The United States and Israel have always shared a passion for democracy. Both countries had similar foundations, established by a majority of immigrants claiming to create a better society, towards religious tolerance and democratic ideas. In 1948, both the United States and the Soviet Union immediately recognized the State of Israel. During a era where these two nations often fought against on another to claim a majority in support and power for either ideologies, the United States, firmly recognized but limited their support for Israel due to it’s alliances with Arab countries in the region and the growing demand for oil in the region.
Many believed that Jews deserved a sanctuary after the horrors that occurred during the Holocaust, the establishment of Israel was therefore greatly supported by President Truman and his legal counsel, Clark Clifford. Some believed this support, was just a scheme to get Jewish votes and that recognizing Israel might endanger United States’ access to Arab oil. Although, Truman and Clifford strongly endorsed the US recognition, much of the United States government, including the State Department, the Defense Department and the CIA, worried about the Israeli declaration of independence. Critics like John Snetsinger, repeated this belief ad nausea. Truman faced an election year, which prompted him a need in the Jewish support, which an overwhelmingly majority were Jews rather than Arabs. Benson, an analyst from the University of Utah, believed that Truman’s pro-Israel outlook “was based prompted on humanitarian, moral, and sentimental grounds, many of which were an outgrowth of the president’s religious upbringing and his familiarity with the Bible”. Truman recognized the influence of the Zion...
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...OBBY AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY." THE ISRAEL LOBBY AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY Vol. 28.6 (2006). University of Chicago. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. .
Quandt, William. Decade of Decisions (London, England: University of California Press, 1977), 39-41, 66-69.
Rebenberg, Cheryl A. Israel and the American National Interest (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1986), 126.
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The Middle East has historically rebuked Western influence during their process of establishing independence. When Britain and France left the Middle East after World War II, the region saw an unprecedented opportunity to establish independent and self-sufficient states free from the Western influence they had felt for hundreds of years. In an attempt to promote nationalistic independence, the states of the region immediately formed the League of Arab States in 1945. The League recognized and promoted the autonomy of its members and collaborated in regional opposition against the West until 1948 when Israel declared independence. Israel represented then and now an intrusive Western presence in the Arab world. The ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict typifies this cultural antagonism. The Cold War refocused attention to the Middle East as a site of economic and strategic importance for both sides, yet the two hegemons of the Cold War now needed to recognize the sovereignty of the Middle Eastern states. With their statehood and power cemented, the Middle Easte...
Ben-Gurion, David. “Status-Quo Agreement.” In Israel in the Middle East: Second Edition, edited by Itamar Rabinovich and Jehude Reinharz, 58-59. Waltham: Brandeis University Press, 2008.
...of the situation, "The position of the Jews in liberated countries is desperate. The political pressure in Palestine is becoming unbearable. And so is my personal position as President of the Jewish agency. This is the hour to eliminate the British White Paper, to open the doors of Palestine and to proclaim the Jewish state" (Ganin). The British negative attitude gave the militant Zionists who wanted a new policy towards England and for new activist leadership a reason to take action. They felt, "...it's astonishing how fast they forgot about that..." (Silverberg). The Zionist leaders saw that after World War Two, Britain was exhausted economically and psychologically. British power had weakened because of the war. The Jewish community realized that they would not be able to rely on Britain for help and so they turned all their attention to the United States (Ganin).
The influence of political Zionism has declined considerably since formation of Israel that has become stronger day after day; nonetheless, the faction continues to thrive and support the Israel policies, aiding the Jews who were persecuted while encouraging Jews to resettle in Israel. Although, most political parties continue to associate themselves with the political Zionism ideology, the present political environment does not seem to be founded on the principles of political Zionism. Irrespective of that observation, political Zionism has succeeded in increasing the population of Jews living in Israel year after year. Through the efforts of the political Zionism, Israel has remained the only state founded by a population existing in Diaspora. This research paper focuses on the history of political Zionism, the reason why Theodor Herzl played a key role in the political ideology, and an evaluation on whether its goals have been achieved.
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted for a partition resolution that led to the establishment of the nation of Israel in May, 1948. This was great news for Jews in Palestine and the diaspora as it meant the fulfillment of the quest for the rebirth of their nation in their previous homeland after many years of wandering (Pappe, 2006, p. 12). However, their Palestinian Arab counterparts opposed to the establishment from the start felt cheated by the international community and remained categorical that the final answer to the Jewish problem would only be solved in blood and fire (Karsh, 2002, p. 8).
...US support for Israel, contributed in making US interests more magnetic targets for outraged groups. This relation is not the only grievance of these groups, of course, but it is a central one, and it makes advancing other U.S. interests more difficult.
Since the inception of an Israeli nation-state in 1948, violence and conflict has played a major role in Israel’s brief history. In the Sixty-One year’s Israel has been a recognized nation-state, they have fought in 6 interstate wars, 2 civil wars, and over 144 dyadic militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) with some display of military force against other states (Maoz 5). Israel has been involved in constant conflict throughout the past half century. Israel’s tension against other states within the Middle East has spurred vast economic, social, and political unity that has fostered a sense of nationalism and unity in Israel not seen in most other states. Over the next several pages I will try and dissect the reasons for why the nation state of Israel has been emerged in constant conflict and how this conflict has helped foster national unity and identity among the people of Israel.
BIBLIOGRAPHYSachar, Howard M. A History of Israel From the Rise of Zionism to our Time.Yalowitz, Gerson, U.S. News and World Report, "How Bad Can it Get?" December 10, 1990, Vol. 109.____________, A Letter From Israel, Halva, Jerusalem (1992).__________________, Israel Today, Halva Press, Jerusalem (1992)._______________, U.S. News and World Report, "A Chilling Effect With Israel," (December 31, 1990), Vol. 109, p. 14.
Jacobs, R. Lawrence . 2005. " Who Influences U.S. Foreign Policy?" Vol. 99, No. 1. American Political Science Review.
Trubowitz, Peter. Defining the National Interest: Conflict and Change in American Foreign Policy. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Hahn, Peter L. Caught in the Middle East: U.S. Policy Toward the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1945-1961. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004. Print.
Mearsheimer, J. & Walt, S. (2006). The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy. In Middle East Policy. 13, 3, 29-87.
Isolationism (noun): a policy of national isolation by abstention from alliances and other international political and economic relations (merriam-webster.com). Among myriad similarities between the state of Israel and the United States, one of the most pressing is that both countries are becoming isolationists. The leaders of America and Israel, craving power, want to create an isolationist society, which will ultimately diminish the people’s democracy.
Maisel, L. S., Forman, I. N., Altschiller, D., & Bassett, C. W. (2001). Jews in American politics. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
countries. The Israel Lobby has a great deal of negative influence on US foreign policy. The