The United States Foreign Policy with Israel and the Effects on the Middle East

Michael Hanners

Axia College of University of Phoenix

The United States' support of Israel started immediately after Israel's declaration of independence in 1948, both financially and with military arms. With other Middle Eastern countries being Arab, and Israel being Jewish, there has been a religiously motivated conflict in this region of the world for more than 60 years. Many Middle Eastern countries have not nor do they believe that Israel has a right to exist. This has been a problem for the United States since its recognition of Israel. Why is this region of the world so important to the United States? The majority of the worlds oil supply comes from this region. Peace in this region is a must for the United States, however; since most Arab countries do not recognize Israel’s right to exist; it puts the United States in the sensitive position. The United States is Israel’s biggest supporter, when the United States changes policy with Israel; it puts other Middle Eastern countries in a state of uncertainty. What is now considered the Middle East; was once known as the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire was created by Turkish tribes in Anatolia. As one of the most powerful states in the world, the empire spanned more than 600 years and came to an end only in 1922 after WW I. The Empire was replaced by states in southeastern Europe and the Middle East. At its height the empire included most of southeastern Europe to the gates of Vienna, including modern Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia, Romania, Greece, and Ukraine; Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Egypt; North Africa as far west as Algeria; and most of the Arabian Peninsula[1].( Ottoman Empire. (2009). The United States did not have formal Foreign Policies with the Ottoman Empire.

