The Impact of the US-Israel Relationship on the Regional Politics of the Middle East - Essay Example

? The Impact of the US-Israel Relationship on the Regional Politics of the Middle East College: Introduction The relationship existing between the United States and Israel has played a big role in defining the US’s policies in the Middle East for decades. The US-Israel relationship dates back to the cold war period when Americans saw the need of creating a Jewish state following the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust. Israel was founded in 1948 and ever since the country has enjoyed a closer commitment of all the US presidents, as well as most of the Congress Members in enhancing Israel’s security, economic cooperation, diplomatic cooperation and close US-Israel defense. The leaders of both countries have been successful in pursuing common goals on security through the development of closer relations which are based on shared religious affinities and democratic values (Migdalovitz 2006). Israel is the major recipient of U.S. aid and it purchases most of its weapon systems from America and in so doing Israel has been able to maintain a qualitative military edge in the Middle East. Israel is facing serious security threats from the Arab Spring presented by instabilities in Lebanon, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Syria and Jordan as these political movements are planning attacks on Israel. This move has made the relationship between Israel and U.S. to worsen given that Israel perceive that United States is not concerned about its welfare but just to attain its goal. However, it is the contribution of the US that has discouraged the outbreak of major Israel-Arab interstate conflict for over 40 years (Huband 2006). The U.S.-Israel relationship The relationship between U.S. and Israel is not based on friendship but rather on different interests of the two countries in the Middle East. The close security and economic cooperation saw the two countries signing the free trade agreement in 1985 and this makes the two countries to be the major trading partners (Sharp 2006). Some of their interests are common including; the opposition of nuclear power of Iran and to weaken the Tehran’s influence in the Middle East. The two governments are aiming at combating the dissemination of weapons of mass destruction and all ballistic missiles as well as bring to an end the Islamist inspired terrorism such as Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and other Islamists and Jihadists groups. Given that the region has not experienced peace for a long time, the relationship is geared at enhancing a form of stability through promotion of pro-Western regimes like Jordan’s. In achieving this, the relationship will manage to restore peace and normalization between the Arab community and Israel since Israel has been in conflict with Palestine government for a considerable long time. The challenge facing the relationship is that they respond and prioritize to these challenges differently. The difference in strategies and policies preferred by the two countries has increasingly cause tension on the relationship as they are seen to undermine the interest of the other nation. For instance, Israel view American policy to be naivete in the Middle Eastern diplomacy as it brings more consequences to Israel. On the other hand, the US considers Israel to be insufficiently attentive to its interests since most of its actions have been detrimental. The two states are different in some ways, as the US is a superpower whereas Israel is a regional power and this presents them with different concerns (Malka 2011). In respect to this, the two sides should be ready to accommodate each other regardless as in so doing; resentments and misunderstandings that have continually mounted the relationship will be dealt with. Honesty, openness and lesser partisan polemics will enhance sustenance of this relationship. The US-Israel relationship faces differences in the Arab Spring goal. After the revolutions took place in the Arab world that transforms the politics in middle east, the two countries found themselves supporting different sides having supported the same regime for a long time; the propagation of pro-Western autocracies in Egypt and Jordan for instance. As Israel was supporting the ruling of Arab autocrats, America was concerned about the welfare of the citizens who were demanding dignity and change. The differences are seen in the way the two governments reacted towards the Syrian uprising and transformations on Egypt political administration (Migdalovitz 2006). The US supports the rebellions in the Middle East while overlooking the geographical proximity of Israel to the threat posed by the geographical proximity. The Arab Spring, in coming together through democratic elections, presents threats to Israel’s national security as they threaten to annul the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government peace treaty with Egypt. The revolutions and uprising of the democratic Arab world will make Israel to stand to lose given that most of the Arab nations are anti-Israel and pro Palestinian, thus the policies and treaties that are in favor of Israel and Israel-Palestinian