The strategic relationship between the United States and Israel has weathered rough spells before, and it will survive the current discord between its two leaders.
What is the state of relations between Israel and the United States? Terrible, if you ask those who are attempting to overthrow Likud in the present election campaign. Some will even go as far as to say they have never been worse, that this is all Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s doing, and for this alone he deserves not to be reelected. After all, that relationship is one of Israel’s greatest strategic assets – maybe even the most important of them all. Where would we be without the backing of the United States, they ask rhetorically.
Well, not so fast. There have been some rough patches in Israel’s relations with the United States over the years, years when Israel was considered a burden rather than an asset in Washington, D.C. There was an embargo on the shipment of arms from America to Israel during the War of Independence, while Israel was fighting for its life against great odds.
There was the brutal pressure applied by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to withdraw the Israel Defense Forces from Sinai and the Gaza Strip after the Sinai Campaign in 1956, a decision Eisenhower regretted in later years.
There were years when the United States refused to sell weapons to Israel, years in which France was Israel’s major supplier of arms. There was Henry Kissinger’s “reassessment” after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and the freezing of F-16 deliveries after the 1981 destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor by the Israel Air Force.
But ever since Israel’s lightning victory in the Six-Day War in June 1967, Washington gradually began to see Israel as a strategic asset. The relationship warmed and solidified.
Not only did the United States and Israel share common values and ideals; it was now recognized that they also shared common strategic interests. That was the case during the years of the Cold War, and since the United States became the leader in the War on Terror. That is the case today, and it will continue as far as the eye can see.
The intimate working relationship among the military in both countries, among members of the intelligence communities, technological cooperation, and commercial relations, give daily proof that the relationship between the Americans and Israel is excellent.
It is so good because it is of mutual benefit to both countries. This is the opinion of those engaged in frequent contact on the working level, and this is the opinion of the vast majority of the members of Congress – Republicans and Democrats alike. That is why it is truly unshakable.
So what is the hullabaloo about the supposed deterioration in the relationship? The conjecture that Israel may be losing the support of the Democrats; that support for Israel in the United States will cease to be bipartisan and be limited to Republicans.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Those spinning this theory seem to be unacquainted with the development of bipartisan support for Israel in the United States. For years, support for Israel came primarily from the Democrats, and it was only in recent years that it spread to the Republican camp and became truly bipartisan.
The claim that this bipartisan support will now be eroded because Israel’s prime minister has accepted an invitation by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to address a joint session of Congress, on the agreement taking shape between the United States and Iran, underestimates the firmness of the U.S.-Israel relationship. It also ignores the fact that reservations in the United States regarding this agreement are bipartisan, and come from Democrats and Republicans alike.
Regardless of their party preference, all Israelis who realize that the agreement taking shape with Iran is dangerous for Israel should be hoping that the prime minister’s address to Congress will be effective, and can rest easy knowing that the U.S.-Israel relationship is in excellent shape, and will continue to be so after his appearance before Congress. It is of benefit to both countries.
The writer served as Israel’s Minister of Defense three times and once as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as Israeli ambassador to the US and was a professor at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Prior to immigrating to Israel he was a leader of American Betar.
@ bernard ross:
I believe many of what I see happening in the US to be conspiratorial. About a year ago O fired many of our senior military officers with the most experience and excellent records in their military careers. At the same time he has been naming many of his friends with association and membership in Muslim Brotherhood to positions of power the latest Rashad
Hussain. Who is Rashad Hussain?
http://unitycoalitionforisrael.org/uci_2014/?p=13343
There are several of these friends loyal to the Brotherhood in positions of power within our government. Department of Homeland Security and many other I’m sure we do not know about them.
What happens if (hope not) some crazy individual eliminates our President? Or, what happens if when 2016 comes around O and his loyal followers decide to create a crisis in order to perpetuate themselves in power?
That is the REDS MO. This is a plan and he has been following that plan. Is that the reason the Saudis have not eliminated the traitorous bastard?
