The ties that bind

By Yoram Ettinger, YNET

The suggestion that U.S.-Israel relations are deteriorating is derivative of baseless conventional wisdom, as reflected in a recent study by Haim Malka, the deputy director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

For example, conventional wisdom assumes that the recent turmoil on the Arab street has lowered Israel’s geo-strategic standing. However, the new Middle East disorder threatens the survival — and exposes the tenuous nature and reliability — of every Arab regime. It underscores Israel’s unique stability, credibility, capability and unconditional alliance with the U.S. Israel’s added value to the U.S. is further enhanced by the pending U.S. evacuation of Iraq and Afghanistan, which will shorten Washington’s strategic arm, possibly triggering an eruption of additional regional volcanoes.

While vital U.S. interests remain intact, they face intensified threats, deeper involvement in the Middle East by Russia and China, and the rapid disappearance of dependable Arab allies. Israel is the only Middle East ally which could effectively extend the U.S.’s strategic hand without requiring a single American serviceman.

Therefore, the regional upheaval necessitates expansion of the mutually beneficial U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation, such as the upgrading of port facilities in Haifa and Ashdod for the Sixth Fleet; the positioning in Israel, for U.S. use, of U.S. combat aircraft, missiles, missile defense and counter-terrorism systems; closer cooperation between the defense industries of both countries; equalizing Israel’s ally-status to that of Australia and Britain, and so on.

Conventional wisdom contends that U.S. public support for Israel is declining. Nevertheless, a Sept. 15 public opinion poll, published by the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill, reaffirms that support for Israel is an important issue for Americans, transcending religious, partisan, gender, age and economic lines, and including independent voters, who constitute the most critical American voting bloc. For instance, 63 percent of independent voters consider (a positive) U.S. policy on Israel to be very or somewhat important. 76% of independent voters assume that President Barack Obama is either supportive (26%) or not sufficiently supportive (50%) of Israel. According to Gallup polls in 2010 and 2011, support for Israel is rising, placing Israel consistently among the five to seven most favored nations, while the Palestinians are lumped with the least favored Iran and North Korea.

Conventional wisdom presumes that the Palestinian-oriented tension between Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reflects a downward turn of strategic cooperation. Still, U.S.-Israel strategic and commercial cooperation catapulted dramatically between 1948 and 2011, while Israeli prime ministers were bullied by U.S. presidents. For instance, Harry Truman imposed a military embargo to foil Israel’s declaration of independence. Lyndon B. Johnston threatened Israel against taking pre-emptive action — and against annexing east Jerusalem — in 1967. Ronald Reagan leaned on Israel to prevent the bombing of Iraq’s nuclear reactor, imposed a military embargo, opposed Israel’s war against the PLO in Lebanon and formally recognized the PLO. And George Bush Senior opposed any pro-Israeli legislation in Congress and tried to cut financial assistance to Israel. In retrospect, since 1948, the frequent episodes of Palestinian-oriented tension between U.S. presidents and Israeli prime ministers have been nothing but bumps on the path of an unprecedented surge in strategic cooperation.

Conventional wisdom supposes that U.S.-Israel relations evolve, largely, around the Palestinian issue. However, the unique U.S.-Israel ties have been nurtured mostly by shared Judeo-Christian values, which transcend contemporary democracy and peace. These values were instilled by the 17th century pilgrims, inspired the rebellion against Britain, coalesced the Founding Fathers and forged the current U.S. systems of government, education, law and morality. Shared values have facilitated fertile collaboration in the face of mutual regional and global threats, while disagreements persist on the Palestinian issue. In addition, the U.S. has leveraged Israel’s innovative manpower. According to George Gilder, one of America’s high-tech gurus, “U.S. defense and prosperity increasingly depend on the ever-growing economic and technological power of Israel … We need Israel as much as it needs us.”

Irrespective of conventional wisdom, the two-way street and mutually beneficial relationship between the leader of the free world and its sole soulmate in the Middle East is moving toward a significant enhancement in the face of dramatic mutual threats and challenges.