In the past week, we have mourned the loss of lives taken at the hands of Palestinian terrorists disguised as Jews — only to be followed by yet another occurrence of parallel shootings halfway across the world in Orlando, Florida, USA. Needless to say, the social justice war has flared up on Facebook and Twitter: The voice on the Left leaps to defend Islam and condemn lack of gun control, while those on the Right demand that radical Islam be acknowledged and dealt with accordingly.

While many of us can agree that both of these issues pose a threat, the motives behind this heinous act are not hard to imagine, especially provided the attacker’s allegiance to ISIS and the latter’s stance on homosexuality, the targets of the shooting.[1] Similarly, to pose an example of a non-radical terror group, but a theocracy that upholds strict Islamic doctrine nonetheless, former Iranian President Ahmadinejad refers to homosexuality as forbidden and ugly, its supporters evil capitalists and its adherents in need of systematic reform.[2]

This very dichotomy that has America’s Left and Right at arms and leaders like Obama afraid to directly address the issue of radical Islam. Such bipartisanship clarifies the reasons behind Israel’s growing concern that the growing American Left favors Islam while condemning Israeli policy as a Jewish State and (the very few instances of) radical Christianity that occur. As this recent event demonstrates, while radical Islam demonizes homosexuality, as arguably the only democracy in the Middle East on issues such as LGBT rights[3], Israel understandably wonders how a self-proclaimed democracy such as the US has leaders who demonstrates a sort of exceptionalism toward any crimes committed by Muslims in the name of religion.

Between the Iran Nuclear Deal of 2015, Obama’s refusal to utter the words ‘radical Islam’ and the nationwide spread of cries for BDS, Prime Minister Netanyahu has come to fear the worst from the US, which could explain Israel’s possibly seeking alliances not to the West, but to the East. This same past year that the Iran Deal was struck between Iran and the US, Chinese investment in Israel hi-tech and agricultural innovation saw a leap of 54%.[4] Similarly, India’s trade in defense technology with Israel now relies on the Jewish State as its second largest arms supplier after Russia, well aware of the quality of Israeli military technology as well as the State’s security ethos in the face of the threat of Islamic terror which rivals India’s own struggle with Muslim opponents at the Kashmir border with Pakistan.[5]

So then, what does this latest mass terror attack re-highlight regarding Israel’s faith in the US as a strategic ally? Could Israel be overlooking its similarities with the US in terms of democratic ideals in favor of more stable trade agreements with India and China which are traditionally less outwardly supportive of Israel and quite debatably less democratic than America? After all, the promise of money and good trade can often surpass idealistic misgivings.

Time will tell. Let’s just see if any of us survive the US elections this November.

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[1] Segalov, Michael. “‘Being Gay in the Islamic State’: Men Reveal Chilling Truth about Homosexuality under Isis.” The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 25 Aug. 2015. Web. 14 June 2016.

[2] Gay :President Iran Ahmadinejad Slams Homosexuality CNN’s “Piers Morgan” 9-24-2012. Perf. Piers Morgan and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. CNN. Tele Haiti, 24 Sept. 2012. Web. 13 June 2016.

[3] Wong, Curtis M. “Shimon Peres, Israeli President, Backs Gay Marriage.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 14 June 2016.

[4] Rosenberg, David. “Chinese Investment in Israeli Tech Soaring – Business.” Haaretz.com. Haaretz.com, 3 June 2015. Web. 14 June 2016.

[5] Ningthoujam, Alvite Singh. “India-Israel Defense Cooperation.” Arutz Sheva. Arutz Sheva, 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 14 June 2016.