With the absence of our most experienced military and the type of
people holding the power in Washington at the moment. What will they do to Congress? Luckily, up to now the plan to take the arms out of the citizens of this Country has failed even after all the propaganda.
In Washington something is cooking on and it is more than we can imagine. The insiders might know something but the press is mute. The REDS when dealing with the press the warning is: We know where you live. Not only do we know where you live but, we know who your wife is and the name of your children. Right away when they mention your wife and children you know what you have to do before an accident happen to them. They always cover up everything by making it look as an accident.
From knowing many people in different types of jobs and keeping our ears close to the ground. by piecing together
what you see around you, what you read and what you know, a picture emerges and it worries me.
It is similar in the international arena where or government is protecting and helping our enemies and
betraying our friends. I smell a rat.
@ mar55:
I dont beleive everything I read about “alliances”. I like to look at what actually happens beyond all the drama and smoke and mirrors….e.g. we are told there is an coalition against IS that includes the arab states but the US stopped keeping a record of the arab nations success at bombing after the first few bombings as they had apparently found no targets to bomb. We are told Jordan bombed a lot of IS a few days ago but how do we know they were not bombing all that empty desert next door in Iraq. One thing I know, the gulf sunni arabs, egypt,turkey, jordan are all against the shias allied with syria, hezbullah Iran and russia It is odd that IS has been able to do what the “rebels” and more “moderate jihadis” were unable to achieve: land taken and put under sunni control. There may be different groupings in the opposition but they all seem to be geared to controlling areas for sunnis. IS is a too which achieves its goals but the means are too harsh to admit any relationship with them. The war “against” IS enables forces, materiel, logistics to be assembled to the area and take place with a goal that the folks back home clamor for. The folks will fight really bad terrorists but not Assad, Iran, hezzbullah, wmd,etc.
@ bernard ross:
Bernard, since a very young age,I have had the impression of the ME as a place of intrigue and changing alliances according to the personal interest of the latest government in charge of whatever country is the latest
bidding for power.
When I saw POTUS behavior towards the Saudis, knowing he did own the Saudis not only his miss-education or at least
his degrees even though he cannot practice. In watching how O was changing colors with his alliances. He owned The Saudis, his masters, his position in the world. I thought perhaps his masters are going to take offense to
his treacherous behavior and eliminate the bad hat.
Alliances and new alliances have been done and continue to change the entire panorama in the ME. At this point so many alliances have been done and undone that, short of a miracle I do not know where everything is going to end.
I can see WWIII coming from any spark any time. I think about the situation in Ukraine and the changing interest of the different countries. Over the years SA has been in great part responsible for what is now the Islamic State. At the moment it is getting bigger and out of hand for them to control it. Now, Libya and the Saudis are expecting Israel to cooperate with them to do something about it. As soon as the Islamic Stated cease to be a problem they will turn and attack Israel.
It is what it is but, it is a horrible world our children and grandchildren are inheriting. I still hope for a miracle.
Good night. Exhaustion is calling me to sleep.
🙂
(Haftar lived in the US and was CIA trained)
those students should all be expelled, enough is enough.
🙁
🙂
😛
Americans think that eveyone considers capitalism and the free market to be an important goal to preserve. china is pragmatic and used the western consumption engine to build its own economy. It let in the big foreign companies on limited bases while it needed them to modernize. but China likely simply copied everything built it themselves and now wants to supply themselves instead of importing. Duh, looks like common sense to me. I think we will see with the Chinese the same as happened with the Japanese in that they will expand the quantity and quality of the their products base upon what they have learned from the foreigners and then replace everything left that we sell them. When it is over they will have a consumption economy that can support and serve itself. Our corporations are so intent on creating their vision of the world based on free markets that they don’t even notice that we have already been overtaken by a planned economy using us as their start up. The big corporations who sold us all out will end up out in the cold themselves. Does anyone really believe that the same 1.5 billion folks who are expanding at a mega pace and who are creating a highly technically educated labor force will not rule the world? All you have to do is see their children;s values compared to ours to realize it is all over. Our children will still be watching sitcoms and sports events while they rule the world. Hopefully, Israel as a small nation that cannot harm China competitively can grow on the coatails of their 1.5 billion rapidly upward mobile consumers.
