Daniel Ayalon on U.S.-Israeli security interests
I took Foreign Affairs up on the opportunity to present a question to Daniel Ayalon, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister.
Here it is:
ROSE: Talking about being good friends and allies, hereâ??s a question from Greg from Real Clear Politics: â??Many supporters of Israel in the United States argue,â? he writes, â??that the partnership not only enhances Israeli security but American security as well. Do you believe this to be the case? And if so, can you highlight some examples?â?AYALON: Well, absolutely. Well, first of all, on the most obvious, I would say, the most obvious facts now are the fact that we cooperate so well on the war on terrorism in terms of methods of operations, in terms of intelligence, in terms of equipment. I think itâ??s very important strategically. We are looking for the same results all over the globe, not just in the Middle East.
The fact that Israel is the -- you know, Iâ??m taking just a total different field now -- economically, you know, Israel is the largest trading partner of the United States in the Middle East. We buy; Israel buys more American products and services than any country around us.
So the ties that bind us together are myriad and many. I also believe -- and I think this is very important -- the fact that we have been attacked for so long is more because what we represent than anything else, and we represent in the area American ideals. We represent American civilization or the Western civilizations. And we are together; in many ways, we are in the trenches, really fighting and defending the values, the way of life that we all cherish.
You can read the entire exchange here.
