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US-Israel Ties: Conventional Wisdom Challenged

The suggestion that US-Israel relations are trending downward is a 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 deteriorated 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 US.  Israel’s added-value to the US is further enhanced by the pending US evacuation of Iraq and Afghanistan, which will shorten Washington’s strategic arm, possibly triggering an eruption of additional regional volcanoes. While vital American interests remain intact, they face intensified threats, deeper Middle East penetration by Russia and China and the rapid disappearance of dependable Arab allies. Israel is the only Middle East ally which could effectively extend America’s strategic hand without requiring a single American serviceman. Therefore, the regional upheaval necessitates expansion of the mutually-beneficial US-Israel strategic cooperation, such as the upgrading of port facilities in Haifa and Ashdod for the Sixth Fleet; the prepositioning in Israel, for American use, of US 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; etc.  

 

Conventional wisdom contends that US public support for Israel is declining.  Nevertheless, a September 15, 2011 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, also among Independents, who constitute the most critical American voting bloc. For instance, 63% of independent voters consider (a positive) US policy on Israel to be very, and somewhat, important. 76% of independent voters assume that President Obama is either supportive (26%), or not sufficiently supportive (50%), of Israel. According to 2010-2011 Gallup polls, support for Israel is rising, placing Israel consistently among the 5-7 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 President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu reflects a downward turn of strategic cooperation. Still, US-Israel strategic and commercial cooperation catapulted dramatically between 1948 and 2011, while Israeli Prime Ministers were bullied by US Presidents. For instance, Truman imposed a military embargo to foil Israel’s declaration of independence. LBJ threatened Israel against preemption – and against annexation of East Jerusalem – in 1967. 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, Bush 41st 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 US Presidents and Israeli Prime Ministers, have been nothing but bumps on the path of an unprecedented surge in strategic cooperation. 

 

Conventional wisdom supposes that US-Israel relations evolve, largely, around the Palestinian issue. However, the unique US-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 by the Founding Fathers and forged the current US 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 US has leveraged Israel’s innovative manpower. According to George Gilder, one of America’s high-tech Gurus: “The US 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, mutually-beneficial relationship, between the leader of the Free World and its sole soul-ally in the Middle East, trends towards a dramatic enhancement in the face of dramatic mutual threats and challenges. 

 

 

 

 

 

 




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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

 

 

 

 

 




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