Hi William,

Thanks for your response.

Whilst the idea of having the Jews as a democratic outpost, first proposed of course by Herzl, was a common colonial refrain in the early days, and perhaps until 1967, this may have been true, but the idea has since lost all its traction to most Western analysts and academics because it's long been accepted that Israel is an encumbrance, not an asset, to the West, and the U.S. in particular, in maintaining and furthering relations with much of the region. Read The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy by Mearsheimer and Walt for much more on this.

Have a good day.

Peter