Well, Bruce, adding the Israel comment spreads the discussion over a wide swath, but OK.
I don't think the U.S. "put the knife to Israel's back." I think the U.S. failure to veto was a measured attempt to push for moderation in the Israel-Palestine impasse. Most Israelis have known for decades that the Israeli settlements on the West Bank are unwise and unnecessarily provocative (and ridiculously expensive to defend), but political intricacies have prohibited them from stopping the settlements - a right-wing minority has blackmailed the majority into continuing the settlements. But we have discussed Israel in countless other threads, so maybe it's best to leave that discussion there.

NATO is an interesting topic that we haven't discussed much. Trump's statements against NATO and favoring Putin, have been unsettling in all of Eastern Europe, especially in the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Many of these countries have large Russian populations remaining from Soviet times, and Putin has used this as a rationalization for some sort of "manifest destiny." I think it's clear that the majority populations of these countries have no wish to be controlled by Russia again, and I think it's important that remain steadfast in our commitment to NATO. In his campaign rhetoric, Trump has betrayed that commitment, and I think that was a very unwise thing to do. I think it is essential that he express a firm support for NATO - now, and continually.

I served in Army Intelligence (ASA) in Berlin during the Cold War, and I have traveled quite a bit in Eastern Europe in recent years. I know where my sympathies lie, and they're not with Russia.

-Joe-