The United States of Freier-dom
The United States of Freier-dom
Sorry Americans, our "greatest ally" just isn't all that into us
DANIEL D
Why are we Americans such schlemiels, suckers, and simps for Israel? As the (apparently) Mossad honeypot operation known as Jefrey Epstein showed, our oligarchs and politicians are getting some play out of the deal, at least. But what’s in it for the rest of us?
Before we consider this question further, a couple of quick caveats are in order. First, anti-Zionism does not equal antisemitism: not all Jews are Zionists, and not all Zionists are Jews. In America, MOST Zionists are NOT Jews, but are instead the kind of evangelical Christians whom Israelis like to spit on. Second, ditching Israel as a “greatest ally” doesn’t mean we have to go and immediately run into the arms of the pro-Palestinian camp. In spite of the popular saying that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” if you’re an American, then the folks who loudly chant “death to America” are probably not your friend either. Sometimes, when the Hatfields are warring against the McCoys, the best thing for third parties to do is to not get involved. Our first (and likely our only truly great) President, George Washington, had something to say about this in his farewell address:
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government . . . Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests. — George Washington (1796)
It’s a good thing Washington didn’t live to see the neo-con-artist cabal hijack America’s foreign policy as ruthlessly and efficiently as a gang of Saudi terrorists (who had absolutely no link to the “dancing Israelis”) hijacking an airplane on 9/11.
So let’s consider America’s “special” (in the sense of “special Olympics” and “special needs”) relationship with Israel. From America, Israel gets money, weapons, protection, and unfettered access to all our elected officials. It’s obvious why Israel wishes to remain our “greatest ally.” But what exactly does America get out of this relationship? Forever wars? Enemies around the world? The complete corruption of “our democracy?” Restrictions on our First Amendment rights?
But whereunto shall I liken this greatest alliance of ours? It is like a childish gamma male, sitting at home alone, thinking of his crush who has totally friend-zoned him, and saying to himself, “I have sung for her, and we have not danced. I have written lovesick poems for her, and she has not been touched by my sorrow.”
Imagine a Total Schlump
Imagine that you are a counselor and that a young man, named Sammy, has asked you for advice about his “greatest friendship” with a young woman named Izzy. Apparently, Sammy’s brother told him that Izzy is taking advantage of him; Izzy found out, and she gave Sammy an ultimatum: either he cuts off all contact with his brother, or she will ruin his life. Sammy is afraid that she will make good on her threat. Somehow, he also thinks that she will someday fall in love with him. But he also feels guilty about ruining his relationships with his own family.
Hearing all this, you think to yourself, with a greatest friendship like this, who needs enemies?! Is this a friendship, or a freiership? (More on this interesting word “freier” later …)
Sammy takes a picture of his “best friend” out of his wallet and shows it to you.
As Sammy continues sharing his story, you learn even more astonishing facts about this bizarre and totally one-sided friendship he has with Izzy:
Sammy and Izzy are “Platonic friends” — he wanted to be her boyfriend, but she told him that she had just gotten out of an abusive relationship with a “guy who turned out to be a literal fascist,” and she didn’t think she could deal with the pressure of being somebody’s girlfriend yet, because she was still overcoming the trauma that her fascist ex-boyfriend had inflicted on her;
Sammy inherited a large trust fund which pays him a generous stipend each month, but he lives like a pauper, because Izzy is always asking him for money, and he cannot tell her “no” (Izzy, meanwhile, lives lavishly);
When Sammy started having difficulty paying his bills because of all the money he has given to Izzy, she insisted that he hire her as his personal accountant and add her name to all his accounts, and he complied;
Izzy also pressured Sammy to give her access to his trust fund, but (fortunately for Sammy), the provisions of the trust do not allow it;
Sammy got badly injured in a brutal fight he had a few weeks ago with one of Izzy’s ex-boyfriends, whom Sammy fought because the tires on his car had gotten slashed and Izzy told him that her ex-boyfriend had obviously done it to punish Sammy for being friends with her (“He hates us for our friendship, Sammy!” she had told him), but later, Izzy’s cousin told Sammy that it was actually Izzy who had slashed his tires, but that she had blamed it on her ex-boyfriend because she wanted to see Sammy fight him for her;
Whenever Sammy questions the nature of their friendship and whether Izzy might be taking advantage of him, she starts crying hysterically and accuses him of acting just like her fascist ex-boyfriend, and she says that this is traumatizing her all over again; and
On the rare occasions that her guilt-trips fail to get Sammy to do what she wants, she secures his compliance by coldly reminding him that she has a “Samson option” up her sleeve.
