Keeping US on our side
Israel must find way to maintain American support in wake of Bush era
President George W. Bush’s administration brought America’s friendship with Israel to new heights: Decisive support for Israel’s strategic deterrence capabilities and generous financial assistance in order to maintain Israel’s military advantage; broad diplomatic support for most of Israel’s positions; generous sharing of security and intelligence know-how; diplomatic backing for self-defense activity in the face of the Palestinian terror offensive, and more.
All of the above were undertaken while displaying sensitivity, understanding, and showing consideration to developments within Israel, internal political constraints, and Israeli public opinion. The above are supreme diplomatic assets that serve to guarantee Israel’s continued existence in the region.
Yet in a few months the Bush era will end, the election campaign is already in full force, and the positions of some candidates on Israel are still shrouded in uncertainty. In Washington we see growing voices claiming that Israel’s diplomatic assets, described above, are a growing burden on American foreign policy in light of their price and influence on the United States’ ties with the Muslim and Arab world.
Israel must therefore immediately undertake a thorough examination of the American motives for support: We should look at which components of this support are out of date and which can be rehabilitated or boosted.
The Holocaust of European Jewry, for example, served in the past as a powerful basis for the national demands of the survivors, yet the dozens of years that have passed since then have weakened the weight of this component considerably. Israel’s location and status during the Cold War, as a Western outpost in the heart of the Soviet sphere of influence, is another motive that has faded away.
The Jewish community, whose immense contribution to shaping the essential American support is unquestionable, is not growing, and it is doubtful whether it will keep investing in Israel as it does today. Intermarriage and the complete and successful integration into American life, and the process of distancing, in generational terms, from the historic origins of Jewish existence all serve to shape political support patterns for a candidate or party that are premised on general considerations, which have nothing to do with the “Israeli” position.
Weaker attachment to Israel
The American Jewish community, through its various organizations, is undertaking great deeds at this time in promoting Israel’s interests, yet this should not be taken for granted as time passes. Jewish life in the US is being managed in conjunction with a declining attachment to Israel. For most young people in the community Israel is neither a potential home nor a spiritual-ideological center. Regrettably, for many young Americans Israel is not even a travel destination. We can therefore assume that the part played by the American Jewish community in safeguarding and promoting Israel’s interests won’t grow.
Immediately after the State of Israel was established, the majority of the American public, including the significant part that is unfamiliar with foreign policy matters, viewed it as an island of Western civilization in a different region. The Americans granted Israel a plethora of warmth, sympathy, and friendship, particularly due to the distinction between the Jewish state and the way of life prevalent among its neighbors: Vital and active democracy, a rule of law that maintains proper legal procedures and respects human rights, military excellence, and magnificent achievements in the areas of technology, science, arts, and culture.
Perhaps this is where the motive for ongoing support can be found: Maintaining and nurturing a western social and political regime in the depths of the Middle East requires that the State of Israel be advanced, nurtured, and protected. The damage caused by radical Islam – across the world in general and within the US in particular – will make it easier and assist in constructing an up-to-date motive for long-term support.
