by Yoram Ettinger
Originally posted as "Shared values shape relations"
The assumption that U.S.-Israel relations are shaped from the top down and are determined by U.S. presidents and "elites" constitutes a slap in the face of U.S. democracy
Long-term trends in
U.S.-Israel relations do not hinge solely, or even mostly, on U.S.
presidents. This has been documented since Israel's establishment in
1948, and especially since the early 1980s, when, despite systematic
presidential pressures on Israel, bilateral cooperation in the fields of
industry, commerce, science, technology, agriculture, homeland security
and defense has surged beyond expectations.
President Harry Truman
pressured Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to end the "occupation" of
western Jerusalem and parts of the Negev and Galilee; President Lyndon
Johnson pressured Prime Minister Levi Eshkol to refrain from reuniting
Jerusalem and building in "occupied areas"; President Richard Nixon
pressured Prime Minister Golda Meir to end the "occupation" and refrain
from building in east Jerusalem; President Jimmy Carter pressured Prime
Minister Menachem Begin to focus on withdrawal from Judea and Samaria,
rather than on peace with Egypt; President Ronald Reagan pressured Prime
Minister Begin to rescind the application of Israeli law to the Golan
Heights and end the pursuit of the Palestine Liberation Organization in
Lebanon; President George Bush pressured Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir
to recognize the PLO and refrain from construction in Judea and Samaria.
Despite the
presidential pressures -- which included arms embargoes, suspensions of
deliveries of advanced military systems, denials of loan guarantees, and
brutal condemnations -- Israel's role as the United States' major
non-NATO ally and it most effective and unconditional geostrategic ally
has catapulted to unprecedented levels.
The assumption that
U.S.-Israel relations are shaped from the top down and are determined by
U.S. presidents and "elites" constitutes a slap in the face of U.S.
democracy, which puts the voter in the center with the thundering battle
cry that no elected official can afford to ignore: "We will remember in
November!"
According to the most
recent annual Gallup poll of country favorability, despite the tensions
between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
the ongoing criticism by the State Department and the "elite" U.S.
media and academia, Israel ranks systematically among the most favorable
countries to Americans, enjoying the support of 71% of the US
constituency, compared with the Palestinian Authority's 19%.
In fact, U.S.-Israel
relations have been shaped from 400-year-old foundations of history,
tradition and values based on much older shared Judeo-Christian values.
In the 17th century, the early Pilgrims arriving on the shores of what
would become the United States saw themselves as landing in a
"modern-day Promised Land" after weeks of sailing across the "Red Sea"
(the Atlantic Ocean) in an effort to get away from "Egypt" (Britain).
The Founding Fathers considered themselves "the people of the modern-day
Covenant." In 2016, these values feature prominently in the House of
Representatives, the Supreme Court and the centrality of Judeo-Christian
values in the U.S. political, judicial and legal discourse.
Since Israel's
establishment in 1948, U.S.-Israel relations have not hinged solely, or
mostly, on the executive branch, but at least as much on the equal,
codetermining legislature, often in defiance of the executive. The
Constitution and Congress' own track record give Congress the power of
the purse. Both houses have demonstrated their awesome muscle in
critical junctions of recent U.S. history, including in the areas of
foreign policy and national security, such as ending U.S. military
involvement in Cambodia/Vietnam (1973), Angola (1976) and Nicaragua
(1982-85); bringing down the white regime in South Africa (1986);
castrating the U.S. intelligence community (1975) and forcing free
emigration upon Moscow (1974).
Congress, along with
many state legislatures, has always been the most authentic reflection
of the will of the people in the 435 districts and 50 states,
authoritatively reflecting the long-held special affinity felt by
Americans toward the Jewish state. Some congressmen from districts
without a single synagogue are urged by their constituents: "Don't
forsake the Jewish state."
Furthermore, the future
of U.S.-Israel relations hinges less on the next president's policies
toward the Palestinian issue, Jerusalem or settlements than it does on
other issues: the president's own national security worldview; the
increasingly anti-U.S., unpredictable, unstable, intolerant and violent
international arena; the intensifying threats (especially Islamic
terrorism) to national and homeland security in the U.S. and its Arab
allies; Israel's military and commercial capabilities as "the largest
U.S. aircraft carrier," despite not having a single U.S. soldier on
board; and Israel as the battle-tested laboratory for U.S. military
forces and defense industries in a region critical to U.S. security.
Irrespective of the
outcome of this November's presidential election, 2017 will experience a
sustained enhancement of the mutually beneficial U.S.-Israel
cooperation in response to global threats and opportunities, consistent
with the shared values of justice and liberty that bind the two
countries.
Yoram Ettinger
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=16641
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Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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