While the world is enmeshed in conflict china is busily and pragmatically building itself up. Whoever wins will have to deal with china and all the assets and resources which they have been tying up. Look at the difference between how Russia operates as opposed to China and I think we shall see that the Russians will still stumble about while China leaps forward in to the 21st century. Russia is organizing proxy wars while China builds railroads.
I expect the white house will soon be saying that Israel wants to push the US into another war like Iraq, thus increasing anti semitism in the US by adding to already existing anti semitic canards.
ArnoldHarris Said:
I know, I posted that on another page.
I generally agree that he handled it correctly in basically saying that he is speaking in a bipartisan forum and can continue to hold bipartisan discussions in congress. I thin the dems want to satisfy obama and at the same time appear to be listening to BB. sadly, obama appears to be very vindictive and personal so I expect him to try and get back at BB. I agree as do many here on Israels need to spread her eggs over many baskets but I think that Israel has little to offer russia to woo them from the arabs which so far has been the only option available. However, I can conceive that Russia could present itself as the one who brings stability to the ME if he is able to broker arrangements, not necessarily peace. he has a lot of influence over the Iranian, syrian hezbullah axis and perhaps he would be interested in brokering pragmatic arrangements.
I think that every player in the ME on all sides is sick and tired of the western nations meddling in their internal affairs and arrangements brokered in such a fashion could have wings.
russia might be interested in bringing Israel into an arrangement which allows him to maintain control over the supply of energy to europe including from the ME and eastern med. In such a case Israel might have something for them while he can dampen the flames of his proxies.
@ bernard ross:
BR:
The Democratic Party senators’ invitation to Prime Minister Netanyahu notwithstanding, he replied by telling them he would meet solely with the US Congress as a whole, six nights from now, in the United States Capitol, when he delivers his invited speech, which much of the population of the world will be watching, either directly on television or reading about online or in print.
I think Netanyahu responded to them correctly. Any closed-door meeting with separate groups of senators or representatives would undercut the congressional Republicans, who are backing him solidly in this major struggle against Obama’s foreign policy in the Middle East in general and his planning appeasement of ayatollist Iran in particular.
Understandably, Israel in general and old-time Washington-focused Israeli leaders such as Moshe Arens in particular, feel tied to the USA. But the time has come for the Jewish nation and the Jewish state to come to understanding that the USA of 2015 is only a pale shadow of the victorious American empire of 1945 under control of Roosevelt and Truman.
The Russian Federation, now under control of an active, powerful, and thoroughly traditional tsar, has begun re-asserting its control over its western borderlands in eastern Europe, and is filling the power vacuum the USA has left behind in the Middle East. There also are newer large powers to consider, such as China and India, both of which are allied to Russia.
I have written many times before, and I repeat now, that the time has come for Israel to balance its dependence upon the USA with much closer relationships with Russia and the other Asian but non-Islamic powers. Smart politicians always have more than “one iron heating up in the fire”, as the saying goes. And for the Jewish nation and the Jewish state, there are no permanent friends; only permanent Jewish and Israeli interests. The USA never has been a reliable ally of Israel, and is far less so now. So respond accordingly and with haste sufficient to avoid being left to be hung out to dry.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
the dems want to show that they also support Israel in spite of Obama, as they want to win their seats individually in 2016
. I guess Professor Arens is taking a swipe at livnizog for it’s underhanded campaign to de-legitimize Bibi. It’s a simple message; brief, concise, succinct and in place.
Arens has always been a sober class act. Probably should have been PM or President, if he had truly wanted it. Moshe Arens will continue to be a relevant voice for our people.