What is this “Samson option?” you ask. Sammy says he’s not sure, but Izzy has told him that she has family members in organized crime, and that all she has to do is give them the word and they will completely destroy his life.
Wow, doesn’t Sammy sound pathetic and foolish? Doesn’t he sound like a total schlump, to let someone take advantage of him like that while continuing to believe that they are, not just friends, but best friends? What’s wrong with him, that he continues to trust her after she’s drained his bank accounts? What a schlemiel he is, getting into vicious fights with other guys on her behalf! Why does he fall for her crude mind-games? Why would he let her manipulate him and turn him against his own family? What a schmuck!
Here’s another photo of Izzy, Sammy’s purported best friend and greatest ally:
And here’s a picture of Izzy in her IDF uniform, still not thinking about Sammy except when she wants him to buy something for her, or fight some Arabs on her behalf:
Keep Sammy in the back of your mind as I share with you excerpts from a 1997 LA Times article about how Israelis use the word “פראייר” or “freier,” which means “sucker.” Our greatest ally, Israel! Boy, they sure got some interesting words, don’t they?! “Freier.” Hey, did you know that Israelis see America, and Americans, as the biggest freiers of all? (With allies like this ...)
Don’t Be a Freier (Like those Stupid Americans)!
Here are some interesting quotes from It's a Sin to Be a Sucker in Israel, a 1997 Los Angeles Times article1:
Freiers are naive, apt to fall into a trap. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu beat the Labor Party’s Shimon Peres in elections last year in large part because of Peres’ nice-guy image and view that Israel must be generous from its position of strength, giving up land now to gain long-term peace.
“He was misperceived as someone who would make us freiers,” lamented former aide Uri Dromi, “even though he never made concessions or compromises on something important to us.”
Wow, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Back in 1997! Good ol’ Bibi! Some things never change, do they. Good thing he won’t make Israel “freiers.” I wonder what Bibi does for his greatest allies, the Americans.
In negotiations, an American generally will put his cards on the table, expect the other side to do the same and assume that a happy compromise lives somewhere in the middle. But Israelis and Palestinians do not bargain in this way . . .
Lucy Shahar, co-author of the book “Border Crossings: American Interactions With Israelis,” explained that, in the case of Israelis, this is because they do not share the American belief in win-win negotiations. “In his heart of hearts, an Israeli believes that is impossible,” Shahar said. “In the Middle East, usually someone loses badly. Nothing in the Israeli experience suggests that everyone wins here or in the diaspora.”
Hmmm. This sounds like an important asymmetry between Americans and their “greatest ally.” America has traditionally been a high-trust society (although that level of trust has been plummeting lately). Israelis see this as a sign of weakness, and in the zero-sum game of international politics, weaknesses get exploited.
In Maariv’s weekly column, “Who Is an Israeli?” readers define themselves as the anti-freier:
* “An Israeli is someone who lets you back out of a parking spot only if he needs it himself.”
* “An Israeli is someone who pretends to be asleep when an old man gets on the bus.”
* “An Israeli is pro-peace--as long as it is not made with enemies.”
Wow, it’s a good thing we’re friends, rather than enemies, with the Israelis. Since we’re friends, the Israelis should be peaceful towards us, right?
Americans as the Biggest Freiers of All
Americans often find the Israeli attitude intolerably rude. Israelis, meanwhile, find Americans to be the biggest freiers of all. They are naive idealists. Whether tourists or Jewish immigrants, they are seen as easy marks.
Author Shahar, a dual citizen of Israel and the United States, said Americans are perceived as innocents who follow the rules and who believe a person will actually do what he promises to do. “An American is willing to trust until someone proves to be untrustworthy,” Shahar said. “Israel is much more like the rest of the world, where the basic assumption is that people . . . should not be trusted until proven trustworthy.”
