.S., JD Vance said. But when it comes to the ceasefire in Gaza and annexing the West Bank, Israeli decision-making is deeply intertwined with Washington’s current priorities.

Donald Trump’s first administration proposed what it called the “Deal of the Century” which would have redrawn Israel’s borders to include major swaths of the West Bank. As Trump reenters office there are fears the annexation plan is back.

Nine of Biden’s top 25 donors are staunch supporters of Israel. While a clutch of billionaires is working behind the scenes to “help win the war” of public opinion for Israel, the Washington Post reports.

It’s O.K. in the Democratic Party to critique white supremacy in the U.S. but dare to bring up Jewish supremacy in Israel and cite apartheid reports and you will get railroaded as a supposed antisemite. Aided by megadonor Haim Saban, the Israel lobby group AIPAC has raised nearly $16 million in three months to take on Democratic candidates who might “undermine” the relationship with Israel.

It’s clear that the Biden administration isn’t going to roll back a lot of Trump era policies in Israel/Palestine.

“$600 for you, $500,000,000 to Israel.” When the COVID-19 relief bill in the Congress began circulating many commentators, including in the mainstream, have jumped on the fact that the massive legislation is bundled alongside other appropriations that include $500 million in military aid to Israel.

Mike Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about US foreign policymaking, when Russia and Israel sought to interfere. Press accounts of his pardon only mention the Russian interference. Though Israel has had far more influence over US policymaking.

The deals with the UAE and Bahrain show Israel’s economic power and favor in Washington–and expose its persecution of Palestinians in the name of “the one and only Jewish state,” as Netanyahu describes his country.

Guccifer 2.0, the Russian account said to have hacked Democratic emails in 2016, was registered with an Israeli phone number, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reported last month, just one of many instances that Israelis appeared to help Russia interfere in U.S. election. But the new cold war is with Russia, so US media ignore the Israeli connection.

The UAE deal with Israel under which it gets F-35s from the US may set off bids from other Arab countries for U.S. favor. “Each one has their own pet project, what they would get for normalizing,” says Nimrod Novik. Morocco wants its occupation of Western Sahara accepted. Sudan wants off the U.S. terror list.