US-Israel Foreign Relations - Case Study Example

US-Israel Foreign Relations Introduction US – Israel relationship is one of the stable ones irrespective of who rules America or Israel. In fact no other countries in the world have maintained such a strong and long relationship with US like Israel does. No other country has ever received aids from US as Israel does. America will never allow United Nations to impose any sanctions upon Israel even if Israel commits human right violations and massacres especially in Middle East region. In fact most of the political analysts believe that Israel dared to massacres in the Middle East region especially in Palestine only because of the lavish support (political and moral) and aids(financial and military) it is getting from United States. “During the Cold War, the U.S. and Israel had a joint strategic interest in defeating aggressors in the Middle East seeking to invade their neighbors and disrupt the status quo, especially if they had Moscows backing. This became the essence of the U.S.-Israel alliance in the Middle East.” (Gold) Both America and Israel make use of each other whenever a possible threat arises against any of them. Moreover both of them will justify other’s actions even if it is against the international law. The United States has sacrificed its name as a democratic country for the sake of Israel. It has lost its credibility in the Middle East region and among the Muslim community all over the world because of their soft approach towards Israel. This paper analyses the depth of US-Israel relationship in the past present and in future. USs current foreign policy approach/relationship with Israel “Despite the widely-held tail-wagging-the-dog assumptions, history has shown that the United States has frequently used Israel to advance its strategic interests in the region and beyond, such as aiding pro-Western governments and pro-Western insurgencies, keeping radical nationalist governments like Syria in check and engaging in covert interventions in Jordan, Lebanon, and now Kurdistan”. (Zunes) Outsiders quiet often confused about why United States is sacrificing its interests for Israel. Many people believed that Israel is exploiting its ties with US for its own merits rather than the US’s benefits. In fact in most of the issues in the Middle East region United States is staying at the back drop and utilizing Israel’s aggressive approaches for its own advantages. US don’t like the involvement of other super powers in this region because of the immense natural wealth like oil and drinking water resources. Making use of Israel Unites States successfully blocked any foreign intrusion in this region. “Israels bombing of Iraqs Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981—despite formal criticism—was enthusiastically supported by the Reagan administration.” (Zunes) In many international issues, the Israeli secret service “Mossad” and CIA of America has tied up and conducted their mission. US do not want others “The goals of Israeli policy are to overcome diplomatic isolation and to achieve recognition and friendly relations with as many nations as possible, both in the Middle East and beyond” (Foreign Relations) In the absence of US’s support Israel could have been isolated in the whole world because of their intrusions in to other’s territory and the massacres committed against all the international laws and norms. But the relationship with US helped them to overcome such isolation and also to establish ties with other countries as well. For example, at present India – US relationship has been improved immensely which is evident from the 123 agreement signed by these countries for the supply and cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. Israel has utilized this close tie up of America with India and they recently started to improve their relationship with India as well. Recently India has obtained some advanced radar systems form Israel for their air boundary protection and more over India has recently signed another agreement with Israeli companies for the supply of military equipments. Thus Israel utilizes America’s relationships with other countries for their advantages also. “Since 1982, the US has vetoed 32 Security Council resolutions critical of Israel, more than the total number of vetoes cast by all the other Security Council members. It blocks the efforts of Arab states to put Israel’s nuclear arsenal on the IAEA’s agenda. (Mearsheimer & Walt) United States at present is campaigning actively against the Iranian and North Korean efforts to achieve nuclear arms. At the same time U.S. has blocked the efforts of Arab countries to explore the nuclear arsenal of Israel by the IAEA. U.S. has utilized its veto power mostly for saving Israel rather than anything else in the UN assembly. Economic, political and military relation between US and Israel Israel has one of the stable economies in the world. Even the current financial crisis has not affected Israel much though the super power United States is still struggling to regroup its economy which is scattered due to the unexpected global recession. Moreover Israel’s military and secret services (Mossad) are believed to be one of the most modern and well maintained ones of that kind in the world. Israel has achieved this economical and defense domination only because of the lavish aids showered up on them by the US. “In 1996 the U.S. gave Israel $1.8 billion in military aid and $1.3 billion in economic aid grants--constituting 25% of total U.S. foreign aid. In addition, Israel received another half billion dollars to underwrite Tel Avivs own foreign aid program, as well as transfers of new weapons systems and equipment from the Pentagon, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and other U.S. agencies. (Phyllis Bennis) Israel has been allowed to spend most of these US aids for domestic development purposes by the US. But for other countries majority of the US aids need to be utilized for purchasing goods from US. This freedom in spending allotted to Israel shows the depth of US-Israel relationship. ‘Last year, however, the United States provided Israel with thirty long-range F-15s at a cost of $48 million each. The United States has also recently provided Israel with 5000 GBU-27 and GBU-28 weapons, better known as “bunker busters,” warheads guided by lasers or satellites which can penetrate up to ten meters of earth and concrete to destroy suspected underground facilities’. (Zunes) In fact Israel is the only US ally which receives critical weapons from US. Political tie up between these countries have some cultural and religious backgrounds as well. United States is a Christian dominated country where as Israel is the only Jew’s state in the world. Both Jews and Christians have some common grounds in their religious beliefs. The Christian’s Holy Bible and the Jew’s Hebrew Bible almost same in its contents and teachings till the Jesus Christ era. The Jews though not accepting Jesus as the son of God, both Jews and Christians have all the other elements of their beliefs almost same. Moreover the Jews – Arabs fights has started even from the biblical times and it seems to be a never ending one. So because of the common elements in religious beliefs US has taken the protection of Israel on moral backgrounds as well. Main issues in US/Israeli relationship Because many elements of strategic relationship are kept secret - particularly in the intelligence field - it is difficult for academics and pundits to assess the true value of U.S.