conflicts will be jeopardized. Hence, the relationship of Israel with the Middle East countries is bound to be more difficult. Contrary, American government view that, by supporting freedom and democratic politics in the middle east, it will be able to gain confidence from these nations thus lessening the Arab anti American perception. As America plans of winning the support and faith from the Arab world, Israel considers the new revolution to threatening to its security as they fear the worst could happen to them more than what was experienced in 1979 during the Iranian revolution. The changes taking place in the Middle East impacts negatively on the relationship existing between the two countries as they arouse more tensions to the relationship (Malka 2011). The Israel-Palestinian Conflict The Israel and Palestinian governments have been facing conflicts for a long time which was brought about by Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands. The conflict was further magnified by Israel continual move of expanding the construction of settlement building, a move that formed the epicenter of Palestinian’s distrust to Israel. The US and Israel are concerned about the conflict facing Israel and Palestinian government as they want to ensure desirable outcome has been reached through direct negotiation between Palestine and Israel governments. Furthermore, they are against making negotiations with Hamas; however, they contradict in various aspects on Israel’s administration strategies (Bickerton, and Klausner, 2002). Israel has been disseminating on building settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and this has face opposition from the US government thus leading to increased disagreement. The continued construction of the settlement building is seen as hindrance to the peace building process. This is in view of the fact that continued expansion of settlement building clears land available the future state of Palestine. This has seen the American administration to join forces with Palestinian government in opposing the settlement construction, and the US has tried to apply more pressure on Israel to stop the settlement activities. The move is geared at promoting negotiations and eventual development of peace in the Middle East. Israel governance do not see how practicable and symbolic is matters of settlement building to the Israel-Palestinian peace prospects. They point out that initially, talks were being held as the government continued with construction and to them Palestinian move is geared at freezing the substantial negotiations (Eli 2009). However, the American administration points out that cessation of building construction will top up the chances of negotiations. Israel considers the US to be reckless and naive by supporting uprisings in Egypt whereas the US view Israel reaction to be of annoyance to some extent. In this respect, the US administration has come to terms with the outcome in democracy in some of the Arab world whereas Israel does not trust Islamist’s especially when it comes to power. The cold war of 1967 between the Arabs and Israel propelled Israel to deploy its military in the West Bank thus making the Palestinian government to exercise little self rule since 1995. Israel believes that Jerusalem is its holy city and hence it should not be divided and on the other hand, Palestinians claim that the East Jerusalem is its capital (Huband 2006). This conflict has persisted for a long time as some international law actors have been in favor of Palestinian as they call for special political classification. The move led to Israel withdrawing its military permanent presence from Gaza Strip; however, major activities in and out of Gaza are controlled still by Israel (Bickerton, and Klausner, 2002). As the Israelis focus on securing its borders from attacks, the US is interested in fostering a favorable relationship with the Middle East and to effectively win their confidence, they have to deal with the conflict between Israel and other Arab communities. The Israel-Palestinian conflict plays a bigger role in the Middle East political dynamics as it makes it harder for the Arab world to support pro-Western policies. The US looks at the conflict as a major hindrance to its strategies of fostering a positive US image in the Middle East. The conflict gives room for Iran to exploit issues pertaining to its own regional ambitions and as the conflict between Israel and Arab world becomes sourer, US are strategizing in placing themselves at safer grounds by discouraging Israel’s efforts. The US perceive that there is a linkage between its national interests in middle east and the Arab-Israel conflict, they push harder for the resolution of conflict by pressurizing Israel and this creates adverse tension on the US-Israel relations (Sharp 2006). The US believes that by containing the Arab-Israel conflict, it will succeed in weakening Iran’s proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah as well as easier mobilization of the Sunni Arab world against Iran thus facilitating a less toxic atmosphere in the Middle East. America for a long time have accused of favoring Israel and trying to weaken legitimacy of the Arab world regimes. Israel view that