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The Two-Way US-Israel Street

In 1948, US-Israel relations were a classic case of a one-way-street: the US gave and Israel received, economically and militarily.

In 1952, the US Administration rejected a proposal by General Omar Bradley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff, to elevate Israel to a role of a major ally, just like Iran and Turkey. 

In 2013, notwithstanding President Rouhani’s rhetoric, Iran is the fiercest enemy of the US. Erdogan’s Turkey follows a Muslim Brotherhood, rather than a NATO-oriented policy. Egypt is increasingly unstable, unpredictable and anti-US country. And, the long-term stability, reliability and capabilities of Saudi Arabia – as an ally of the US – have been severely eroded by the ongoing Arab Tsunami. 

In 2013, the combusting Arab Street highlights Israel as the only stable, reliable, predictable, capable, democratic and unconditional Middle Eastern ally of the US.

In 2013, Israel is the only ally of the US, which is able and willing to extend the shortened strategic hand of the US, while the threats to the US are mounting and Russian and Chinese penetration of the Middle East is intensifying.

In 2013, US-Israel relations constitute a classic case of a two-way-street, win-win, mutually- beneficial ties, with Israel increasingly contributing to vital US economic and defense interests; expanding US employment, research & development and  export  base; serving as the most battle-tested laboratory of US defense industries; enhancing US countering-terrorism and intelligence gathering capabilities; and upgrading US battle tactic and homeland security.

For example, some 300 US high tech giants operate in Israela pipeline of commercial, defense and homeland security technologies to the US – leveraging Israel’s brain power and enhancing their global competitiveness. Fifty five percent of Hewlett Packard’s recent software developments originated in its seven R & D centers in Israel. In August, 2013, IBM acquired its 13th Israeli company and its R&D centers in Israel registered 463 patents during 2006-2010, followed  by SandDisk – 394, Intel – 321, Microsoft, HP, Apple, GE, etc.. Most of Intel’s laptop microprocessors, and many of Google’s applications, originated in Israel.  Marvell’s largest design center outside the US is in Israel.

Israel serves as the most battle-tested laboratory for the US defense industry, employing hundreds of US military systems (e.g., F-16, F-15) sharing with US manufacturers lessons learned during battle, facilitating thousands of modifications and upgrades, thus dramatically enhancing the US global competitive edge, expanding US R&D, employment and exports, yielding a mega-billion dollar bonanza to the US defense industry, while advancing the national security of Israel and the US.

Israel’s battle tactics against Palestinian terrorism are at the core of counter-terrorism training at Ft. Leavenworth, the intellectual center of the US Army.  US Marines and Special Operations units are trained in Israel on their way to Afghanistan. They benefit from Israel’s unique experience in urban warfare and in tackling suicide bombers, car bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).  US bomb squads travel to Israel, improving their explosives neutralizing capabilities.  The US and Israeli air forces hold annual joint exercises, aimed at enhancing cooperation and leveraging Israel’s intense battle experience.  After the 1967 War, the US sent 15 senior military personnel to study Israeli lessons from the war and to implement them in the US military. After the 1973 War, the US sent 50 top commanders, who produced five volumes of lessons which were implemented by the US military.

Israel has been a strategic beachhead of the US as demonstrated by the 1967 War, which intercepted Egypt’s attempt to topple the House of Saud. In 1970, Israel mobilized its regulars and reservists, which forced pro-Soviet Syria to roll back its invasion of pro-US Jordan without firing a single shot. In 1981, Israel pre-empted and devastated Iraq’s nuclear reactor, thus eliminating a clear and present lethal threat to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other pro-American Arab regimes. In September, 2007, Israel destroyed Syria’s nuclear reactor, sparing the Free World a much more dangerous civil war in Syria.  In 2012-13 Israel bombed advanced military systems in Syria, thus preventing their use by Assad, Hizballah, the Muslim Brotherhood or Al Qaeda.

The scope of military intelligence transferred by Israel to the US exceeds that which is transferred by all NATO countries combined. Israeli intelligence, shared with the US, plays a key role in US counter-terrorism efforts in general, and the campaign against Iran’s nuclearization, in particular.    

According to the late General Alexander Haig, who was Supreme Commander of NATO and US Secretary of State: Israel is the largest American aircraft carrier, which does not require a single US aircraft or boot on board; cannot be sunk; and is deployed in a vital area for critical US commercial and military interests.  If there were not a Jewish state in the eastern flank of the Mediterranean, then the US would have to deploy additional aircraft carriers and tens of thousands of US soldiers to the Mediterranean. It would have cost the American taxpayers some $15BN annually, which is spared by a viable Jewish state.”

 

 

 




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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

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Videos

The post-1967 turning point of US-Israel cooperation

Israeli benefits to the US taxpayer exceed US foreign aid to Israel

Iran - A Clear And Present Danger To The USA

Exposing the myth of the Arab demographic time bomb