US–Israel relations in the post-Cold War era: The view from Jerusalem

While moral and cultural affinities, as well as the political power of domestic constituencies were important factors in forging what it is occasionally referred to as a ‘special relationship’ between Jerusalem and Washington, it is the image of Israel as a key ally, i.e. sharing common strategic interests, that generated the strategic, political, and economic support that the US has provided particularly since 1967. 3 The US has acted as an important strategic ally of Israel over the years. In 1948, the US was the first country to recognize newly-born Israel. From the late 1960s, it was the US that provided Israel with much-needed diplomatic and economic support, as well as with access to modern weaponry.4 During the Cold War, Israel seemed to constitute a strategic asset which justified American largesse. 5 It blocked the hegemonial aspirations of Abdel Nasser, the radical anti-Western leader of Egypt, a Soviet ally. In 1970, Israel deterred a greater intervention on the part of Syria, another Soviet ally, in an attempt to undermine the pro-Western Hashemite rule in Jordan. This event underscored in particular Israel’s strategic value in the eyes of the US. 6.