We’ve found that every year, there is at least one token anti-Israel writer for the Collegian, eager to support the entirely one-sided viewpoint that Israel is the cause of the majority of the instability in the Middle East. Last Wednesday’s editorial by Jason Kincaid, “The United States, Israel and the proverbial nest” was no different than the rest.

We found the column to be desperately lacking in any fact. It was like saying that all the world problems are from America’s “policing the world” attitude because that was what this ‘cool’ person I know once said.

That is not an opinion. That is regurgitated nonsense.

So to help Mr. Kincaid out, we’ll provide some facts where he did not, so the informed readership can make a more educated opinion.

Israel worked with U.S. soldiers on their way to Iraq and Afghanistan and taught them its experience in dealing with a variety of issues like car bombs, suicide bombers, improvised explosive devices and anti-tank missiles, helping to save American lives. Israel has also shared with the United States its unique armor-plating technology for tanks, making them more resistant to enemy fire.

The U.S. is turning to Israel to help it solve complex problems like heightened airport security as well as sharing technology for unmanned aerial systems used for both reconnaissance and combat.

According to Senator Daniel Inouye, chairman of the Approbations Committee, and former chairman of the Intelligence Committee, “The scope and quality of intelligence received by the U.S. from Israel exceeds the scope of intelligence received from all NATO countries combined.”

Combine that with the fact that in 1970, while the U.S was worn down in Vietnam, Israel prevented Syria from invading Jordan.  Had this invasion occurred, it would have threatened the survival of oil-rich Persian Gulf regimes, and resulted in an economic and national security disaster for the U.S.

The late General Alexander Haig, who was a former U.S. Secretary of State and NATO supreme commander, said that Israel is “the largest, most battle-tested and cost-effective U.S. aircraft carrier, which does not require a single U.S. boot, cannot be sunk and is located at a most critical area. If Israel did not exist, the U.S. would have to deploy a few more real aircraft carriers to the eastern flank of the Mediterranean, costing some $20 billion annually, which has been spared by the Jewish state.”

Israel is an unconditional ally of the U.S. in a region where there is a lot of instability. Given the recent attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East and North Africa, with one attack resulting in the death of an American ambassador, the United States needs a stable ally in the region that will look out for its interests. Israel is that ally.

Israel is in a border dispute with the Palestinian people. This does cause conflict. But to say Israel is solely responsible would be an oversimplification of the issue. While Israel is certainly not blameless in the conflict, we feel it would be wrong to lob criticism without having an understanding of the issue.

Israel has helped to technologically advance the world. The world’s first surface drip irrigation system was developed in the 1960s at Kibbutz Hatzerim near Beersheba, a system that is popular all over the world, including the U.S.

The first Internet phone software was created in Israel, so if you have ever Skyped, you can credit that breakthrough to Israel. The first Internet chat program was also developed there.  We could go on, but there are word limits.

Israel is the home to dozens of Nobel Prize winners and technological advancements. It is a strong ally for America to have. It is a contributing nation to growth of the world and if you have ever been to Israel, Jason, I can guarantee you wouldn’t have compared Israel to a bratty teenager. If you had ever been in a city where terrorist attacks are common as they are in Israel, you would have more respect.

The world has many problems. Israel has many problems. America has many problems. But we refuse to accept that anyone can be so narrow-minded as to think some of the things written in, “The United States, Israel and the proverbial nest.” People can be better than that.

One can only hope that the Collegian will not contain such narrow-minded and uneducated arguments in the future. The Collegian, its readers, and CSU as a whole will be better for it.

Sarah Romer is a senior electrical engineering major. Her column appears Thursday in the Collegian. Michael Lichtbach is the former president of Chabad. Letters and feedback can be sent to letters@collegian.com.