Egypt controls Suez though. We just overthrew their government and installed Sisi as a dictator to control it. Israel had little to do with that. Same with Iraq. We use Saudi Arabia as a base.
Israel as a strategic partner is a great excuse on the surface because really blurs the line of the true motive. But in reality we now see America supporting israeli actions which are contradictory to our interests in the region (unless we really want WW3). Having a strategic partner requires that partner to obey you, not the other way around