I'm trying to understand the motivation behind the fact that the US gives more aid to Israel than we give to any other country. In searching for information about what might be motivating the US, I have found several answers, none of which satisfy me, even taken together as a group:

1. Claims that Israel is a bulwark of democracy, which I think is hogwash. First, you don't need a PhD in History to know that the US supports some democracies and undermines others, and I don't see the reasoning behind giving so much money to ONE of MANY struggling democracies. I can understand giving aid, but more aid than we give to any other country?

2. Claims that the Jewish lobby is really strong in the US. Yes, but I don't believe any lobby is strong enough to lead Americans into giving ridiculous amounts of money to a country without either a strong moral imperative for doing so or receiving something beneficial in return.

3. Claims that Americans feel guilt about centuries of anti-semitism and the Holocaust. Also hogwash. If guilt were the cause of Israeli support, Europeans would be their strongest ally, which is hardly the case.

4. Leftist claims that the US uses Israel for it's "dirty work" (such as funneling weapons to South Africa back in the apartheid days and training brutal Latin American dictators). I distrust this because while I'm sure there is a dark side to the relationship(there's a dark side to everything), there must be some positive benefits that we can be proud of, or most Americans wouldn't support it.

So what are the reasons? Why do we give so much support to Israel?

[This message was edited by Sarai on 03-16-04 at 09:08 PM.]

Truman recognized Israel in May 1948, the two countries (Israel and Egypt)have had what historians call a “special relationship”—shaped by American admiration for Israeli democracy; Cold War maneuvering; U.S. distaste for Arab aggression and terrorism; long-standing congressional support for Israel; American guilt over turning away Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany; the clout of the pro-Israel lobby; Christian interest in the holy land; and Israel’s value to America as a stable, reliable friend with a formidable military, a legendary intelligence service, and common values.

Surely American interest see Israel as their most important harbour in the middle east, the number two #2 to receive financial aid is ......an Arab country, .......Egypt.

http://cfrterrorism.org/causes/israelsupport.html

Thanks, mozart56! This is a great starting point. I wonder if anyone out there can clarify some doubts I have about what this article states.

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Originally posted by mozart56:
Truman recognized Israel in May 1948, the two countries (Israel and Egypt)have had what historians call a “special relationship”—shaped by American admiration for Israeli democracy,

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What about the Israeli democracy do we admire so much? Is it special or unique in some way?

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Cold War maneuvering;

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Why was Israel so central in the Cold War? Muslim countries aren't communist. I understand that many supported the USSR, but wasn't that partly because the US wouldn't support Arab nations?

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U.S. distaste for Arab aggression and terrorism;

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Didn't Zionists use agression and terrorism to pressure Britain into giving them parts of Palestine? When Americans first began to support Israel, were Arabs already practicing terrorism commonly?

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long-standing congressional support for Israel;

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Why?

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Christian interest in the holy land;

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Christians exist throughout the world. Why are American Christians more interested than other Christians?

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and Israel’s value to America as a stable, reliable friend with a formidable military, a legendary intelligence service

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Did Israel have a formidable military and legendary intelligence service before US aid, or did they get these as a result of our aid?

Sorry for so many questions. I just feel like I'm missing something. None of these explanations seems quite satisfying. Any ideas?

Thanks again, Mozart!

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Originally posted by Sarai:
Thanks, mozart56! This is a great starting point. I wonder if anyone out there can clarify some doubts I have about what this article states.

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What about the Israeli democracy do we admire so much? Is it special or unique in some way?

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They have achieved something desired by an unfortunately large number of Americans: The effective disenfranchisement of a very large fraction of the population. And they've managed to keep the notion of their being a democratic country alive while doing it.

Alan Moore

Sarai, I don't think your point #2 is hogwash. Following WW2 much of the American public was committed to the establishment of Israel and was galvanized in that direction by the British action of turning away European ships from allowing more Jewish refugees in to the country. Notwithstanding the powerful lobby of Truman which he himself remarked upon with the addition of the increasing Democratic party presence at the time of Jews. A good reference is "A history of the modern middle east" by William Cleveland. Following this came the Truman and Eisenhower doctrine which sought to contain the spread of communism. Isreal was a religious state and as such would not succumb to this doctrine and was another reason to be supported. See what happened to Egypt under Nasser when he sought aid from the USSR and you can see this pattern to be true. Turkey has had similar relations with the US for this reason as well, to act as a bulwark against the USSR. You may also want to see the history of Russia and Britain and how they played a similar scenario during the 1800's. The Us simply took over from Britain following WW2. That is most of it in a nutshell but there is a lot more that I don't have the space to go into unless you have questions.

I just saw a couple other I didn't address:

Didn't Zionists use agression and terrorism to pressure Britain into giving them parts of Palestine? When Americans first began to support Israel, were Arabs already practicing terrorism commonly?

Yes, one specific incident was the bombing of King David Hotel by the Zionist Irgun. This was in response to the British turning away ships with refugees from Europe and to remove British influence in the Palestinian Mandates. Guess it worked because they left soon after. It wasn't specifically for more territory in Palestine, it was to remove the influence of Britain over Isreali affairs in the area of Palestine mandated to them per the UNSCOP measure of 1947.

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and Israel’s value to America as a stable, reliable friend with a formidable military, a legendary intelligence service
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Did Israel have a formidable military and legendary intelligence service before US aid, or did they get these as a result of our aid?

Isreal had a robust secuurity agency before any US aid. Many Isreali's fought on the Allied side during WW2 and gained their experience that way. Others gained experience through their activities in the Irgun and Haganah which the latter was reorganized in the IDF (Isreali Defence Forces). Their experience is what helped them repulse the attacks in 1948 by Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan.

One interesting item I forgot to mention was the Isreali attack on the Suez in 1956. This was planned by the British and French governments following Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal. The US and USSR both condemned the action and forces from the 3 were withdrawn under US pressure. Politics makes strange bedfellows is often a true statement. See the members of the Baghdad Pact for more on Soviet containment and aid given by the US to these nations. It is quite simply in a lot of cases whatever is in a nation's best interest at the time.