Reply #57: How does Israel help secure the oil supply?

[JackNewtown]

Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and Lebanon have no oil. Israel is next to Saudi Arabia but it seems unlikely that Israel would ever attack SA

I have seen the idea that the US backs Israel to protect its oil interests stated several times but I don't buy it. When the US could have used Israel during the two Iraq wars it couldn't call on Israel's help because it would be a liability. Also, in Saudi Arabia the US had to station its own troops and not a single Israeli troop to protect SA's oil. I think if oil were the driving factor the US would have pressed Israel to withdraw to the 67' borders and for peace all along, not just from 1991-2001, since the lack of peace is what makes Israel's military useless for US purposes in the region. If there was peace and normal relations between Israel and its neighbors Israel could have helped significantly in both Gulf Wars.

Israel is powerful by ME standards (for context, Lebanon's defense budget is barely half a billion dollars) but it is still a regional power. It can't project its power to any significant degree to nations such as Iraq, Iran, and the small oil-rich Gulf states. If we were looking for a perfect military partner to help secure the oil we would have chosen Iraq, given its strategic location bordering the likes of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Kuwait, and Turkey. That is probably a factor in PNAC's decision to invade Iraq but that came after decades of hostile relations with Iraq. Even during the 80's the US was not truly allied with Iraq.

The US cared a lot about ME oil before the 70's IMO, look at the coups in Iran, Iraq, and the close ties to the House of Saud.

I do believe, though, that Israel was very useful in the ME during the Cold War since it was a strong US ally in a region with several Soviet client states.