Israel is the single most important ally for American security and prosperity over the next half-century, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer argued during an on-stage interview during the Republican Jewish Coalition’s (RJC) leadership summit in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Dermer told RJC CEO Matt Brooks that if Americans had to “choose one” country, it would be one that can defend itself, provide high-grade intelligence, excel in cyber, and produce advanced offensive and defensive weapons.
Running through a list of US partners, he said Canada “doesn’t have that intelligence service,” Australia lacks “that cyber capability or weapons making,” and that “Israel has a larger standing army than France.”
Germany, he added, “doesn’t have the Intel capabilities,” noting, “we’re selling Iron Dome to them, not the other way around.” He put only Britain in the same tier, but concluded that in the Middle East, where “you don’t want to put your troops,” Israel’s location and capabilities make it “more important than Britain” for US national security.
Dermer then shifted to economics and technology, framing the US competition with China as a race that will be decided by innovation. “Who’s your number one partner in the world for advanced technology,” he asked, answering that “Britain’s not in the same zip code as the State of Israel,” citing Israeli strengths in AI and autonomous systems.
“In terms of pure American interests, Israel is the most important ally in the world to sustain American national security and prosperity,” he said.
With a lighter aside, Dermer joked about Britain’s famed spy craft, recalling a meeting with the head of MI6. “I said, aren’t you ashamed of yourself? How do you let James Bond die on your watch?” he quipped, before returning to the core claim that Israel’s intelligence and cyber capabilities are world-class.
Dermer also thanked Washington for recent B-2 deployments, saying, “You sent the B-2s in, and we’re deeply grateful for that,” while stressing that “a lot of what happened happened because of the IDF” and “the leadership of Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu.”
The Pentagon repositioned B-2 stealth bombers to the Indian Ocean in April amid tensions with Iran, and US media later reported B-2 operations connected to strikes this year, underscoring the bomber’s role in regional deterrence.
US-Israel relations, antisemitism, and a 'pro-Israel identity'
The RJC gathering, which drew Republican officials, donors, and activists to Las Vegas this weekend, unfolded as party leaders confronted internal debates over antisemitism and the US-Israel relationship on the right, a theme that has increasingly surfaced in recent months.
Dermer, a longtime confidant of Netanyahu and Israel’s minister for strategic affairs since late 2022, has been a central interlocutor with Washington throughout the Gaza war and the Iran file. He met with US officials multiple times this year and has been closely tied to ceasefire and regional diplomacy tracks, according to prior US and Israeli reporting.
Brooks, who led the interview, has repeatedly urged Republicans to push back against creeping isolationism and to reaffirm the party’s pro-Israel identity, setting the stage for Dermer’s case that the alliance rests as much on interests as on shared values.