US Support for Israel: History & Future

On 7th October 2023, while the United States was embroiled in a political crisis after the ouster of the Speaker of the House, the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas launched a massive attack against Israel, with rocket attacks, paraglider units, and small battalions that bore through the border fence and attacked Israeli neighborhoods and a music festival that was going on at Re’im, taking many hostages that still remain a very big issue for Israel. After the attack, Israel launched a full-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip, bombarding Gaza City with thousands of rockets that leveled large parts of the city and resulted in deaths of numerous civilians, and the offensive into Gaza has been incredibly controversial, resulting in nationwide student demonstrations, but the United States has especially faced the most political controversy on the Israel crisis. To explain why the Israel-Hamas war has been so polarising in the US, and how American funding to Israel will play out in the future, it is important to examine the history of US-Israel relations.

US-Israel Relations: A History

The idea of establishing Israel as a Jewish state had been going around for many centuries, but it was during the First World War that the issue became much more important. At the time, the area known as Palestine was under the control of the Ottomans, and when Britain went to war with the Ottoman Empire, it issued the “Balfour Declaration¹,” signaling its support for establishing a Jewish state in Palestine. After the war, the UK took over Palestine as a mandate of the League of Nations, and it maintained this status until the Second World War. In the aftermath of the Second World War, when the realities of the Holocaust were exposed, Jews all around the world had a feeling that the only way they could be safe from persecution was if they had a state of their own. Millions of Jews from all around the world flocked to the land that had still been known as Palestine, and along with the Jews who already lived there, they pushed for Britain to fulfill their promise made in 1917. The United States, led by President Harry Truman, supported the establishment of a Jewish state in the Middle East. In 1947, the recently-established United Nations passed a resolution to partition the region of Palestine into two regions- the Jewish state of Israel, and the Arab state of Palestine, with the holy city of Jerusalem being an international zone. In May 1948, Israel declared independence, immediately triggering a war with the Palestinians and other Arabs. US President Harry Truman was personally supportive of the establishment of Israel because of his personal Christian beliefs, and the US recognized the new state and quickly provided military aid. Israel won the war and was established as a new state. From then on, the US has been Israel’s closest ally, both militarily and economically, and when the Soviet Union started supporting Arab states like Syria and Egypt, the US strengthened its support of the Israelis. Then, in 1967, the Six-Day War² occurred, which was perhaps the most important war in the Middle East in the twentieth century. Israel, supported by the US, won the war against surrounding Arab states and occupied the Syrian Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It was at this point that the Israeli occupation of both Palestinian territories began, and backed by the US, settlers had begun to be sent in to slowly populate the West Bank and Gaza Strip with Jewish settlers and push the Palestinians out. Despite this being quite controversial, the US continued to support Israel strongly, especially because of the very large Jewish population of the country. 

Then, in 1973, in the Yom Kippur War, the US once again provided strong support to Israel in its war against Egypt and Syria, and in response to this, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an oil embargo on the US, which triggered a decade of high gasoline prices and stagflation, which were a key factor of the emergence of Ronald Reagan and the wave of neoliberalism and conservative economic policy that still dominates the US today. Conservatives, who came to dominate Western politics during the 1980s, supported Israel as a bulwark against Soviet communism and also against the Islamic countries of the Middle East. In the fifty years since that war, the US has continued to support Israel strongly. It has been estimated that the US, between 1951 and 2022, has given more than $90 Billion³ in economic aid, but it has been increasingly controversial in recent decades, as Israel has come under the leadership of more nationalist leaders and their treatment of Palestinian civilians has come under scrutiny.

Why Does the US Support Israel?

The United States has supported Israel from the establishment of the state in 1947 for two primary reasons- military and electoral. Israel is the only US ally in the Middle East, and is very happy to offer up its land for American military bases, which provides the US a way to extend its influence into the region. American military strategy since the Second World War has prioritized having the ability to fight a war in any region of the world, as fast as possible and with the most powerful force possible. For the US military, having Israel as a base gives it the ability to, in case a war breaks out with a regional rival like Iran, quickly deploy land, air, and naval units and bring out its full force in a matter of days. Israel was a key ally in the First Gulf War and the Iraq War of 2003, and after that, as tensions rose with Iran, American leadership prioritized its alliance with Israel. The close military relationship between the two countries has led to American military contractors having strong ties to Israeli companies⁴, a large part of the strong economic ties between the two countries.

The other reason why the US continues to support Israel is related to domestic politics, and specifically the demographics the two parties rely on. Jews in America, constituting around 3% of the US population, and having a large presence in states like New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, have been a large voting bloc for a long time. New York used to be a key swing state for most of American history, so appealing to its Jewish population was a big part of both parties’ electoral strategy. Harry Truman, the President who recognized the state of Israel, was a Democrat, and it is one of the reasons why the Democratic Party has been largely successful in capturing the Jewish vote in elections, and why Truman is quite revered by American Jews. Jews have consistently voted Democrat for many decades, and another reason for this is that non-Orthodox Jews tend to be quite liberal, and so vote for the liberal Democratic Party, while Orthodox Jews favor the conservative Republicans. To avoid losing the Jewish vote, which has helped Democrats solidify control of New York and have a strong base in other states, Democratic Presidents have supported Israel. In the aftermath of the 7th October attacks, Biden, who has been struggling with low approval ratings and is facing an upcoming election, has been eager to show his support for Israel to keep the Jewish vote with the Democrats and avoid losing ground in swing states like Pennsylvania and Nevada. The Democrats have largely succeeded in this, but with more left-wing Democrats opposing aid to Israel, Biden has a lot of work to do to unite his party.