Going in to WW I the Ottoman Empire sided with Germany. Germany and the Axis powers lost the war. At the palace of Versailles outside of Paris, France the Treaty of Versailles was signed. In this treaty the British government received mandates of Palestine, Trans-Jordan, and Iraq. The French government received mandates of Syria and Lebanon[2]. The League of Nations was conceived in this treaty, placed there by the American President Woodrow Wilson. (Treaty of Versailles. (2001) Prior to WW I Jewish settlers had began moving back into the area now known as Palestine in the 1880’s. This settlement was led by Theodore Herzl (1860-1904). The movement was known as the Zionist Movement[3]. The Zionist immigration which began in 1882 and continued throughout the 20th century, were preceded over the years by many small, sporadic influxes of Jews into the country. This movement was inevitable as the Jewish people have not had a home of their own since they were exiled to Babylon some 2,500 years ago. The Zionist movement was started to solve the increasing “Jewish problem.” A race of people without a home that suffered constant persecution at the hands of any nation they tried to settle in. Zionism was begun to start moving the Jewish people back to their biblical home of Israel. There were five different Aliya’s[4] that took place between the 1880’s and the 1940’s. The first Aliya was in direct response to had about 25,000 Jews from Russia and Poland. They typically lived on plantations. The second Aliya was organized by the Zionist movement. It lasted up until WW I. About half of these immigrants left for one of two reasons, either due to poor conditions or due to the regulations by the Ottoman Empire. The third aliya began in about 1919. The majority of these immigrants came from Eastern Europe and Russia and some that were expelled by the Turks during WW I. After the institution of the mandate, immigration quotas were established. The fourth Aliya lasted from 1924 to 1929 or 1932 and consisted in large part of Polish Jews who were motivated to come to Palestine by the anti-Zionist regime and the new immigration quotas imposed in the United States. (Isseroff, Ami. (2005) the fifth aliya was from about 1929 or 1933 until about 1939 just before World War II. Most of the immigrants this time came from Nazi Germany. It is suggested that about 300,000 Jews immigrated during this time. In September 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland. This was the beginning of World War II. (WW II) The British, French, and British dominions were the first to declare war with Germany. Anti-Semitism[5] was common in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. Adolph Hitler had gained power in Germany in 1933. His Anti-Semitic views were laid out in his book “Mein Kampf” which was written in 1925, before he took power. During WW II Germany persecuted the Jewish people. Under Adolph Hitler’s commands, over five million Jews were exterminated during WW II. At the end of WW II the League of Nations evolved into the current United Nations. Do to the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany and the fact that the Jewish people did not have a home, the United Nations began setting up a country for them in the Middle East. On November 29, 1947 the United Nations General Assembly approved the partition plan for Palestine (GeselbrachtThe Truman Library, N.D.). The partition divided Palestine into three areas: A Jewish State, and Arab State, and an International zone around Jerusalem. (GeselbrachtThe Truman Library, N.D.). With a clear plan of action for the region, the transformation began. However before the Jewish people could begin the process of starting their nation, the United States, under Secretary of Stare George Marshall, began an arms trade embargo on all shipment to the Middle East. In March of 1948 the United States Representative to the United Nations was advised that if a special assembly on Palestine was convened, that the United States would support a United Nations trusteeship for Palestine. (GeselbrachtThe Truman Library, N.D.). On May 14, 1948 under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, Israel declares its independence. It called for Israel’s beginning on May 15, 1948, at 12:00 midnight Palestine time. At 12:00 midnight on May 14, 1948 the British Mandate for Palestine expired, and the state of Israel came into being. Only minutes after Israel declared independence the White House issued the following statement: “This Government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine, and recognition has been requested by the provisional government thereof, The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the State of Israel.”[6] (GeselbrachtThe Truman Library, N.D.). On May 15, 1948 the other Arab counties in the Middle East issued their response to Israel’s declaration of Independence. Five countries: Egypt, Syria, Jordon, Lebanon, and Iraq invaded and attacked Israel. This was the first of many conflicts with these nations in the Middle East. The United States however did not intervene on Israel’s behalf during these conflicts. The US did not lift the arms embargo against the Middle East until Jan 1949. From February 1949 until July of the same year, Israel had signed an armistice agreement with 4 of the 5 Arab countries that had invaded their newly independent nation. Between the years of 1949 and 1973 the US sent and average of $122 million a year to Israel. This is a grand total of about $3.1 Billion in aid over a course of 24 years. Over $1 Billion of this money were loans used for purchasing military equipment from 1971-1973. Most of this money was in the form of loans, in which Israel repaid. At the same time the Arab states receive nearly three times as much aid than Israel before 1971 nearly $4.4 billion total. Unlike Israel who was dependent on the US for aid, the other Arab countries received aid from Asia, Eastern Europe, Soviet Union and the European community. (Bard, 2009), “Congress first designated a specific amount of aid for Israel (an “earmark")” in 1971. (para 5) In 1953 the US-Israeli relationship took a step back. On October 14, 1953 the regular Israeli army made a night time raid on a small Arab settlement of Qibya. In the raid, forty one dwellings were blown up, 42 villagers were killed, and 15 wounded. The attack was condemned from every corner of the globe. On October 18, 1953 the United States State Department issues a statement condemning the actions of Israel. At this time the United States temporarily suspended aid to Israel. In 