why does the United States historically support Israel?

Vote after vote, Israel can count on its American ally. Like this December 8 at the UN Security Council, where the representative of the United States was the only one to oppose with a raised hand a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the shelled Gaza Strip. by the Israeli army for two months. Enough to provoke the anger of the Palestinian Authority, irritate Westerners, arousing in the process the indignation of NGOs such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF) or Amnesty International, as reported by the American magazine Time.

Four days later, during a general assembly this time, the United States again voted against a call for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, which did not prevent the adoption of the resolution – non-binding – overwhelmingly by the United Nations (153 votes for, 10 votes against and 23 abstentions).

“This American vote is far from being a surprise”explains to franceinfo Brahim Oumansour, researcher at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (Iris) and specialist in the Middle East. “Since the emergence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the United States has opposed around ten resolutions that went against Israel’s interests”he emphasizes.

The fact remains that, since the Hamas attack on October 7, Washington has been blowing hot and cold against its partners. After promising to help the Jewish state on all fronts at the beginning of October, the American president is now calling for restraint. “I want them [l’armée israélienne] focus on preserving civilian lives [palestiniens]. Not that they stop against Hamas, but that they be more careful.”for example, he declared on December 14, quoted by CNN.

An alliance forged in the middle of the Cold War

These remarks, coldly received by the Israeli general staff, clash in the mouth of Joe Biden, “a very classic president in his unwavering support for Israel”, underlines Brahim Oumansour. For more than half a century, it is indeed a very generous policy that Washington has pursued towards Israel, sometimes against its own interests.

However, everything did not start under the best auspices between the two countries. Proclaimed in 1948, the State of Israel was immediately recognized by Washington, but was subject to an American embargo on arms sales. And this, despite the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli war the same year. It was not until 1962 that newly elected Democratic President John Fitzgerald Kennedy changed course by becoming “the first to use the term alliance to describe the relationship between Israel and the United States”explains Pascal Boniface, director of Iris, in an analysis video posted online at the end of November.

At the height of the Cold War, the embargo targeting Israel was lifted, a major step in the rapprochement desired by Kennedy. “to strengthen the American presence in the Middle East within the framework of the rivalry with the Soviet Union”, details Pascal Boniface. At that time, Moscow cooperated in particular with two neighboring countries of Israel: Egypt and Syria.

“For the United States, supporting Israel made it possible to stem communism in the Middle East, while preventing another regional power from forming.”

Brahim Oumansour, researcher at Iris

at franceinfo

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, for fear of getting angry with Arab countries, Washington discreetly supported the Jewish state, involved in several successive wars. Until the beginning of the 1990s, the United States increased donations and sales of weapons, as well as financial loans at preferential rates.

Several billion in military aid each year

Since Bill Clinton’s terms in the White House (from January 1993 to January 2001), Washington’s support for the Israeli state has taken a new form: that of “memorandums of understanding” (or MOUs, for “Memorandum of Understanding”), military and financial cooperation agreements spread over ten years. The latest came into force in 2019 under Donald Trump, and runs until 2028.

These long-term agreements have allowed the Israeli army to get its hands on state-of-the-art equipment. F-35 fighter jets, combat helicopters, ballistic missiles… The weapons supplied by the Americans are continuously flowing towards the Jewish state, in the name of the principle of “military qualitative advantage” (“Qualitative Military Edge”), who predict “that Israel must always be better armed than other countries and capable of defending itself against its neighbors”explains Brahim Oumansour.

Among the systems co-financed by the United States is the “Iron Dome”, this network of anti-aircraft batteries capable of intercepting rockets fired by terrorist groups at Israeli cities. In total, according to a note (in PDF) of March 1, 2023, the United States has sent more than $150 billion in aid to Israel since the 1940s, the majority of which (more than 78%) has been used to purchase weapons and equipment military.

Broadly speaking, the United States justifies its support for Israel by invoking “common strategic objectives in the Middle East” as well as’“a commitment (…) to democratic values”, as the American Congress recalled in March. For Washington, the region has always been hostile.

“In 1979, the Iranian revolution caused the United States to lose its main ally in the Arabian Gulf, which led it to further strengthen its partnership with Israel.”

Pascal Boniface, director of Iris

in an analysis video published on YouTube

Since the September 11 attacks, the American invasion of Afghanistan and then Iraq has also seriously damaged the image of the United States in the Arab-Muslim world. Just like the tolerance granted to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. “With a few exceptions, the United States has never denounced colonization”underlines researcher Brahim Oumansour, despite calls for a two-state solution, still launched by Joe Biden in recent weeks.

“Israel remains a bedrock of American foreign policy in the Middle East”

Other “paradox” pointed out by the Iris expert: in the region, Washington has isolated itself while creating a powerful partner. “Israel remains a bedrock of American foreign policy in the Middle East”explains the researcher, who cites “the growing autonomy of the Israeli defense industry” as well as “the strength of the intelligence services” of the country, on which the United States can rely.

After so much investment and cooperation, any policy change today would prove costly for Washington. “If the Americans were to abandon Israel, the risk would be that the country would move closer to other powers, such as Russia or China, with which it also signs bilateral agreements”, notes the specialist. Moreover, despite the warnings of recent weeks and the repeated call for increased humanitarian aid to Gaza, the American administration confirmed, Monday, December 18, that it would continue to provide weapons to its historic ally.

Despite disagreements between the Netanyahu and Biden governments in recent months, on the question of Iranian nuclear power or judicial reforms in Israel, the attacks of October 7 have “triggered an immediate realignment between Washington and Tel Aviv”notes Pascal Boniface.

It is not only in the corridors of the UN that relations between the two countries are the subject of intense debate, in light of what has been taking place for almost two and a half months in the Gaza Strip. In the American political sphere, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict mobilizes large groups and is proving to be a specific electoral issue.

A burning national question in the United States

Since its creation in 1963, the Committee on United States-Israel Public Affairs (Aipac), a powerful pro-Israeli lobby, has for example tried to influence the national debate by injecting large sums of money into campaigns on all sides. His messages resonate with the country’s Jewish community, but also with many elected officials in the Republican Party.

“The Republican electorate is largely from the American Christian right, which is very Zionist for religious reasons”explains Laurence Nardon, program director at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri)in his podcast “New Deal”. “So, Republican officials are pro-Israeli and pro-Netanyahu”she adds.

Favorite of the right for the next American presidential election, Donald Trump is no exception to the rule. “I am first for Israel”, the former president declared to the conservative newspaper at the end of October Free Beaconcalling in passing to strengthen military aid in favor of the Jewish state.

Enough to please his electoral base. In a recent Pew Research Center survey, 59% of Republicans surveyed believe that Israel embraces “the right approach” in its military operation in Gaza. Among these supporters, almost half believe that the Israeli army, accused by Hamas of having killed nearly 20,000 people since its response in the Palestinian enclave, “doesn’t go far enough”.