Why America Supports Israel | Richard Nixon on Nightline with Ted Koppel...

Why America Supports Israel | Richard Nixon on Nightline with Ted Koppel - January 7, 1992

https://youtu.be/S5evz3VAZaQ?si=3mMzycPGUA-Pa385

Richard Nixon Foundation

649,032 views  Nov 1, 2023  #israel #middleeast #history

Watch the full interview: https://nixnfdn.org/47J0BwC

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Transcript

uh you make the observation in your book

and you say that you have said it many

times when you were president of the

United States that no president has ever

going to Desert Israel right correct I

put it more bunly I said as I told

Congressional leaders during the 1973

Yan Kipper war no American president

will let Israel go down that Tom

democrat or republican it's not a nation

that is stated fairly categorically and

yet in your book you make it clear at

the same time that Israel really is not

of any enormous strategic value to the

United States anymore that's correct so

why then would the United States

continue to burden itself with huge

loans in some cases outright grants to

the Israelis jeopardize possibly uh

Young American fighting men uh when

there is no strategic value involved or

little strateg because the United States

is concerned by more than strategic

values uh that's maybe a weakness but

it's the way we are uh and there are

moral issues involved here we don't have

an alliance with Israel as you know

they're not a an ally of the United

States in a technical sense but we have

a bond to Israel that's much stronger

it's a moral commitment a moral

commitment because of what happened uh

during the Holocaust and a moral

commitment because it is a democracy the

only democracy in that area and under

the circumstances that is why American

presidents and the American people

people in the future will support all

out the survival of Israel if it's

attack you've always been a very tough

pragmatic man uh and I just wonder if

you were the president of Israel and you

heard Richard Nixon talking that way or

for that matter heard any sitting

American president talk that way and say

but there's really no strategic value

anymore how much Faith would you place

in that kind of a moral Commitment if

push really came to shot if I were the

president of Israel I put a great deal

of faith in it because of the track

record of the United States and also

because he would know that that is the

way the American people are there is no

doubt whatever of our commitment to

Israel