Research report published by Foreign Policy in Focus, a Washington D.C. based think-tank.
Abstract: Nearly lost in the furor over the Israeli attack on the Turkish civilian aid flotilla is an incredible assessment delivered to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “Israel is turning from an asset to the United States to a burden,” testified Meir Dagan, the director of Mossad, on June 1.
The entente between the U.S. and Israel has been so close for so long that it has become axiomatic. However, as the prominent political analyst Eqbal Ahmad correctly pointed out as early as the 1970s, American support for Israel stems not from historical guilt, well-heeled lobbies or other (often anti-Semitic) conspiracies, but from a fundamental alignment of interests. Such an alignment existed since the 1960s to the end of the Cold War. But U.S. and Israeli interests no longer fully coincide. Dagan’s statement demonstrates that Israel has begun to recognize that the strategic framework of American dominance in the Middle East is changing.
Many of the recent events in the region, from the “peace process” and “proximity talks” to the spat between the United States and Israel and reactions around the Turkish flotilla incident, are encoded into American grand strategy in the region. Deciphering these historical interests sheds light on the direction of U.S.-Israeli relations and its consequences for the Middle East. READ FULL REPORT.
Abstract: Nearly lost in the furor over the Israeli attack on the Turkish civilian aid flotilla is an incredible assessment delivered to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “Israel is turning from an asset to the United States to a burden,” testified Meir Dagan, the director of Mossad, on June 1.
The entente between the U.S. and Israel has been so close for so long that it has become axiomatic. However, as the prominent political analyst Eqbal Ahmad correctly pointed out as early as the 1970s, American support for Israel stems not from historical guilt, well-heeled lobbies or other (often anti-Semitic) conspiracies, but from a fundamental alignment of interests. Such an alignment existed since the 1960s to the end of the Cold War. But U.S. and Israeli interests no longer fully coincide. Dagan’s statement demonstrates that Israel has begun to recognize that the strategic framework of American dominance in the Middle East is changing.
Many of the recent events in the region, from the “peace process” and “proximity talks” to the spat between the United States and Israel and reactions around the Turkish flotilla incident, are encoded into American grand strategy in the region. Deciphering these historical interests sheds light on the direction of U.S.-Israeli relations and its consequences for the Middle East. READ FULL REPORT.
RSS Feed