Knesset hails US-Israel alliance, celebrates 250 years of US independence

The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, marked 250 years of American independence and the strength of the U.S.–Israel alliance at a special conference last week. The event was organized by the Knesset’s Israel–U.S. Caucus.

Speaking to The Media Line, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described the gathering as “a wonderful opportunity to once again celebrate the partnership between the US and Israel.” He added that it was fitting to regard Israel as “our most trusted and cherished partner in the world.”

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said that both the Jewish people and the broader free world continue to face the challenges of antisemitism and terrorism.

“Today, Israel, the Jewish people, and the entire free world, face the twin threats of terrorism and antisemitism,” Ohana stated. “Those who chant ‘death to America’ also chant ‘death to Israel’,” Ohana stressed.

He said the strength of the U.S.–Israel alliance has been reflected in the close working relationship between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“President Trump has met with Prime Minister Netanyahu seven times in 13 months, unprecedented by any measure,” Ohana said. He also praised Huckabee for defending the Jewish state publicly “with the courage and composure of Daniel in the lion’s den.”

The event took place just days before the U.S. and Israel launched a joint military offensive against the Iranian ayatollah regime and its military assets on Saturday.

Huckabee, who defines himself as Christian Zionist, argued that the importance of the alliance transcended economic and technological cooperation.

“Let’s put it in something more important, something even deeper,” Huckabee said, adding that the strong bond between the two nations were ultimately rooted in the “Judeo-Christian foundation.”

Critics of the U.S.–Israel alliance, including political commentator Tucker Carlson, have argued that U.S. military assistance to Israel places a financial burden on American taxpayers.

However, Israeli lawmaker Ohad Tal of Netanyahu’s Likud party said U.S. military support for Israel should be viewed as a mutually beneficial investment rather than traditional “aid.”

“The $3.8 billion that the US gives to Israel every year isn’t aid. It is America’s smartest and highest return investment,” Tal said. He quoted former US Secretary of State Alexander Haig who famously praised the Jewish state as “the largest American aircraft carrier in the world that cannot be sunk,” adding that Israel is “America’s most cost-effective aircraft carrier that does not need to be moved.”

Tal also warned that the alliance is under pressure due to growing ideologically driven hostility towards Israel, which is “constantly challenged in college campuses, in the streets of Western capitals, in the media, in think tanks, in civil society organizations, and even in parts of Washington.”

While stressing that much of the hostility toward Israel was driven by Islamist and far-left activists, he also warned that activists on the American right, namely, “Candace Owens, Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson, and others," have "joined the radical left and Islamists in their hatred for Jews.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar praised Trump, arguing that the U.S. president “has proven time and again that he deserves the title, the leader of the free world.” Israel’s top diplomat further argued that Trump had “made our region and the world a safer place.”