an established Palestinian state will create more harm to its national security as it will come under Hamas or Iranian leadership and to avoid such, the Israel policy has been procrastination the peace treaty a move that is frustrating to the US government. This contradicts Israel perceptions that they contribute to the problems facing the Middle East politics by claiming that they are a consequence of it (Eli 2009). Thus, the notion presented by Americans and Arab world has no grounds as far as Israel is concerned. Israel has in turn sought punitive international measures against Iran’s nuclear ambitions and they threaten to go alone in case the international community will not intervene. Israel points out that the “absent of a clear resolution of Iran’s nuclear ambitions to their satisfaction may order the Israeli military to strike Iranian nuclear facilities sometime in 2013” (Zanotti 2012, p.1). Differing priorities on the Iranian Nuclear Program The US-Israel states are concerned with the Iranian nuclear program but they differ on prioritizing some issues. As the Israelites primary concern is the nuclear threat from Iran and not the conflict with Palestinian’s. The US administration do not see any threat posed by Iranian nuclear activities to Israel, thus they do not see any urgency in bringing the Iranian nuclear activities to a stop. Given that Iran has been supporting the Hamas and Hezbollah, its continual expansion of the nuclear program and its ballistic missiles capabilities makes Iran to be the greatest threat and enemy to Israel. “Most Israelis support a unilateral Israeli military strike against Iran’s nuclear installations if sanctions and diplomacy fail to persuade the Iranians to stop their nuclear enrichment program” (Waxman 2012, p. 79). The US administration are not threatened by the Iranian nuclear program due to geographical location as compared to Israel and this explains why the US has been sluggish in preventing the nuclear activities in Iran. The differences in threat perception present different views in politics of Middle East. According to Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister, Silvan Shalom, “Israel cannot live with the idea that lunatics like the Iranian regime will be the one that can take a decision if they would like to destroy the state of Israel or not” (Waxman 2012, p. 80). The difference makes it hard for the US to attack or allow Israel to attack Iran as the US focus is on the larger Middle East community and not interested on the Iranian nuclear programs. Israel may attack Iran without the reassurance from the US and this presents further tension on the relationship. The relationship is due to cooperation in fighting terrorism, preserving the Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge, US aid and arm sales to Israel, and sensitive information sharing. The US-Israel relationship in the Middle East politics also wants to do away with the Iran’s nuclear activities. In conclusion, the US-Israel relationship offers mutual benefits to both countries. As the US relied on Israel in countering the communism in the Middle East region, supporting the regional market economy approach and as a reliable partner in the Middle East projects policy; Israel relies on America for military support to enable it to survive in the hostile environment. Furthermore, the US benefits from the intelligence communities close cooperation with Israel. The Israel-Palestinian conflict has continued to complicate the US policies in Middle East. The US has been concerned with differing regional perspectives on terrorism and global and this has seen US invading Iraq, Afghanistan to combat threats of terrorism. The nationally cohesion, democracy, military fiber and technological capability make Israel the most dependable asset in the Middle East to the US. To strengthen the US-Israel relationship, America should be concerned of the security of Israel. With support from US, Israel has heightened its security measures against Palestinians, posses’ cyber-warfare capabilities, have missile defense systems and deter conflicts with Hezbollah and Hamas. The disagreements facing the two nations should be narrowed and aligned closely with that of the other nation to foster peace and harmony (Zanotti 2012). References Eli L. (2009). “Secret U.S.-Israel Nuclear Accord in Jeopardy,” Washington Times, May 6. Malka H. (2011). “Crossroads: The Future of the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington D.C. Huband, M. (2006). "American Power and the Middle East," In The Contemporary Middle East, West-view Press, Boulder. Bickerton, I. and Klausner, C. (2002). “A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict,” 4th. ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River. Migdalovitz, C. (2006). “Israel: Background and Relations with the United States,” Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Sharp, J. (2006). “U.S. Foreign Assistance to Israel,” Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Waxman, D. (2012). “The Real Problem in U.S.-Israeli Relations,” The Washington Quarterly. Zanotti, J. (2012). “Israel: Background and U.S. Relations,” Available Through: Congressional Research Service [Accessed 7th December 2012]. Read More