In a passionate speech before congress in 1986, a young Joe Biden made a surprisingly frank admission. Not only was Israel vital to America’s interests, but if “Israel did not exist, the United States would have to invent an Israel.” Soon after October 7, Biden repeated this statement while receiving Israeli president Isaac Herzog at the White House.

One way of interpreting Biden’s comments is as a confirmation of Israel’s military utility to the United States. As an outpost of Western power within the Middle East, Israel has prevented the formation of a strong and independent Arab bloc and ensured, alongside the Gulf’s monarchies, that fossil fuels flow in an orderly and predictable manner. This service makes the country essential to America’s extraction of value from the periphery and undergirds Washington’s unflinching support for Tel Aviv.

But geostrategic considerations are not all that binds the United States and Israel. Domestic lobbying of the kind John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt described in their book on the subject certainly plays a part. But as well as advancing America’s imperial interest, Israel also has deep economic ties to the United States. These ties help explain why when it comes to Israel’s security, there is “no daylight” between Washington and Tel Aviv, and why so many American firms are complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.