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The Secret Behind the Unique US-Israel Bond

In order to comprehend US foreign policy in general, and US special ties with Israel in particular, one needs to be familiar with US domestic policy and with the US state of mind.

For instance, since 1776, the US has never been governed by a Europe-style Left. The number of self- identified conservatives is twice as high as those who consider themselves to be liberal. Following the 1994 Congressional Democratic defeat, President Clinton turned toward the center/right, which paved the road to his 1996 reelection and the 1998 Congressional Democratic gains, in spite of the Lewinski Affair. In contrast, President Obama’s decline in the polls, accentuated by the 2010 Democratic devastating defeat, resulted from his left-leaning image.

The American state of mind is not represented by the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, New York, Los Angeles or Hollywood, but by Middle America’s Flyovers, who reside in medium and small town America between the East and the West coasts. These Flyovers have benefited from a tailwind, triggered by the substantial migration, during recent decades, from the North East to the South West.

In contrast to Europe – and just like in Israelthe US features a critical political mass of people who cherish moral American Exceptionalism, patriotism, tradition, religion, family values, small government, low taxes, individualism, defiance of odds and the right to bear arms, who are anti-establishment, pro-military, anti-terror, anti-UN, scorn Europe and are suspicious of Moslem and Arab regimes.

The US is the most religious Western democracy: 90% of Americans believe in God; 85% wish to preserve “In God We Trust” and “One Nation Under God”; 50% say grace regularly; 45% frequent church on Sunday; 15 million copies of the Holy Bible – which is available in most hotel rooms – are sold annually. The number of religious TV stations has grown from nine in 1974 to almost 300 in 2011; the House of Representatives starts deliberations with a prayer; presidents and other top leaders conclude speeches with “God bless America.” The American ethos also includes the three Gs: God, Guns and Guts.

The US is the only country in which 80% of the people define their core values as Judea-Christian. The Ten Commandments – which are displayed in public buildings throughout the USA – are recognized as a key component of America’s moral foundation. Statutes of Moses are featured in the House of Representatives and in the US Supreme Court.  Leviticus 25:10 is inscribed on the Liberty Bell; Jewish terms are manifested – in Hebrew – on the official seals of Yale and Columbia universities and Dartmouth College; the Star of David is visible – above the eagle – in the official US seal and the US map includes thousands of locations bearing Biblical names.

Therefore, most Americans do not consider the Jewish State a typical foreign policy issue, but also a domestic issue, closely related to America’s core values. The current stormy “Arab Winter”, along with US frustration with NATO conduct in the battle against Islamic terrorism, spotlights Israel as America’s only stable, credible, capable, democratic and unconditional ally in the Middle East, and probably in the world. Israel has been America’s battle-proven and cost-effective laboratory for military systems, generating for the US defense industries thousands of modifications and upgrades, worth mega billion dollars and expanding the US employment, exports and research and development bases. Israel has shared with the US its experience in battling Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), car bombs and suicide bombers, which has spared American lives in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen.

Israel has been the outpost of Western democracies in an uncertain, unpredictable, violent region which is vital to critical economic and security Western interests. In 1970, Israel’s posture of deterrence repelled Syria’s invasion of Jordan, which threatened Saudi Arabia and other oil producing Gulf states and in 2011, Israel constitutes – according to the late General Alexander Haig – America’s largest aircraft carrier, which does not require a single American on board, cannot be sunk and saves the American taxpayer some $20BN annually. The special affinity toward the Jewish State has prevailed since the arrival in 1620 of  William Bradford’s “Mayflower,” which departed from “the modern day Egypt – Britain – crossed “the modern day Red Sea” – the Atlantic Ocean – and arrived in “the modern day Promised Land” – America. The enduring solid support of enhanced US-Israel ties has been uniquely bottom-to-top-driven, nourished by popular sentiments, sometimes in defiance of temporary tenants in the White House.  According to a May 26, 2011 CNN poll, 67%:16% support Israel over the Palestinian Authority.  According to a February 2011 Gallup poll, 68% consider Israel an ally of the US.  According to a February 2011 Rasmussen Report poll, most Americans oppose foreign aid to Arab countries but support foreign aid to Israel. And, according to an April 2010 Quinnipiac poll, 66%:19% would like President Obama to improve his attitude toward Israel. In fact, most legislators on Capitol Hill – who constitute a co-determining, equal in power branch of government – do not share Obama’s attitude toward Israel. They have been a bastion of support of the Jewish State.

US-Israel relations have been based on a unique infrastructure of shared values, joint interests and mutual threats. The foundation of shared values – which highlights the cradle of Jewish history – has moderated periodical tensions/crises  between the leaders of both countries, preventing a long term rift. Israeli Prime Ministers leveraged this unique infrastructure during 1948-1992, highlighting the historical Jewish deed to the Land of Israel, fending off occasional pressures by American Presidents, while systematically enhancing US-Israel strategic cooperation. 

Will Israeli leaders realize in 2011 that steadfastness over the cradle of Jewish history, Judea and Samaria – simultaneously with the demonstration of Israel’s unique contribution to US national security – is consistent with the state of mind of most American constituents and most American legislators? Will they realize that standing by the cradle of Jewish history may result in the loss of short-term popularity, but in the significant gain of long-term respect, which is essential for the enhancement of strategic relations?   

