Strategic Interests in the Middle East: Opposition or Support for Us Foreign Policy by Jack Covarrubias

Author:Jack Covarrubias [Covarrubias, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138266124
Google: y8cpvgAACAAJ
Goodreads: 32833339
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2007-11-21T00:00:00+00:00

The Military Relationship

The US and Israel had no military or strategic relationship for the first 20 years of Israeli statehood.23 The strategic relationship between the two states developed after the 1967 War, as Israeli emerged as a victorious regional power. Washington saw Israel as an asset with the capability of extending US interests in the Middle East. The French arms embargo against Israel after the 1967 War positioned the US as the sole weapons supplier to Israel. The escalation of the Cold War, the Islamic Revolution in Iran, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan resulted in the elevation of Israel to a strategic asset to the US military posture in the Persian Gulf.

Regarding autonomous deterrent capabilities, Israel maintains a de facto nuclear weapons status. Its position of nuclear ambiguity has caused some regional anxiety and exists as a source of tension for the United States. Israel argues that ambiguity exists as an effective deterrent, although it is mindful to minimize the damage to its strategic relationship with the United States. In this light, Israel has not tested its weapons systems, although it continues as a non-signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 1969, the Israelis and the United States reached an agreement in which Israel would not test its nuclear capabilities in exchange for US assurances of Israel's “qualitative edge” in its regional defense posture, enforcing the nuclear ambiguity as a deterrent protecting not only Israeli but also Western interests in the region.24

Israel's military and strategic relationship with the United States has several regional implications. Israeli intelligence services offer a unique perspective in the US led war on terror, providing the US with vital information on militant activities in the region.25 As the US/Israeli strategic partnership evolved after the 1967 War, and as the US sought greater advantages to the unique strategic vantage point of the IDF, Washington was also obliged to provide the Israelis with pledges to protect their vital security interests. As a result, US military assistance and arms sales increased significantly and the IDF was gradually more equipped with and dependent upon American weapons platforms and technology. Regionally, Israel has continued to exemplify US military proficiency by its use of the Apache gunship, yet the conflict in Lebanon in the summer of 2006 may signify a departure from the relevance of that relationship as the nature of warfare has evolved in the twenty-first century.

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