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A new, record-breaking agreement between the US and Israel has been signed in the last months of Obama's tenure as President. The agreement promises 38 billion USD worth of military aid to the state of Israel. This bill comes in the midst of increased tensions between the two countries, especially regarding the recent Iran nuclear agreement forged by the P5+1. Yet it should come as no surprise that tension between the US and Israel would interfere little with their common regional and global interests. Indeed, the US and Israel rely on each other, which is why the Obama Administration has agreed to respect Israel's right to colonize Palestine and help wage endless war in the region.

Israel's colonization of Palestine has significantly tarnished the image of the so-called "Jewish State." Since it was founded in 1948, Israel has denied Palestinians the right to self-determination under international law with little consequence from the UN or any other international body. This process has involved the continuous theft of Palestinian land and numerous wars that have led to the murder of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The US has been Israel's steady funding stream for its colonial project. Never has Israel been without billions worth of US military aid, every dollar of which has been necessary to maintain the regional power of the settler state.

Movements such as the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign as well as the heroic struggle of the Palestinian people have exposed Israeli atrocities for the world to see. While this has not led to material victories in the way of Palestinian self-determination, it has made the question of Israel and Palestine relevant to a broad audience. The Movement for Black Lives, for example, recently made Palestinian self-determination a point of struggle in its policy platform. However, when it comes to Israel's broader role as an imperialist state, the struggle becomes murkier. Few in the US and West have been able to connect the struggle for Palestinian liberation to the liberation of all peoples oppressed by imperialism.

This is important, as aid to Israel is not just meant for the repression of Palestinians, as critical as it is to the settler state. US aid to Israel is also directed toward the broader regional and global objectives of imperialism as a whole. The primary objective as of this moment is the destabilization of the Syrian government. Israel has played a critical role in this war, whether in the medical aid it has given to foreign fighters in the Golan Heights or the aerial war it has conducted against the Syrian army. The Israeli government has made it clear that it sees the governments of Syria and Iran as greater enemies than the terrorist forces operating in Syria.

On the eve of the new US-Israeli agreement, the Syrian media reported that the national army downed both an Israeli fighter jet and drone in Syrian airspace. The Israeli government and military have viciously denied the reports. However, this would not be the first time Israel has directly participated in military hostilities toward Syria. In August 2015, the Israeli air force conducted airstrikes in the Golan Heights region purportedly to thwart Palestine-affiliated “terrorists" in what remains Israel's illegally occupied territory. Later that year, Israeli airstrikes targeted an airport in Damascus.

The Israeli government’s primary goal in the war on Syria is the expansion of its colonial borders. In the Oded Yinon Plan and Clean Break documents, the settler regime clearly laid out its plans to create instability in sovereign secular countries such as Libya, Syria, and Iraq. To do so, it promised support to any force and policy that promoted sectarian strife in target nations. The US, NATO, Turkey and the Gulf States have all collaborated in Syria to make Israel's dream a reality. These imperialist state actors have all played crucial a role in supporting the proxies that run amok in the region.

Often times, Israel's actions are framed as an evil, racist plot for domination. While this is not too far off, the imperialist system that ultimately created Israel and now dictates its policies does not operate on "good" or "evil" principles. Israel’s undeniable racism is the product of imperial interests. The notion of a "Jewish State" was always a proxy for making both the Israeli ruling class and its allies in Washington rich with profit and influence. This is why it is no coincidence that Israel and its allies intensified the war on Syria in 2011 following Assad's rejection of a pipeline deal that would have transported Qatari gas to the European market through Syria and Turkey.

However, in the worldview of Israel, any country or people that does not submit to Israeli policy are an immediate threat to its self-proclaimed status as the "only democracy in the Middle East." The so-called "Jewish state" claims superiority over all Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims just as the US and West claim superiority over its indigenous and Black communities. This superiority complex is the ideological basis from which it conducts all of its affairs. The ideology that underpins Israel ultimately has nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with colonial conquest and imperial plunder. By dehumanizing its subjects as terrorist threats or tyrants, Israel effectively legitimizes the policies of its apartheid regime regardless of the path of destruction it leaves behind.

Imperialism is on the march, and Israel is central to the continued existence and expansion of its interests. It is for this reason that Obama signed into law the largest military agreement with Israel to date. This agreement threatens the existence not just of the Palestinian people, but also of all people oppressed by the corporate masters that dictate US policy. With the US-led "coalition" now having bombed the Syrian army just days after Israel's most recent incursion in Syria, the US-Israel alliance has never appeared stronger. Russia has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the matter. It is time that anti-war forces hold an emergency meeting of their own to demand an immediate end to the US-Israeli alliance.