the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jan 5, 2026
On December 29, Trump welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his palace at Mar-a-Lago. Trump heaped praise both on Netanyahu and the successes of the Israeli state, with no mention of any possible points of contention, like the spread of Israeli settlers into Palestinian lands in the West Bank.
The picture of luxury for these two men could not contrast more with the ongoing horror in Gaza. Israel keeps expanding the area of the territory forbidden to the Palestinians, enforcing these restrictions with regular shootings despite the supposed “cease fire.” Food and medicine are still almost impossible to come by and Gaza has been beset by floods, making it even harder to survive in ruins—eighteen Palestinians died in mid-December from the extreme weather.
But the U.S. and Israeli states have too many interests in common for the plight of these millions of people to mar their holiday friendship fest.
For 25 years, the U.S. military has been fighting in the Middle East to reinforce U.S. corporations’ domination of the region and its resources. These wars have destroyed almost all the states that in the past took any kind of stance against U.S. imperialism. But for at least 15 of those years, the U.S. has been trying to extricate its forces, to focus on other parts of the world.
Now, the Trump administration calculates that the U.S. might be able to do so, in large measure because it can count on its loyal policeman, Israel. Over the past two years, Israeli military campaigns have weakened the two countries’ main remaining common enemy, Iran. And the Israeli military has been able to massacre the Palestinian population without it causing serious problems for U.S. relations with its Arab client states.
The U.S. National Security Strategy released in November even crowed that: “…the days in which the Middle East dominated American foreign policy in both long-term planning and day-to-day execution are thankfully over—not because the Middle East no longer matters, but because it is no longer the constant irritant, and potential source of imminent catastrophe, that it once was. It is rather emerging as a place of partnership, friendship, and investment—a trend that should be welcomed and encouraged.”
A more cynical statement could hardly be imagined against the enormous human catastrophes the U.S. and Israel have unleashed on the Palestinian, Iraqi, Syrian, Afghan, Yemeni, Libyan, Lebanese, and Iranian people over the last two decades. But in the end, the Trump administration looking for business opportunities in the “peace of the graveyard” is just a more open expression of what U.S imperialism has long meant for the people of this region.