The Republicans, though they do have strong support from Orthodox Jews, do not rely on the Jewish vote, but since the 1980s, the presence of Evangelical Christians within the party has rapidly grown. Evangelicals are a subset of Christianity who believes that to usher in the second coming of Christ, the Jews must have control of Israel for being “God’s chosen people,” and being very religious, they strongly support US aid to Israel. Ronald Reagan, the Republican who served as President from 1981 to 1989, is very revered by conservatives even today, and he heavily courted the Evangelical vote⁵, which resulted in the Evangelicals becoming a powerful and loyal voting bloc for Republicans. For the Republicans, stopping the aid to Israel would be unacceptable to their base, and the Republicans who agreed to this would be giving up all hope of re-election. So, the Republicans are also strong supporters of Israel, both militarily and culturally. The Evangelical vote is important for Republicans in states like Iowa, Georgia, North Carolina, and Ohio, which they could lose if Evangelicals decide not to vote due to being disillusioned by their party, so Republicans are essentially held hostage by their base to continue aid to Israel.

US aid to Israel since the Hamas attacks in October

Since the attacks launched by Hamas on 7th October and the following Israeli invasion of Gaza, the Middle East has become an extremely polarising issue around which people are very passionate and emotional. Conservatives largely support Israel due to present and historical circumstances, while liberals largely tend to be critical of what they see as Israel recklessly attacking civilians in Palestine, and many also say that the attacks themselves had been provoked by decades of suppression of Palestinians by the Israeli government. President Biden is facing a very big dilemma- he does not want to lose the Jewish vote in the upcoming Presidential and Congressional elections, but at the same time, unequivocal support of Israel would alienate the more liberal people of his base and also Muslim Americans, who tend to vote Democrat and also overwhelmingly support Palestine. Biden has been walking a tightrope since then, and while he has supported Israel in the aftermath of the attacks and has continued to extend military and diplomatic support to the country, he has also been trying to persuade the Israelis to keep civilian casualties in mind and has been losing his patience with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The US government’s response has already resulted in Muslim Americans, especially Arab Americans, turning against Biden and saying that they would either not vote at all or vote for smaller left-wing parties in protest, which Biden sees as an existential threat to his campaign. Arab-Americans are a big Democratic voting bloc in two key swing states in particular- Michigan and Wisconsin- where Biden won by very small margins in 2020. Democrats in Congress have largely been supportive of Israel, and in February 2024, Democrats in the Senate passed a large foreign aid Bill that contains aid to Israel, Ukraine, and other US allies. However, the Bill has immediately faced opposition from Republicans in the House- who do support aid to Israel, but also want to have the government prioritize domestic issues like immigration, and for now, the Republicans believe that campaigning on immigration gives them a much better chance of winning the election than running on foreign policy.

Arab Americans in the US have been very strongly opposed to aid to Israel, and since Arab Americans tend to be Democrats, that party has been facing deep divisions on the issue⁶. Liberals and left-wingers have focused on Israel’s treatment of Palestinian civilians historically and currently as well, and believe that America has been complicit in the treatment of Palestinians because of its continued support of Israel. After Israel invaded Gaza following the October attacks, left-wing Democrats have become even more critical of American support of Israel, because they perceive Israel as trying to conquer all of Palestine’s territory and do not like the large number of civilian casualties involved in the invasion. Another perspective left-wingers have is that the emergence of Hamas itself was a result of Israel’s suppression of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians have been living in very cramped conditions and are completely reliant on Israel for water and power. Biden has lost a lot of support from the left due to his support of Israel, and resistance in Congress to aiding Israel has been led by Muslim Americans such as Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan). Omar is a Somali refugee and Tlaib is a Palestinian-American, and they show how Muslim Americans have largely opposed Biden’s Israel policy.

Will America continue to support Israel?

In the past few weeks, Biden has leaned more towards trying to guide Israel towards a more humanitarian approach to the situation, and very recently in February, he was reported to have expressed strong disapproval of Netanyahu privately⁷, though he is still walking a thin line with his base of support. It is not just Muslim Americans who have opposed Biden’s Israel policy- liberals in general are more critical of Israel, and left-wingers, who did not really like Biden in the first place, have begun to step up their opposition to him. Like how the Republicans have been treating Ukraine, many left-wing Democrats argue that instead of sending Israel billions of Dollars, the US government should spend money on more pressing issues like housing, healthcare, and even climate change. It is apparent that as the election approaches, Republicans, led by Trump, will take the strong pro-Israel position, while Biden will seek to appease the pro-Palestine Democrats by stepping down his support for Israel. Biden will most likely seek to draw the attention of the population away from Israel and towards issues the Democrats do better on like abortion and healthcare. It is quite likely that as Israel steps up its offensive and occupation in Gaza, a larger portion of the American population will become uncomfortable with funding Israel, and the US is unlikely to spend much more money unless there is some massive escalation in fighting there, such as a possible direct intervention by Hezbollah or Syrian forces.

​Bibliography

1. Balfour Declaration - Encyclopedia Britannica

2. 1967 War: Six days that changed the Middle East- BBC News, 5th June 2017

3. How much aid does the US give to Israel?- USA Facts, 12th October, 2023

4. U.S. Security Cooperation with Israel- US State Department, 19th October, 2023

5. Religion and Right-Wing Politics: How Evangelicals Reshaped Elections- The New York Times, 28th, October 2018

6. Muslim leaders in swing states pledge to ‘abandon’ Biden over his refusal to call for ceasefire- The Guardian, 3rd December 2023

7. Biden’s foul-mouthed opinion of Netanyahu a bad $#%! Sign, but Israel support endures- The Times of Israel, 15th February, 2024

Author:

ABHINAV S. NAMBEESAN

Research & Publications Division