1956 Israel, Great Brittan, and France invaded Egypt. It was over the rights to the Suez Canal. The US and the Soviet Union were also major contributors to this conflict, although not directly. The Soviet Union who was a backer of Egypt, eagerly rushed to aid their new ally. The United States however, not wanting to go to war with the Soviet Union, pressured the three countries to withdraw their troops and give the Sinai Peninsula back the Egyptians. The conflict only lasted a week, although it happen in the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. By the late 1960’s the aid to Israel from the US remained. It was only about $13 million. In 1967 Israel launched attacks on three of its Arab neighbors, Egypt, Syria; Jordon would all lose territory to Israel in the six-day war. The United States and France had imposed a arms embargo in the region just prior to the outbreak of war, while the Soviet Union was supplying the Arab countries with tanks and planes. Israel launched their attack and won the war in less than six days. The United States in the aftermath of the six-day war increased their aid to Israel. By the end of 1968 aid to Israel was about $76 million and by 1971 aid had increased to over $600million. Things remained civil between the nations from 1970 until 1973. Between these times the Israeli Olympic team was murdered in Munch Germany, and planes high jacked. Terrorism had begun. In October 1973 the latest “full war” had began in the Middle East. Egypt and Syria invaded Israel occupied territories. This was known as the Yom Kippur War. The war started on a Jewish Holiday known as Yom Kippur. The assailants knew that the Israeli military would be in prayer and their defense would be distracted. Egypt crossed the Suez Canal into the Sinai Peninsula and moved into the Sinai 15 miles from the most advance Israeli army. The Syrians moved about the same distance in the Golem Heights area of Israel. In the Beginning the Israeli Military was outnumbered. It seemed that the Israeli’s were going to lose this war. On October 8, 1973 the Israeli Army called up reserves and mounted a counter attack. The crossed the Suez Canal and came within 65 miles of the Egyptian capital of Cairo. The same was done in the Golem Heights against the Syrians. The Israeli’s got within 40 miles of the Syrian Capital. (The History Learning Site, 2000-2009). When the Israeli government realized they needed help, they turned to the United States for help. At first glance the White House under President Richard Nixon only stated that they would review the request for more military arms for Israel. The Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, left his post in Israel and few to Washington D.C. to plead Israel’s case to President Nixon. The administration agreed to help Israel with replacing their losses of military equipment. This decision was based on a key factor. Dorf (N.D.), The Nixon administration weighed its moves through the lens of the Cold War. The Soviet Union had already begun a massive resupply operation to Egypt, and Nixon concluded that the United States could not sit and wait (para. 5). While most remember how the US delayed air drops to Israel, the actual resupply set in motion an alliance well into the future. A result of the Yom Kippur War and the resupply of Israel by the United States, the US became Israel’s largest arm supplier. Before the war the United States Congress passed an aid bill giving Israel only a little above $5 million a year. After the war the US began economic aid to Israel in the forms of loans and grants in the amount of over $2 billion a year. In 1979, after realizing that Egypt could not beat Israel in all out war, the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat turned to diplomacy. Looking for peace with Israel, the president of Egypt and the Prime Minister of Israel met at Camp David in the United States. The Camp David Accord is actually a treaty between the two countries. President Jimmy Carter was instrumental in the signing of this peace treaty. The Accord basically states that Israel will withdraw all military presences from the Sinai Peninsula. In return Egypt would recognize Israel and maintain diplomatic relations with them. Egypt was the first Arab country to recognize Israel as a sovereign nation. After the Camp David Accords were signed, the US began to send about $3 billion a year to Israel in foreign aid. From 1979 until 1982 the Israeli government lived in accordance with the Camp David Accords. In June 1982 the Israeli military invaded Lebanon to fight the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)[7]. This action was condemned by the UN. The UN demanded in a resolution that Israel withdraws troops from Lebanon; however Israel advanced and surrounded the capital city of Beirut. Israel did not begin withdraw troops from Lebanon until September 1983. During these conflicts between Israel and the Arab Nations, the United States economics suffered. Beginning with the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Arab nations within OPEC called for a trade embargo of oil to the US for its support of Israel. This lead to a gas shortage in the U.S. Oil being the number one export of most Middle Eastern countries is the only thing they had to hold over the U.S. The United States for years has always sided with Israel in most conflicts. Most of this is due to the Soviet Union supporting the other Arab countries. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union shaped most of the policies in the Middle East until the late 1980’s when the Soviet Union fell.
Even today the U.S. supports Israel and other Middle Eastern countries with economic aid[8]. The U.S. tries to keep peace in the Middle East, for not only it’s benefit, but for that of it’s allies as well. With the long history of the creation of the state of Israel, there is certain since of pride among the Jewish community. Over many years the Jewish people have suffered from persecution and no place to call their own. With the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 the Jewish people had a home. The United States were among the first to realize the importance of having an ally in the Middle East. Since the creation of Israel as a Nation, the United States has been their ally. Even when other countries did not support the cause of Israel, the United States stood firm in the alliance. Israel has a bright future and a strong ally in the United States. The foundation of Israel’s alliance with the U.S. is solid and will carry on for many years into the future.

