U.S - Israel relations
The U.S. had supported the idea of a Jewish homeland even before the state of Israel was declared within historical Palestine in 1948.
On March 3, 1919, two years after the Balfour Declaration, in which the British government declared its support for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
In 1922 and 1944, the U.S. Congress passed resolutions endorsing the Balfour Declaration.
The U.S. was the first country that recognised Israel in 1948.
However the 1967 war, in which Israel defeated Jordan, Syria and Egypt, all in six days, brought in a paradigm shift in the way Washington looked at the Jewish state.
Israel defeated the Arab countries without any major help from the U.S., and the war was wrapped up quickly.
Also, two of the Arab countries Israel defeated — Egypt and Syria — were Soviet allies.
From then on, the U.S. started seeing Israel as a stable ally who can check the expansion of Soviet influence in West Asia.
Tensions between Israel and the U.S.?
While there were personality clashes between American Presidents and Israeli Prime Ministers, such clashes never led to a breakdown in what President John F. Kennedy called “the special relationship”.
In the 1970s, President Jimmy Carter heaped pressure on Israel to make peace with Egypt and give concessions to the Palestinians.
Israel would finally agree to sign the Framework for Peace Agreement as part of the Camp David Accords. which would set the stage for the Oslo process.
Tensions between Israel and the U.S.?
In 2002, Mr. Bush asked Israel to pull back from the West Bank and end a military operation “without delay”, but the Israelis never obliged.
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also clashed over the Iran nuclear deal.
Mr. Netanyahu had visited the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress and attacked Mr. Obama over his Iran policy.
Mr. Obama vetoed all resolutions at the UN Security Council critical of Israel except one during his eight-year term.
Mr. Obama, during his last months in office, also cleared a $38 billion aid package for Israel.
The Biden administration had earlier criticised the Netanyahu government’s plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary.
But after the October 7 attack by Hamas, the U.S. has thrown its full weight behind the Netanyahu government’s war on Gaza.
Why does the U.S. always back Israel?
One explanation is that Israel’s strategic value in a volatile yet critical region makes it appealing for Washington.
During the Cold War, the U.S. saw Israel as a powerful bulwark against possible Soviet expansion in the Arab world.
After the Cold War, when the U.S. started becoming more and more involved in West Asia, it continued to see Israel as a force of stability, along with Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Strategic value explains a close partnership or alliance, like America’s relationships with Japan, South Korea or Germany.
A host of other factors, including America’s public opinion, electoral politics and the powerful Israel lobby in the U.S., play a role in shaping the country’s Israel policy.
Israel has enjoyed near unanimous support in the U.S. Congress, and a vast majority of Americans have favorable views about Israel.
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