The Perilous U.S.-Israel Relationship

by Keith Cooper

From Broader View Weekly, March 14, 2008

Recently, a 25-year-old Palestinian man entered a Jerusalem seminary and shot and killed eight students. This tragic event echoes the recent shootings in schools in the U.S. and abroad, but in the context of the Middle East, it underscores the unrest in the region and demonstrates the obstacles to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The reaction to the incident was also a reminder of the dysfunctional relationship the United States enjoys with Israel. Largely a result of powerful lobbying in Washington, the U.S. has had a long record of unconditional support of Israeli policy. During the Reagan years pro-Israel lobbies like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), perhaps the most powerful Washington lobby, exerted enormous influence over the administration’s foreign policy. AIPAC had significant sway over the selection of administration staff, Middle East agendas, and arms deals with other countries. The lobby applied sufficient pressure to block major arms deals with Arab nations such as the Saudis. This tension has persisted through the present day with the U.S. yielding to Israeli will. Last year’s hefty arms sale to Saudi Arabia only had Israel’s blessing because of the perceived threat that Iran posed.

It is true that Israel’s alliance was valued in the Cold War years. But since the fall of the Soviet Union there is little evidence that our pandering support of Israel is the product of anything other than powerful pro-Israel lobbying and the special interests of certain segments of U.S. population.

Still, the pro-Israel bias is clear in the mainstream media’s coverage of events like the seminary shooting or Israel’s deadly attacks on the Gaza strip the previous week. Israel is ever the victim with the Arab world the aggressor. Over 110 died during the assaults on Gaza before Israel withdrew. Twenty-two of those were children, yet the deaths of eight seminary students (aged 15 to 26) were presented as a graver tragedy by nearly all media outlets. The perspective of the Palestinian plight is all but missing in the mainstream.

Fox News used the coverage to refocus attention on the “problem” of Iran, running footage of apparent celebration in the streets over the shooting. I was unable to find news elsewhere to corroborate such cheering inside Iran, but was unsurprised that Fox might have been less than accurate about reporting that plays into the administration’s hard line on the nation.

News organizations were quick to tag Iran-backed Hamas with the shooting, though friends and family members of the gunman laid it to his grief and frustration over the Gaza deaths and denied his affiliation with any organization. Hamas itself has flip-flopped between claiming responsibility and denying it, even though steadfastly embracing the shooting in blatant defiance would do more to reinforce threats the militant group has made of retaliation for the Gaza attacks.

Some factions of the Religious Right have also lobbied for a close relationship with Israel. Concerns center around biblical prophecy that requires the sovereignty of Israel as a component for fulfillment. Reverend John Hagee, who recently announced his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, has been at the forefront of a movement dedicated to the preservation of Israel. While evangelical Christians and the Jewish community have often had a tenuous rapport, Hagee’s annual “Night to Honor Israel” has been able to garner support and participation from Jewish leadership. Hagee hopes his pro-Israel lobby will become the most powerful in Washington. The growing influence of these evangelicals and AIPAC on foreign policy is evident.

U.S. political leaders on both ends of the political spectrum have declared allegiance to the Israel agenda. During the Gaza attacks Democratic and Republican candidates fell over themselves to make statements affirming Israel’s right to defend herself, with little regard for Israel’s brutality or human rights offenses. The following week, they raced as hard to condemn the shooting in the “strongest terms.”

This close relationship with Israel has far reaching implications. The animosity of some Arab nations directed at the U.S. for its imperialist agendas is only heightened by our unconditional support of Israel. This animosity has been identified as the core of the 9/11 plot. The perception among terrorist groups – of Congress as the source of support for Israel – was used to explain the targeting of Washington sites during the attacks.

Israeli pressure was also part of the equation that led us to the current situation in Iraq. Israel’s government pushed the Bush administration to ensure that it would not lose its resolve as it ramped up to invade the sovereign nation.

The nation of Israel is entitled to self-preservation. She has a right to defend herself. Her people have a right to a peace process that might bring hope to the region. But the intertwined policies of the U.S. and Israel are not contributing positively to that process. The security of both nations is being compromised when our policy is to inappropriately cater to the interests of Israel.