Forget for a moment that I strongly support the U.S.-Israel relationship. Forget that I am Jewish and a Zionist. Let’s examine Abdul El-Sayed’s interview with ABC’s Linsey Davis strictly as Americans, through the lens of U.S. foreign policy and national security, issues that play a MAJOR role in the United States Senate. There is so much wrong with his argument. Israel is one of America’s most important strategic allies. Period. It is a critical bulwark against Iranian-backed terrorism, violent Islamic fundamentalism and forces seeking to destabilize the Middle East. The intelligence sharing, military cooperation and counterterrorism partnership between our countries is second to none and have helped protect American lives and interests. El-Sayed portrays Israel as a country that takes our money and drags Americans into wars. That is an extraordinary oversimplification of American foreign policy and simply not true and dangerous to American lives. Dozens of countries receive American foreign assistance. We have deployed troops, spent billions and billions of dollars and sadly lost thousands of American lives defending other nations and protecting shared strategic interests. We currently protect South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Japan. We stand strong on the front lines of Central and Western Europe. We are throughout the Middle East. Kuwait has directly requested American military intervention. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have urged Washington to confront Iran militarily. And the list goes on and on…. Israel has advocated American military action and so have many other countries, but it is American presidents who decide whether to send Americans to war. Blaming Israel for those decisions erases American responsibility and our duty as the world’s super power to stand with our allies. And there is something deeply troubling about repeatedly portraying the Jewish state as taking American money while making Americans fight wars and subsequently put their lives in perilous danger. Such accusations risk reinforcing antisemitic narratives about Jewish influence and control and it threatens our community. Israel is not simply a recipient of American generosity. It is a strategic partner that provides extremely important intelligence, military technology, regional deterrence and counterterrorism cooperation that benefit the United States and its people. The U.S.-Israel relationship is not charity. It is a partnership built around substantial shared security interests. Anyone seeking to serve in the United States Senate should be prepared to explain both the costs and benefits of that relationship, and distinguish legitimate disagreements over policy from sweeping accusations against one of America’s most important friends and ally.