One of the most popular myths of our time is that Israel controls the United States. This can be seen among many circles, both on the right and the left. This erroneous notion is the result of several factors. I will address two of them here.
The first is the romanization of America itself. Most Americans do not see themselves as subjects of the most powerful empire on the planet. On the contrary, they like to see themselves citizens of a democracy. But this falls apart easily with a simple look at polling.
Most Americans do not want the US to give Israel billions of dollars in funds each year. Most oppose what Israel is doing to the Palestinians. Most would like that money spent domestically on things like healthcare or education. Yet, the vast majority of American political representatives on both sides of the aisle widely ignore these desires. Both ruling parties have pledged their support to the Empire and its assets. This is because American Imperialism is a bipartisan affair.
Another byproduct of this delusion is that so many Americans have been conditioned to ignore or absolve the copious crimes committed by its soldiers and military sector abroad on behalf of American and international businesses. The delusion that the United States operates from a place of benevolent power has been largely internalized by most Americans.
That the US has 800+ military bases around the world and that this is rarely questioned or even discussed by most American politicians or the mainstream media is telling. Somehow, this is justified as “protecting American interests.” Of course, those interests also happen to align with that of American capital and the investments of the international billionaire class.
When troops are deployed it is almost always depicted as a “reluctant, yet necessary” action to guard the US from would be enemies. The fact that these supposed “enemies” live in impoverished nations that happen to be rich with natural resources is barely a footnote in the national mainstream discourse.
The second has more to do with antisemitism and its pernicious influence on the American mindset. An old bigoted trope is the belief that Jews control the planet. That they have near supernatural powers in manipulating government officials and policy. The idea that a tiny nation-state in the Middle East controls the wealthiest and most powerful imperial force in the world is demonstrably ludicrous upon close inspection. But this idea has its roots in a centuries old bigotry.
This is not to say that Zionist lobbies like AIPAC or the ADL do not have significant sway over politicians. They do. But both of those organizations are American. And there are far more Christian Zionists in the US than Jewish Zionists.
These American evangelicals, who view Israel as essential to the fulfilment of their apocalyptic eschatological prophecies, have enormous sway over US policy. To focus solely on the influence of these organizations is to ignore how American Empire uses ethnic and religious differences to its own advantage. This is how it has operated since its inception.
There were no Israelis in North America when the Indigenous population was ethnically cleansed and nearly wiped out by genocide. There were no Israelis in North America when Black Africans were enslaved for over 400 years. There were no Israelis involved in the US conquest of the Kingdom of Hawaii, or the brutal occupation of the Philippines, or the nuking of civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Expansion, exploitation, racism, genocide, enslavement, destabilization of nations, toppling of democratically elected governments, assassinations, coups. All of them are as American as apple pie. They were encoded into the very DNA of the America project since day one. But an infantile sentimentalization of American history has managed to sponge this away from much of the American public’s consciousness.
One of the easiest ways to understand Israel is to see it as an American military base that protects its geopolitical and capital interests in the Middle-East. Almost all of its citizens must serve in the military, with some religious exemptions. What this has done is create a culture of militarism which thrives on paranoia, perpetual victimhood and the myth of supremacy.
It has also reinforced the impunity so many Israelis have enjoyed and think they are entitled to, even after proudly posting their crimes online. Israeli politicians and media have openly expressed their genocidal intentions and plans. For decades, Israelis have gotten away with their crimes thanks to the protection and support of the most powerful empire on the planet.
A big part of this has to do with the lie that the US cares about Jewish people or is fighting antisemitism. And Hollywood has played an enormous role in this storyline. It has consistently worked with US military and CIA operatives to push the myth of a “clash of civilizations.” Nakedly racist shows like Homeland and movies like Zero Dark Thirty use propaganda to normalize Islamophobia and American imperial violence in the Global South.
The nation that turned Jews away during the Holocaust has never cared about their welfare. They are a tool to advance its power on the world stage under the guise of a “noble, humanitarian cause.” But the lie is beginning to fall apart as more and more people see the Trump regime downplay real antisemitism, conflate Judaism with the political ideology of Zionism, and attack Jews who oppose Zionism and Israel’s murderous genocide.
Israel is the American Empire’s most important colonial asset. And this asset has maintained its relevance by supplying the Empire, as well as many other governments, its advanced security and surveillance technology. Technology that has been lab tested over many years on the Palestinians.
This is why Palestine is the most pressing moral question of our age. If the powerful get away with what they have done to Gaza, they will surely do it again anywhere and against anyone that stands in the way of their profit and control. A recent look at the bloodstained earth in Sudan is an example of this.
It should be abundantly clear that the horrendous genocide that Israel is carrying out against the Palestinians could not have happened were it not for American money, weapons and diplomatic cover. In fact, Israel, in its current form, would not exist were it not for American money, weapons and diplomatic cover.
This is the flex of American colonial power, upgraded for the age of late capitalism. But the monster that the US created is beginning to unravel under the weight of its own unhinged delusions, paranoia, racism and blatant brutality. The American led project that was meant to legitimize colonialism for the modern era is rapidly disintegrating. The public are simply not buying the lies as easily as they once did. And for that, we need to thank Israel itself. It has proven to be its own worst enemy.
So, while the apartheid state of Israel is indeed committing genocide, to look at this only through that narrow lens misses the big picture. American Empire, even though it is in steep decline, is the man behind the curtain. It, along with other Western aligned powers and the global wealthy elite class, are behind every bullet, every drone, every bomb.
Every destroyed hospital, bakery, school, apartment building, farm was destroyed by both Israel and its benefactor, the American Empire. Every family buried under the rubble of their home was torn apart by Israel and its colonial benefactor, the American Empire. Every child shot at, starved or blown up, was a victim of Israel and its colonial benefactor, the American Empire. In every sense, this is an all-American genocide.
Kenn Orfanos, November 2025
Kenn Orfanos 