I don’t know how politically savvy they are, but one analogy you could make is how the Democrat’s legislative agenda keeps getting stymied by a rotating cast of “maverick” legislators like Sinema or Manchin. That’s a way of running cover for the much larger group Dem legislators that want to kill the legislative agenda. Those legislators get the benefit of appearing to support popular legislation, while getting the outcome their donors want. The “maverick” legislators are either in safe seats, or are given off-ramps into cozy lobbying jobs.

Similarly, the seemingly insanely ambitious Israeli policy of military supremacy in the middle east, and the destruction of the states of Syria, Iraq and now Iran, is a way for the USA to achieve those goals with the plausible deniability that it’s just them supporting their ally. The USA seemingly lets itself suffer the humiliation of letting it’s small vassal state dictate it’s foreign policy in the middle east because it’s useful and is advancing US interests in the region.

In cases where Israel starts acting counter to US interests, they get clapped pretty quickly.

It gets a bit confusing when it comes to stuff like the Gaza genocide and the wars against Lebanon. Those are priorities of Israel, but the USA is merely indifferent. So why does the USA follow through with this repression against pro-Palestinian speech? That’s where you have actual lobbying from Israel, combined with the actual koolaid-drinkers like Biden.