The Israeli-American Connection- DC to Jerusalem

On May 14th, 1948, the United States officially recognized the sovereign state of Israel which had just been declared earlier that day. Immediately after, the surrounding nations of Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia waged war on the newly formed state in order to prevent the formation of a Jewish state and maintain the Arab-controlled Palestine before the 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine. The United States held an arms embargo on both sides and refused to get involved in this regional conflict as its aims were largely in Europe with the Soviets and in East Asia with the rapid fall of Kai-shek's pro-western nationalist government in China to Mao's communists. Following a peace treaty in which Israel maintained its land and gained some more Palestinian land (while also evicting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians), the United States continued to recognize the nation, but did not have a relationship nearly as close as the one we all know of today. This was about to change.



Raising the Flag of Israel in front of the newly formed Israeli Defense Force; April, 1948

Six Day War and Yom Kippur War
The history of Israel itself is a long and complex one that requires years and years of study just to understand the last 80 years of it. Despite this, the modern state of Israel has been born in war and conflict. The idea of the Israeli state was finalized in 1917, following WW1, and finally realized after WW2 during which over six million European Jews were exterminated. Its official independence was won in its Arab-Israeli War of 1948 and Israel has continued to face aggressive neighbors up to the modern day. Regardless, two major wars in Israeli history represented huge changes in America's relationship with Israel.

Following the upheavals in Arabic countries surrounding Israel after their rapid victory in the Six Day War, the United States began to pay more attention. The French cut military aid to Israel in an attempt to gain friendlier relations with the Arabs at the same time that Syria and Egypt allowed Soviet military bases and the pro-Soviet coups in Iraq took power. All of these occurring so rapidly drew the attention from the United States who saw Soviet power projection in these new nations and began to move to increase relations with the only pro-Western liberal democracy in the region, Israel. President Johnson was at the head of this effort and planted the seeds of one of the modern world's strongest alliances.

Operation Nickel Grass

Seething from their loses in the Six Day War, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia joined with Algeria, Morocco, and Cuba (surprisingly) to take revenge. Shortcomings in the CIA-Mossad intelligence communities as well as oil embargo threats from OPEC aided this alliance in massive overwhelming victories in the first part of the war. Word of using a last resort nuclear option was discussed and the Soviet Union started to pour more aid to its allies to defeat Israel. Despite tepid European support (few offered staging bases), Nixon and Kissinger gave the go-ahead to Operation Nickel Grass which airlifted thousands of tons of tanks, artillery, and heavy weaponry the replenish the depleted IDF. The Soviets began to increase threats of intervention on behalf of the Egyptians as the Americans played a very dangerous power game to aid Israel and prevent this from becoming the start of World War III.

Camp David Accords 1978

 

The Israelis were victorious in the Yom Kippur War and the redefined balance of power in the Middle East following this led to the signing of the Camp David Accords under President Carter in 1978. Under this, the first Arab country, Egypt, officially normalized diplomatic relations with Israel in return for the Sinai Peninsula, which Egypt had lost in 1967.

Late Cold War and Post Cold War Israel and Palestine
The United States continued its massive support for the State of Israel and the existence of Israel was more firmly secured than ever before. President Reagan urged Israel to resolve the Palestine issue which had been at the heart of every major war thus far. Israel continued to have problems with Palestinian uprisings as well as terrorist attacks from HAMAS and Hezbollah, two terrorist proxies working to take down Israel.

“President Reagan's chief spokesman today called on both sides involved in the violent protests in Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip ‘to step back from confrontation,’ which he said is damaging ‘the self respect and world opinion of the Israeli people.' He said the effect of the occupation ‘also damages the self-respect and world opinion of the Israeli people.’”

After the 1979 Revolution in Iran, tensions between Iran and Israel grew markedly worse with both sides threatening war and pre-emptive attacks. Recent American actions such as President Obama's Iran Deal have driven some to believe that the United States has driven Israel away and towards Saudi Arabia, but this is not entirely true. The Israelis still enjoy one of the United States highest priorities and strongest alliances. Actions often speak more than words and while Benjamin Netanyahu may decry American deals, joint military projects and bilateral trade between the two nations speaks to the contrary and demonstrate how strong the United States-Israel relationship is (being one of the few issues that receives bilateral support in the US Congress with 83 senators recently supporting a military aid increase to Israel).


IDF bombings of Gaza Strip 2014

In recent years, in regards to the Palestine issue, the Israelis launched Operation Protective Edge (2014) to respond to Palestinian aggression in the form of rocket attacks and tunnel drilling. It is arguable who was the main provocateur with Israel setting up military checkpoints at all Palestinian entrances and continually building Israeli homes into Palestinian lands and with Palestine continuing attacks on Israel and being the source of many terrorist attacks on Israel and its citizens. Regardless of who is at fault, IDF special forces sweeps continue in Palestinian settlements as Palestinian knife stabbings of Israelis persist today. Both sides may be at fault, but neither side is willing to come to the table with a definitive solution that would appease the Likud conservative party of Israel and the two different governing parties in Palestine, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Rockets fired from Gaza Strip into Israel 2014

Today, the United States relationship with Israel is as strong as it has ever been. While many on the American left criticize Israel of its human rights abuses to Palestinians and their expansionist policies, many on the American right counter Israel's need for national security and point to it being the strongest Western democracy in the entire region. It is the third largest receiver of US military aid, of which 75% is spent again on US arms sales which helps US arms industries as well as securing the State of Israel.

There is a long time yet to go for the future of the United States and Israel, especially regarding the ever shifting political arena in the region, but one thing is certain, the strength and power of the US-Israel relationship will not be disappearing anytime soon. It is a prosperous alliance, but by no means a perfect one, and each successive crisis will always show the true nature of the United States-Israel relationship.

Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel with President Obama of the United States

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