United States' Support of Israel Since 1948

Establishing a Jewish Homeland after Centuries of Persecution

Dec 12, 2009 Michael Streich

The rebirth of a Jewish homeland was the culmination of centuries of oppression and persecution, ending with the Holocaust and the establishment of the state of Israel.

Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948 after a long struggle against British opposition. The United States was first to recognize the new state, followed by Soviet Russia. Israel’s rebirth, however, would be greeted with war from neighboring states as Middle East leaders vowed to drive Israel into the sea. The result of the many conflicts with neighbors increased the resolve of the United States to guarantee the sovereignty of Israel while at the same time balancing strategic and commercial interests within the Middle East. Israel’s initial support, however, was in the form of military equipment obtained from Russia through satellite countries like Czechoslovakia.

Zionism and the Creation of a Jewish Homeland

Despite theories advocated by a minority of historians that many European Jewish communities could not directly trace their long term roots to Palestine, prevailing views hold that Israel is the logical and historical site to accommodate a people persecuted for centuries. In a March 4, 2002 speech by James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the senator told his colleagues that, “I believe very strongly that we ought to support Israel, and that it has a right to the land, because God said so.” The Senator then quoted from Genesis 13: 14-17.

The Jewish people have, historically, been resilient in the face of calamity. After the Babylonian Captivity or exile in 597 BCE ended, Jews returned to Jerusalem, charged by the Persian king Cyrus to rebuild the temple. The candles of Hanukkah are reminders of the Maccabees’ struggles against Antiochus Epiphanes, a brutal and insane king. In 70 CE the Roman general Titus destroyed Jerusalem, beginning an extended process of Diaspora. Almost 2,000 years of European persecution that included massacres during the Crusades and the Bubonic Plague were vivid reminders that Jews would never be fully accepted by society.

Even as mid to late 19th century progress, tied to industrialization and the birth of the modern, promised an end to persecution, Anti-Semitism was still strong and frequently resulted in new demonstrations of intolerance as with the Dreyfus Affair in France or the Russian pogroms under Alexander III. Many Jews immigrated to the United States. In Europe, the birth of the Zionist Movement came with the realization that Jews would only be secure in a national homeland. That homeland became Israel.

Role of the Holocaust

It goes without saying that the more than six million Jews killed during the Holocaust served as a catalyst in the creation of Israel. Prominent American Zionists, members of the Jewish intellectual community, promoted this cause as an extension of American morality, values, and commitment to freedom. Writer Geoffrey Wheatcroft states that these men and women worked under a dual allegiance as good Americans striving to achieve the American dream but also supporting Zionist goals in terms of the security of Israel.

After 1948, according to historian Stephen Ambrose, Israeli Prime Minister Ben-Gurion reminded President Truman that the survival of Israel was a priority for American Jews. Whether Truman interpreted this as a hint regarding the “Jewish vote” may be debatable, but the United States has striven to support Israel ever since the Truman administration’s iron clad guarantee of Israeli sovereignty.

Detractors and Critics

Critics point to the status of the Palestinian people, many of whom became displaced after 1948. They question the “doctrine of propinquity” which holds that Israel has turned a barren land into a productive nation, legitimizing land expansion. Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (also the Green Party candidate for U.S. President) has been one of the most outspoken critics of Israeli policy toward the Palestinians and was recently arrested in Israel.

Despite criticism, United States regional interests depend upon close relations with Israel, a fact reemphasized by President Obama several times, including changing views of Israeli frontier settlements. Israel continues on its own path, however, working to ensure that no Holocaust will ever again befall the Jewish people.

Sources:

• Stephen E. Ambrose and Douglas G. Brinkley, Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938 (Penguin, 1997)
• Senator Jim Inhofe, “Israel’s Right to the Land,” U.S. Senate Speech, March 4, 2002
• Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The Controversy of Zion: Jewish Nationalism, the Jewish State, and the Unresolved Jewish Dilemma (Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., 1996)

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