How US-Israel relations have evolved since 1948

Though Israel has been at odds with many of its neighbors for most of its history, the United States has been the country's most consistent and important ally. Over the decades, successive US administrations have made clear that relations with Israel have often formed the basis for their policy in the Middle East. 

Many US officials profess the belief that the United States has a moral duty to defend Israel, which has translated into political, military and financial aid. The aid and the sophisticated weaponry that the United States provides have helped Israel to develop one of the most advanced militaries in the world. 

Since the establishment of Israel, the United States has given about $150 billion in bilateral assistance and missile defense funding. According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign assistance since World War II.

US President Joe Biden is set to visit the Middle East this week, aiming to help Israel integrate better into the region. However, Israel might not need such help, as it is growing more independent — economically, militarily and politically.

Israel's first ally

Minutes after David Ben-Gurion, who would soon become the first prime minister of Israel, announced the foundation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, US President Harry Truman formally recognized the new nation. Three days later, the Soviet Union recognized it too, and, a year later, Israel became a member of the United Nations.

In the aftermath of World War II, Truman was initially hesitant to deliver arms to Israel, fearing that it could initiate an arms race in the Middle East and lead Arab countries to seek Soviet weapons.

But, as the USSR backed the nationalist movements that gained momentum in Arab countries from the 1950s to 1970s, Israel and the US developed a common goal: countering Soviet influence and containing the spread of communism.

Support and disputes

US arms deliveries were pivotal when conflicts broke out between Israel and its neighbors. For example, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Syria and Egypt attacked Israel, the United States sent a large shipment of military gear, weapons, tanks and jets to Israel as the country suffered high casualty counts and equipment losses.

The United States and Israel have also had their own disputes — over peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority for example, as well as over the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which the United Nations considers a violation of international law. Most US administrations have denounced Israel's settlement policy and sought to broker a two-state solution.

In a low point during June 1990, frustrated by impasses in peace negotiations, US Secretary of State James Baker recited the White House's telephone number at a press conference: "Call us when you are serious about peace," he told Israel.

A year later, President George H.W. Bush delayed loan guarantees to Israel until it halted its building of settlements in the West Bank and Gaza and agreed to a peace conference with Palestinian negotiators.

Yet it was Bush's successor, Bill Clinton, who made significant progress in peace negotiations. In the 1990s, he hosted several meetings between high-level Israeli and Palestinian officials, and witnessed Israel's signing of a peace treaty with Jordan, ending decades of enmity.

Trump and Netanyahu

During the tenure of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who took office in 2009, right-wing political forces in both countries cultivated close ties, often seeming to coordinate with each other on mutual goals.

The relationship between Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama was notoriously tense, most notably when the Obama administration signed an international deal to normalize relations with Iran — Israel's primary regional rival — in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear program.

During a 2010 visit by Joe Biden, at the time Obama's vice president, Israel announced the building of more settler homes around Jerusalem. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the move as an "insult."

But Netanyahu found an ally in Donald Trump, who became US president in 2017 and abandoned the nuclear deal with Iran a little over a year after taking office.

In 2019, the Trump administration announced that the United States would no longer consider settlements as illegal, making a dramatic break with US policy and setting Washington apart from many of its allies. 

Trump worked to broker a series of deals to normalize, or at least improve, Israel's relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

But the deals deepened other rifts in the region and were criticized for leaving Palestinians out of negotiations, along with ignoring the issue of illegal settlements.

Trump's also relocated the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and closed a consulate that provided services to Palestinians in East Jerusalem. 

The city contains sites sacred to Jews and Muslims, and both Palestinians and Israelis claim Jerusalem as their capital. 

East Jerusalem has been occupied by Israel since 1967. In an internationally opposed act in 1980, Israel expanded its legal and administrative authority over East Jerusalem.

Israel grows more independent

When Biden was inaugurated as president in January 2021, Israel openly challenged his efforts to revive the nuclear deal with Iran, threatening that it would act alone to curb Iran's influence in the region.

Israel has gradually started to take strategic diplomatic decisions independently from its closest ally. For example, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Israel has been less keen than the United States to deliver weapons to Kyiv.

Apart from receiving Ukrainian refugees, and sending humanitarian support and defensive military equipment, Tel Aviv has been more eager to play the role of mediator between Russia and the West.

Once heavily reliant on US military and financial aid, Israel has become a prominent weapons exporter. Its economy is flourishing, thanks to decades of technological exchange with Western countries.

It now also has important political and trade ties beyond the United States and Europe, including with India, Brazil and China.

Edited by: Milan Gagnon