References

Ottoman Empire. (2009). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 16, 2009, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/434996/Ottoman-Empire

"Treaty of Versailles" The Oxford Guide to the United States Government. John J. Patrick, Richard M. Pious, and Donald A. Ritchie. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Apollo Group. 17 February 2009 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t89.e873

Neuberger, Prof. Benyamin. (N.D.). Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. . Retrieved February 17, 2009, from http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/State/ZIONISM-+Background.htm

Isseroff, Ami. (2005). Zionism and Israel - Encyclopedic Dictionary. Zionism and Israel Information Center. Retrieved February 17, 2009, from http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Aliya.htm

Geselbracht, Raymond H.The Truman Library (N.D.). The United States and the Recognition of Israel. Retrieved February 16, 2009, from http://trumanlibrary.org/israel/palestin.htm

anti-semitism. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anti-semitism

Map of the Ottoman Empire 1914 http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mrburnett.net/apworldhistory/maps/middleeast5aottomanempire1914.bmp&imgrefurl=http://www.mrburnett.net/apworldhistory/timeelapsemaps.htm&usg=__9FAHzThrnFPsTy9QDt3ytcW3feY=&h=727&w=650&sz=464&hl=en&start=18&sig2=FG9iIXNWrVm4SiTffFaRHA&um=1&tbnid=KcRw-0c-1ZPKkM:&tbnh=141&tbnw=126&ei=s8-ZSdDrN6TUMaHLlYQM&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMap%2Bof%2Bthe%2BOttoman%2BEmpire%2B1914%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den Bard, Mitchell. (2009). U.S. Aid To Israel. Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/foreign_aid.html
The History Learning Site (2000-2009). The Yom Kippur War 1973. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/yom_kippur_war_of_1973.htm
Dorf, Mathew. (N.D.). Yom Kippur War changed US-Israeli Ties. Jewish News of Greater Pheonix. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/980925/yomkippr.shtml

Appendices

Appendix A

The Ottoman Empire prior to WW I

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Appendix B

The Middle East after the Treaty of Versailles

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Appendix C

Definition of Zionism

The origin of the term "Zionism" is the biblical word "Zion", often used as a synonym for Jerusalem and the Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael). Zionism is an ideology which expresses the yearning of Jews the world over for their historical homeland - Zion, the Land of Israel. (Neuberger, Prof. Benyamin. (N.D.)

Appendix D
Definition of Ayila
(Hebrew) 1. "Going Up;" refers to immigration to Israel or the holy land, a term in use since the dispersion or before, and referred to in the book of Ezra. 2. One of several waves of immigration (Aliyot ) in modern Zionist history.

Appendix E
Definition of Anti-Semitism (anti-semitism. (n.d.). an·ti-Sem·i·tism (ān'tē-sěm'ĭ-tĭz'əm, ān'tī-)
n.
1. Hostility toward or prejudice against Jews or Judaism. 2. Discrimination against Jews.

Appendix F
Color Copy of the Original Document
Signed by President Harry S. Truman

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Appendix G

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[1] Appendix A depicts a map of the Ottoman Empire prior to WW I. The map shows the bounties of the Ottoman Empire in 1914.
[2] Appendix B has a map showing the Middle East region after the Treaty of Versailles. This shows the British and French Mandates after WW I.
[3] Appendix C has a definition of the route word “ZION” This will explain more about root of Zionism.
[4] Appendix D has the definition of the word Aliya.
[5] Appendix E has the definition of Anti-Semitism. A word commonly associated with the Jewish people. (Anti-semitism. (n.d.).
[6] Appendix F is a color copy of the original document signed by President Harry S. Truman
[7] Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): is an organization of Palestinian Arabs dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with intent to replace Israel.
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¤ Appendix G has a graph of foreign aid to the Middle East from 1970 to 2000