People believe that Israel is a puppet of the United States in the same way that North Korea is a puppet of China. Israel is seen as a forward operating base of the American empire that provides a beachhead and a port in the middle east for our aircraft carriers and corporations. Without Israel, we would not for decades have had highly securely placed missiles and armaments within range of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, etc.

Netanyahu and Likud are nationalists who are pulling on their leash and are making us look terrible in front of the world rn. And Netanyahu would personally likely prefer a world run by Putin rather than the current Western Rules-Based International Order that enforces principles such as human rights, and anti-corruption, and term limits for democratically elected representatives, and judicial independence.

It is unclear how we will address these issues that he has created. But no, people do not see Israel as being a fully independent country in the same way that India or Thailand, for instance, are fully independent countries