Israel’s Value to U.S.: The Religious Dimension

An alternative to secularism.

Trump and Netanyahu at the White House, September 29, 2025.

Surveys showing some erosion of support for Israel, particularly among younger Americans, have fueled a boomlet of recent efforts to identify the benefits to the United States of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

In an interview with Elliot Kaufman of the Wall Street Journal, Israel’s ambassador to America, Yechiel Leiter, made a case for Israel based on geostrategy and military technology. Israel can be the leading force in the Middle East while the U.S focuses on China, and it can work with the U.S. on developing and producing missile defense that protects both Israel and the U.S. (In the same interview, Leiter tells Kaufman about Vice President Vance, “where it matters, I’ve only seen good and positive stuff. JD believes in America first, and I think he believes that part of America first is having a strong ally like Israel.”)

William McGurn followed up with a Wall Street Journal column praising Israel for offering an example of population growth fueling prosperity. “The Israelis have solved the problem of below-replacement fertility rates. In the Middle East and the wider world, Israel stands out for its healthy birthrate,” McGurn wrote.

The Hudson Institute’s Michael Doran published a column (“Tucker Carlson Claims Israel Is a Burden on the US. It Reveals Profound Strategic Ignorance”) offering some concrete examples of the benefits of U.S. security cooperation with Israel, describing it as “one of the engines of the American military’s strategic advantage in the 21st century.” He wrote about Israel’s use and modifications of the F-35 aircraft, of the Trophy system protecting tanks and armored personnel carriers, of the Lightening navigation pod, of a laser-based air-defense system, of an emergency bandage used by combat medics.

These are all worthy points, and I am glad they are being made. Yet on Christmas Eve and as Prime Minister Netanyahu prepares for another in-person meeting with President Trump, there is something to be said about Israel not only as a military, economic, and technological power, but as a society grounded in religious and spiritual and cultural identity.