The GOP’s Transactional Recast of the US–Israel Relationship |
The “special relationship” between Israel and the US, a concept coined by President Kennedy during a conversation with Israel’s then Foreign Minister Golda Meir in 1962, stemmed from a combination of shared values, common interests, and domestic politics, all of which are today eroding at an unprecedented rate.
In the political sphere, the erosion began when Israel, under Netanyahu’s leadership, abandoned the bipartisan approach that had characterized Israeli governments and their diplomacy until then.
Since then, Israeli discourse has tended to view the Republican Party as Israel’s main base of support in the United States and to criticize the Democratic Party. However, the reality highlights how mistaken this perception is and indeed is the opposite of reality.
The Democratic Party, like the pre-Trump Republican Party, saw the State of Israel as a valuable partner in membership in the club of liberal democracies. This alliance of values is what has guided the policies of all American administrations toward Israel for decades. Alongside a deep commitment to maintaining Israel’s security, there has always been an expectation of preserving our moral superiority over our enemies.
The Democratic Party has never opposed basic security assistance to Israel nor taken steps that would harm its security. In recent........