-Israel ties. (Gold) The external world has only limited knowledge about the exact proportions of US –Israel relationship. There are lots of unknown dimensions in this strategic tie up between Israel and US. US-Israel relationship is a costly affair for United States since they struggled to justify the unconditional supports they extended to Israel in many issues. They were forced to adopt different stands on similar issues in international politics. For example US has strongly criticized South Korea and Iran for their nuclear programs while keeping a blind eye towards similar issues related to Israel. The authenticity of US as an international negotiator has been damaged considerably because of this double standards on similar issues. Moreover the new governments in US and Israel have different concepts on international issues now. The recent Cairo university speech by President Obama has clearly indicates the change in US policies towards the Palestine issue. Israel is also aware of this shift in US foreign affairs policy and they are keeping a close watch at the developments. “New government in Israel is moving in direction contrary to stated U.S. goals for regional peace process, while U.S. leverage on Israeli government is limited by U.S. domestic concerns and by overtly partisan ties between Clinton and Israel’s Labor Party leaders”. (Bennis) “According to an article prepared by two leading American political scientists, Professor John Mearsheimer and Professor Stephen Walt, neither strategic nor moral arguments can account for Americas support for Israel." The primary explanation for U.S. backing of Israel, according to these academics, is the "unmatched power of the Israel lobby." (Gold) Israel has succeeded in convincing America about the possible threats for their interests from some communities and some regions. They also succeeded in exaggerating these threats for executing their interests at the expense of United States. Future of US Israel relations “Increasingly fractious relations between the US and Israel hit a low unseen in nearly two decades today after the Jewish state rejected President Obamas demand for an end to settlement construction in the West Bank and Washington threatened to "press the point".(McGreal) President Obama has promised a complete change in the US domestic and foreign policies even before the US president elections. His recent actions especially the recent Cairo university speech has indicated strong deviation from the US traditional foreign policies with respec to the Middle East problems. Moreover Obama has not met any of the Israeli officials so far though he has met many other prominent Middle East leaders like the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas. Obama has already sent signals to Israel regarding a policy change in near future itself. “A map of where Obama and McCain stand on the peace process and other issues crucial to Israel—the War on Terror, the Iraq War, Iranian nuclearization” (Oren) Israel is also aware of such a change and hence they are responding to Obama’s remarks very carefully. Now the real question is how far Obama can go or how far Obama can change the existing policies to regain the lost confidence form the Muslim community in general and Middle East community in specific. “Netanyahu declare himself enthusiastically in favor of the process ­ -- provided that it includes elements essential to Israeli security, like demilitarization of the Palestinian territories. Netanyahu knows well that an agreement that does not hurt Israel will not win much support among Palestinians” (Frum) Moreover in America people already raised concerns about the loyalty of Israel as a strategic partner. Israel is actually exploiting US’s emotional and traditional tie up with them for protecting their interests. The unethical legalization of Israeli actions has created many problems for US especially from the Muslim community and the Middle East people. America has lost their face in Middle East issues because of their bias towards Israel. America’s ability to conduct a neutral negotiation on Middle East issue is questioned by many of the Middle East community. “Israeli officials frequently ignore US requests and renege on promises (including pledges to stop building settlements and to refrain from ‘targeted assassinations’ of Palestinian leaders). Israel has provided sensitive military technology to potential rivals like China” (Mearsheimer & Walt) Conclusions US-Israel relationship has been exploited by both the parties to conserve their interests and hidden agendas in the Middle East region. US has helped Israel immensely in developing their economy. The US –Israel tie up is a broad one since it ensures cooperation in almost all the areas like political, military, economical and social. US –Israel relationship has historical importance since no political parties in power either in US or in Israel ever dared to break this relationship. But the newly elected President Obama has already sent strong signals about a possible serious change in US policies towards Israel and Middle East. This change will definitely in favor of the Palestinians rather than the Israelis. Works Cited 1. Bennis, Phyllis. “U.S.-Israel Policy”. 1996. 11 June 2009. 2. Zunes, Stephen. “The United States, Israel, and the Possible Attack on Iran” .2006. FPIF Policy Report. 11 June 2009. 3. McGreal, Chris. “US-Israel Relations Hit Low After Jewish State Rejects White House Demand” Thursday 28 May 2009. guardian.co.uk, 11 June 2009. 4. “Foreign Relations” 11 June 2009. 5. Mearsheimer, John and Walt, Stephen. “The Israel Lobby” 2006. London Review of Books 11 June 2009. 6. Gold, Dore. “Understanding the U.S.-Israel Alliance: An Israeli Response to the Walt-Mearsheimer Claim”. 2007. Jerusalem centre for public affairs. 11 June 2009. 7. Frum, David. “David Frum: U.S.-Israel relations take a familiar route” 2009. 11 June 2009. 8. Oren, Michael. “The U.S.-Israel Partnership: Forks in the Road”. 2008. The Journal of International Security Affairs. 11 June 2009. Read More