Muscatine

The sinking of the USS Liberty is one of the reasons why I question why Israel is called "our ally".

Look up the MS St. Louis, 1939 and then wonder why Israel doesn't totally trust us, nor anyone.

No replies? I didn't really expect any, I guess.

One of many tragedies leading up to WWII and including WWII.
Lots of people to blame.   I would feel our efforts in wresting Germany and much of Europe from Hitler and his collaborators would offset this incident by now in the eyes of current Israelis.

Now, what have the Israelis done for us lately?

In terms of inventions Israelis have given the world the Uzi, the mobile phone (partly), camera chips for phones, SMS messaging and the first anti-virus software; Israel has the highest percentage of home computers per capita and the third most educated workforce on earth, with 12 per cent holding advanced degrees. The country also has more engineers and scientists per capita than any other country around the world, and has more companies quoted on the high-tech NASDAQ stock exchange than any other country outside the United States, more than all of Europe, India, and China combined.

Israelis are also at the forefront of medical research into heart transplants, strokes and Hepatitis C. Incredibly, some Israelis are even at work on a space mission, which could make that tiny state of seven million people the third country to land a probe on the Moon. Jews on the Moon? Conspiracy theorists won’t know where to start.

In the last ten years Israeli scientists have won five Noble prizes in the sciences, a tally bettered by only four other nations, while per capita Israel produces more economists than any other country.

Israel also publishes a huge number of Scientific and Technical Journal Articles, some 16,470 in 2005, more than the entire Arab world and Iran combined. And the Jewish state produces an astonishing number of inventors. Last year in the United States Israelis registered 1917 patents, just below Italy (58 million people) and the Netherlands (15 million) and way ahead of its neighbours Saudi Arabia (58) Turkey (45) Egypt (20) Kuwait (14) UAE (9) Iran (8) Lebanon (5) Jordan (1) and Syria (0). Israel itself grants 2500 patents a year, putting it in the top 20 of all countries and again more than all its neighbours combined. Israel is number one in the world for medical device patents per capita and number four for biotechnology patents per capita. And its biotechnology exports are now worth $6 billion a year.

Israel as the only democratic country in the Middle East, and the most effective ally in the entire world to halt the expansion of radical Islam.

Israel is America's only, reliable ally in the Middle East, and is the only nation there that publicly declares is support for America.

Do you remember a few months back when we were able to intercept a falling satellite and blow it out of the sky -- proving the validity of a missle defense system?

Guess who developed the technology to do that: Israel. Israel had worked jointly with the US in developing the Arrow anti-missle system as well as the Boost Phase Intercept program and the Tactical High Energy Laser program, in which a high-energy laser beam mounted on an airplane can be used to knock out incoming missles.

Oh, and do you know about our "Secure Border Initiative?" This is the latest attempt by our government to use technology to secure its borders, stop smuggling, and prevent illegal immigration. The project was thrown open to bidders around the world. What was unique about this grant proposal was that Homeland Security gave the bidders total freedom to create new ideas of how to apply both new and old technology to secure the US borders.

Guess who won the rights to build it? Who knows more about protecting its borders against terrorist attacks?

Kollsman Inc., an American subsidiary of Elbit, an Israeli company. Elbit was selected because of its ability to bring together global resources with decades of technological experience and capabilities securing borders in extreme cold, mountainous regions, as well as hot, desert terrains

There are hundreds of other technological modifications and improvements in weapons systems that Israel has supplied to American armed forces, including those operating in Iraq.

What do our other, alleged allies in the Middle East offer us?