Steve, I know that you've really been banging the drum on this, "Israel controls American politics" thing for a while - but are you serious about this? Or was this a bit of dark humor?

I'm not Steve, but I've been aware for a long time that the pro-Israel lobby(ies) have more influence than their size might suggest. The US has been a staunch defender of Israel, even when the entire UN wanted to condemn some action. Even when they bombed one of our ships. The Irish grad students in our collaboration were curious about that, and I didn't really have a good answer for them. My guess is that Jewish persons are very successful, and have money, and apply that money to pro-Israel causes and candidates. Even though less than 3% of the population is Jewish, their money talks.

Certainly, Israel is a way of asserting influence in the region (for better or worse, since Israel p-o's all their neighbors). And previously, Israel could shoot at Saddam or Iran or whomever without any US involvement. But I still think support is disproportionate -at times- to the advantages.

Just my impression of the situation. I haven't done a deep dive on it.