Understanding the U.S.-Israel relations | Explained

U.S.-Israel ties have been strong since the Jewish state’s birth in 1948. The U.S. has offered financial, military and political support to Israel, and has vetoed over 50 UNSC resolutions critical of Israel alone. The U.S. sees Israel as a strategic ally in a volatile region and domestic politics, the powerful Israel lobby and military-industrial ties ensure that the relationship remains strong, irrespective of the party in power.

The story so far: Within days of the October 7 attack by Hamas inside Israel, killing at least 1,400 people, President Joe Biden travelled to Israel to declare solidarity with the Jewish state. Mr. Biden described Hamas as “unadulterated evil” and stated that America “stands with Israel”. Since the October 7 attack, Israel has been bombing Gaza relentlessly and is currently carrying out a ground invasion in which at least 8,700 Palestinians have already been killed. The U.S. has been careful not to criticise Israel even in the face of the latter’s disproportionate attack on the tiny enclave of 2.3 million people. The U.S. has also vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that called for a humanitarian pause to Israel’s attacks and voted against a resolution at the UN General Assembly calling for a humanitarian truce, which was passed with a landslide. This is not surprising given the history of the U.S.-Israel relations. Barring minor personality clashes between leaders, the U.S. has stood solidly behind Israel, irrespective of the latter’s actions, at least since 1967.

The U.S. had supported the idea of a Jewish homeland even before the state of Israel was declared within historical Palestine in 1948. On March 3, 1919, two years after the Balfour Declaration, in which the British government declared its support for the creation of a “Jewish homeland in Palestine”, President Woodrow Wilson said, “The allied nations with the fullest concurrence of our government and people are agreed that in Palestine shall be laid the foundations of a Jewish Commonwealth.” In 1922 and 1944, the U.S. Congress passed resolutions endorsing the Balfour Declaration. The U.S. was the first country that recognised Israel in 1948. The recognition came in 11 minutes after the proclamation. “I had faith in Israel before it was established, I have faith in it now,” President Harry Truman said on May 26, 1952.

Though the U.S. offered the state of Israel support right from the latter’s birth, the initial two decades of their relationship had not been very smooth. The Eisenhower administration was unhappy when Israel, along with France and Britain, launched the Suez war. Washington threatened to cut aid to Israel if it did not withdraw from the territories it had captured. The Soviet Union also threatened to fire missiles unless Israel withdrew, and finally Israel had to pull back from the areas it seized. Similarly, in the 1960s, the Kenney administration had voiced concerns about Israel’s secret nuclear programme.

However the 1967 war, in which Israel defeated Jordan, Syria and Egypt, all in six days, and captured swathes of territories, brought in a paradigm shift in the way Washington looked at the Jewish state. The U.S. at that time was bogged down in Vietnam. Israel defeated the Arab countries without any major help from the U.S., and the war was wrapped up quickly. Also, two of the Arab countries Israel defeated — Egypt and Syria — were Soviet allies. From then on, the U.S. started seeing Israel as a stable ally who can check the expansion of Soviet influence in West Asia.

Today, Israel is an exceptional ally of Washington. The U.S. offers practically unconditional financial, military and political support for Israel, which has been occupying Palestinian territories since 1967. Israel is an undeclared nuclear power but has never faced any global scrutiny or pushback, thanks to the protection offered by the U.S. Israel is also the largest recipient of America’s aid — it has received $158 billion in aid from the U.S. since the end of the Second World War. Currently, Israel gets $3.8 billion in military aid every year from the U.S., which accounts for about 16% of Israel’s total military budget.

The U.S. is also Israel’s largest trading partner, with annual two-way trade hovering around $50 billion. Both Israel and the U.S. also have a deep defence partnership, which involves joint research and development and weapons production. For example, the Iron Dome, Israel’s famed missile defence shield, uses parts built in the U.S. and the system is financed in part by the U.S. With U.S. help, Israel has built a highly advanced defence manufacturing base, which has made the country the world’s 10th largest military exporter. Since 1972, the U.S. has used its veto power over 50 times to strike down resolutions critical of Israel in the UN Security Council.

From the 1973 Yom Kippur war onwards, the U.S. has also offered solid military support to Israel in its conflicts. In 1973, after Israel was taken aback by the surprise attack by Egypt and Syria, U.S. supplies proved vital for Israel to push back the enemy troops from the occupied Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. In 1982, the U.S. sent Multinational Forces to Lebanon after Israel’s invasion of the country. After the first intifada, the U.S. supported the Oslo process and the two-state solution, but without compromising its relationship with Israel. Now, the running theme in Washington is that it supports “Israel’s right to defend”. The previous U.S. administration, of Donald Trump, recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved America’s embassy to the disputed city. The Trump administration also recognised Israel’s annexation of Golan Heights, a Syrian territory it captured in 1967 and held under its occupation ever since.