The CIA staged a coup in Iran in 1953 at the behest of Britain/British Petroleum when the newly elected PM decided to nationalize the oil fields. Iran remains Israel's greatest geopolitical foe, because of Israel's ties to the West.
The Suez Canal, an originally French/British colonial venture, which carries an absurd amount of cargo from former British colonies into the Mediterranean, was the cause of the Six Day War; not to mention there's a plan for a new canal through Israel to avoid all the nasty geopolitical issues the Suez Canal raises.
The US has a network of Middle Eastern allies and enemies and meddles in the affairs of every middle eastern nation because they've got all that sweet light crude we love so much.
Do you think, maybe, that the US's (and more broadly the West's) objectives in the region outweigh, possibly, whatever "influence" Israel has over our politics?
Very true because money speaks volumes and people don't VOTE, and many of those who do have no understanding of how to recognize real balanced news so they just go with the loudest, most agenda driven sources.
Try to run for office without the support of the Israel lobby... there goes your PAC money. Obama ran with Biden as a nod to the Israel lobby because Biden was their darling and Obama was known to attend pro-Palestine conferences.
The US is a global empire built on oil, which makes Israel (an ideologically similar nation in the middle of the largest oil producing region on earth) a natural partner. Influence doesn't really have anything to do with it.