 

 

 

 

     

 




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Open letter to Prime Minister Bennett ahead of visit to USA

(Hebrew edition in “Israel Hayom,” Israel’s largest circulation daily)

During your first official visit to Washington, DC, you’ll have to choose between two options:

*Blurring your deeply-rooted, assertive Israeli positions on the future of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), which would be welcome by the Biden Administration, yielding to short-term political convenience and popularity inside the beltway;

or

*Tenaciously advocating your deeply-rooted, principle-driven positions, which would underscore a profound disagreement with the Biden Administration and the “elite” US media, while granting you and Israel long-term strategic respect, as demonstrated by some of your predecessors.

For example, the late Prime Minister Shamir honed the second option, bluntly introduced his assertive Israeli positions on Judea and Samaria, rebuffed heavy US pressure – including a mudslinging campaign by President Bush and Secretary of State Baker – suffered a popularity setback, but produced unprecedented expansion of US-Israel strategic cooperation. When it comes to facing the intensified threats of rogue regimes and Islamic terrorism, the US prefers principle-driven, reliable, patriotic, pressure-defying partners, irrespective of disagreements on the Palestinian issue.

Assuming that you shall not budge on the historical and national security centrality of Judea and Samaria, it behooves you to highlight the following matters during your meetings with President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, National Security Advisor Sullivan, Secretary of Defense Austin and Congressional leaders (especially the members of the Appropriations Committees):

  1. The 1,400-year-old track record of the stormy, unpredictable, violent and anti-“infidel” Middle East, which has yet to experience intra-Arab peaceful-coexistence, along with the 100-year-old Palestinian track record (including the systematic collaboration with anti-US entities, hate-education and anti-Arab and anti-Jewish terrorism) demonstrates that the proposed Palestinian state would be a Mini-Afghanistan or a Mega-Gaza on the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria.

It would dominate 80% of Israel’s population and infrastructures in the 9-15-mile sliver between Judea and Samaria and the Mediterranean, which is shorter than the distance between RFK Stadium and the Kennedy Center.

Thus, a Palestinian state would pose a clear and present existential threat to Israel; and therefore, Israel’s control of the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria is a prerequisite for its survival.

  1. The proposed Palestinian state would undermine US interests, as concluded from the Palestinian intra-Arab track record, which has transformed the Palestinians into a role-model of intra-Arab subversion, terrorism and ingratitude. Arabs are aware that a Palestinian state would add fuel to the Middle East fire, teaming up with their enemies (e.g., Iran’s Ayatollahs, the Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey’s Erdogan) and providing a strategic foothold to Russia and China. Consequently, Arabs shower Palestinians with favorable talk, but with cold and negative walk.

Hence, during the October, 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty ceremony, Jordan’s military leaders asserted to their Israeli colleagues that a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River would doom the pro-US Hashemite regime east of the River, and lead, subsequently, to the toppling of all pro-US Arab Peninsula regimes.

  1. There is no foundation for the contention that Israel’s retreat from the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria – which are the cradle of Jewish history, religion and culture – is required in order to sustain Israel’s Jewish majority. In reality, there is unprecedented Jewish demographic momentum, while Arab demography – throughout the Middle East – has Westernized dramatically. The Jewish majority in the combined area of Judea, Samaria and pre-1967 Israel benefits from a robust tailwind of fertility and migration.
  2. Israel’s control of the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights, bolsters its posture of deterrence, which has daunted rogue regimes, reduced regional instability, enhanced the national security of all pro-US Arab regimes, and has advanced Israel’s role as a unique force-multiplier for the US. An Israeli retreat from Judea and Samaria would transform Israel from a strategic asset – to a strategic liability – for the US.
  3. As the US reduces its military presence in the Middle East – which is a global epicenter of oil production, global trade (Asia-Africa), international Islamic terrorism and proliferation of non-conventional military technologies – Israel’s posture of deterrence becomes increasingly critical for the pro-US Arab countries (e.g., Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan), who consider Israel to be the most reliable “life insurance agent” in the region.

Contrary to NATO, South Korea and Japan, Israel’s defense does not require the presence of US troops on its soil.

  1. Sustaining Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge is a mutual interest for the US and Israel, which serves as the most cost-effective battle-tested laboratory for the US defense industries and armed forces. Thus, Israel’s use of hundreds of US military systems has yielded thousands of lessons (operation, maintenance and repairs), which have been integrated, by the US manufacturers, into the next generation of the military systems, saving the US many years of research and development, increasing US exports and expanding the US employment base – a mega billion dollar bonanza for the US. At the same time, the US armed forces have benefitted from Israel’s military intelligence and battle experience, as well as joint training maneuvers with Israel’s defense forces, which has improved the US formulation of battle tactics.

Prime Minister Bennett, your visit to Washington, is an opportunity to demonstrate your adherence to your deeply-rooted strong Israeli positions, rejecting the ill-advised appeals and temptations to sacrifice Israel’s national security on the altar of convenience and popularity.

Yours truly,

Yoram Ettinger, expert on US-Israel relations and Middle East affairs

Support Appreciated

 

 

 

 

 




Videos

The post-1967 turning point of US-Israel cooperation

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