Israelis, she said, view rules as something to be challenged. If a sign says “no entrance,” Israelis will try the door anyway. If a doctor’s assistant says no appointments are available today, an Israeli will keep pushing in the belief that exceptions will be made. Only a freier takes no for an answer.
Israelis see this rule-bending as an advantage, particularly in times of war, when flexibility and improvisation can be a key to victory.
Americans see used-car dealers as villains and sympathize with the consumer who has been had. But buy a lemon in Israel, and you are at fault. “You were naive and stupid enough to buy the car,” Shahar said. “You were the freier.”
Wow. Americans are “naive and stupid enough to buy” what the Israelis have been selling. We’ve been their freiers. (Just like our hypothetical young man Sammy, in the example above, with his supposedly best friend Izzy.)
Israelis are even too wily and sophisticated for their fellow Jews sometimes! Here’s an interesting observation from a 2017 Jerusalem Post article2:
This may constitute a cause for dismay for American Jews who come to Israel and find that Israeli Jews live by a completely different dictum: “don’t be a freier,” or a sucker in Yiddish. The main feature of a freier is proneness to exploitation, and it is something of which Israelis are perpetually afraid. In Israel, you should not be nice, compassionate, generous or even scrupulous since these traits will leave you open to exploitation. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said to a group of students in 1998, “We are not freiers, we do not give without receiving.”
Israelis reserve praise for those hard, clever people who can use, manipulate and exploit to get what they want; those who are used, manipulated and exploited are the freiers (and often mensches).
Wow. Israel really sounds like a psychopathic nation. They celebrate people who coldly “use, manipulate and exploit to get what they want.” They despise the freiers who allow themselves to be “used, manipulated and exploited.” And they consider Americans the biggest freiers of all. Let that sink in.
What Kind of Influence Does Israel Have on America?
If that’s how Israelis see America and Americans, I wonder what Israel’s influence on American politics and culture has been? Given the contempt they have for us, as well as their psychopathic morality, it’s unlikely that Israel’s influence has been beneficial to us. Let’s check in with
and see what he’s found out:Well, that certainly sounds worrying. Sometimes it really seems that Israelis (and the Zelensky regime in Ukraine) have greater representation in America’s government than Americans do. I wonder why that is? Maybe Thomas Massie can give us some insights. Here’s the interview he did with Tucker Carlson (sadly, Rumble videos don’t embed on Substack):
Wow! Our elected officials each have an “AIPAC guy” who tells them how to vote. That seems like it’s an attack on U.S. liberty! And speaking of Israeli attacks on U.S. liberty,
has compiled some information about Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty in 1967:
My oh my! Israel flagrantly attacked an American vessel — which they knew was an American vessel — in order to get us to blame Egypt and bomb some Arabs for them. And then the Israel-friendly psychopath, LBJ (who became President after JFK, who was in the process of forcing AIPAC to register as a foreign lobby, was assassinated) helped Israel sweep their cold-blooded attack on the USS Liberty under the rug.
Why are we Americans such simps for a foreign country that hates us, lies to us, attacks us, despises us, and constantly works to subvert our government, our freedoms, and our way of life?
I get why our politicians and oligarchs are so into Israel: they get scandalous perks, like free trips aboard the Lolita Express to Epstein’s pleasure island, where they could frolic freely with nubile young women. They get millions of AIPAC dollars dumped into their laps. But what, exactly, do the rest of us get? For us regular Americans, our relationship with Israel seems an awful lot like that one-sided relationship between our hypothetical simp Sammy and his “best friend” Izzy.
Anyway, it sure is awesome that all of the top three Presidential candidates in the upcoming election are solidly pro-Israel, although it sure would be nice to get one who is solidly pro-America. Or at least pro-America enough to break up with our so-called greatest ally, so that we can finally stop being Israel’s freiers.
It's a Sin to Be a Sucker in Israel, Los Angeles Times (July 25, 1997): https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-jul-25-mn-16208-story.html
Israeli identity and the anti-‘freier,’ The Jerusalem Post (September 12, 2017): https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Israeli-identity-and-the-anti-freier-504928
Source: A Ghost In The Machine
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