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This is the story of the close, intimate, and intense relationship between Israel and the United States...

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This is the story of the close, intimate, and intense relationship between Israel and the United States...

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...the roots of this closeness are historical, dating back even before the formation of the Israeli state. This relationship is highly affected by domestic American politics and particularly the very strong "Israeli lobby" in this U.S.

Conservative elements in the United States, symbolized by AIPAC, have convinced the American public's representatives that Israeli and American interests across the board are so synonymous that threatening to punish Israel in any way is not only anti-Israel but also anti-American. This position has enough political resonance within the U.S. from AIPAC-leaning American Jews and their conservative American Christian supporters to make opposition to the position of the current government politically hazardous.

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The heart of American interests in Israel...

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The heart of American interests in Israel...

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...center on its existence and prosperity in the otherwise almost exclusive Islamic Middle East, and the core objective in American efforts has been to create and reinforce a secure peace between Israel and its neighbors.

Israel's democratic character is also a factor in that its parliament functions in much the same way as the American Republican style of government - and in direct contrast to the anti-democratic regimes of its Islamic neighbors. Like the American Congress, Israel's Knesset celebrates diversity within its ranks - it has diversity of ideas as well as several different political factions that are represented by both Israeli and Arab representatives. The United States is very interested in preserving this style of government as it is the most fair and benevolent.

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The major contemporary threat to the policy goals of Israel and the U.S....

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The major contemporary threat to the policy goals of Israel and the U.S....

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...has been the status of Palestine, about which the Americans and Israelis come into conflict. That disagreement has centered in recent years on territory (the West Bank) claimed by Palestinians as the heart of an independent state and other related questions, such as the territorial disposition of Jerusalem and the so-called "right of return" of former Palestinian residents of Israel to lands lost when they fled emerging Israel in the late 1940s.

After several wars, Israel increased the size of its territory, and, combined with the dynamics of the declaration of independence itself, the result was the flight of a large portion of the Palestinian Arab population from their former homes into the surrounding Islamic states, thereby creating the basis for the reassertion of Palestinian nationalism and the desire for a new Palestinian state.

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The history of Israel since its independence 

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The history of Israel since its independence 

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...has been difficult and violent. Israel has fought four major wars with its neighbors - its Arab neighbors that threatened the continued existence of the Jewish state. These wars were:
*1948 - Arab reaction to the establishment of Israel (military coalition of Arab states led by Egypt)
*1967 - the Six-Day War (Egypt, Syria, Jordan & Iraq)
*1967-1970 War of Attrition (Egypt, Soviet Union, PLO, & Jordan)
*1973 - Yom Kippur War (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia & Cuba)

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...Israel is a very small country physically and in terms of population, but it is also among the most advanced countries in the world by most measures (economic, social, educational, militarily, technologically, etc.) and were it a larger country, it would almost certainly occupy a position in the upper ranks of world powers. As it is, it is a highly advanced society and state within a comparatively underdeveloped (if selectively very wealthy) part of the world.

Israel is the world's only Jewish state. More the half the world's Jewry lives within Israel (the second largest Jewish population lives in the U.S.) and thus, a threat to Israel is also a threat to one of the world's oldest religions. Given the attempt by N.A.Z.I Germany to extinguish European Jewry, the possible existential threat to adherents of Judaism is a concern unshared by adherents of most other world religions.

Israel emerges from a long history that is both a legacy and a curse - they believe the land of Israel were bequeathed to them by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob but also happens to be territories that have been inhabited by multiple others with religious or historical counterclaims. To Israelis, the overriding lesson of their history, most dramatically underscored by the Holocaust, is that they exist in a very hostile world in which their very survival must depend on their personal actions.

Tel Aviv pictured below:

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...though the United States has been a staunch ally to Israel, in the hostile international environment, Israel knows it can ultimately only depend on itself to ensure its survival; when the Jews have allowed themselves to be reliant on others for their well-being, that vulnerability has been punished.

In the first half of of the twentieth century, the result was almost their extinction. If Israelis have a sense of suspicion and even defiance of outside assistance for them and the pursuit of their interests, it is in no small measure the outgrowth of their reading of and response to the kind of world in which they believe they live. Outsiders often underestimate the extent to which this Israeli conviction drives Israeli independence from world conventions and entreaties about how they "ought" to act. To Israelis, what others view as paranoid is reality, and anyone who argues to the contrary is to be viewed with suspicion at best and with disdain and resistance at worst. The result is that Israel has a relatively small number of friends or unquestioned supporters in the world community, but it is a necessary price to be paid in the eyes of those who see Israel's survival as the major, driving influence on national life.

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The animosity felt towards Israel by the Islamic world...

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The animosity felt towards Israel by the Islamic world...

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...could be based in religion (Judaism versus Islam), territory (conflicting claims to parts or all of Israel), sympathy for those former residents displaced by the creation of the Jewish state (the Palestinians), history (claims to ownership based in historical control), or some combination of these motivations. Either way, the conflict is highly controversial and the source of endless disagreement.

The worst threats against the Jewish state come from Iran and its many proxies. Shiite Iran sees itself as a contender to the regional hegemonic position of power currently held by U.S.-backed and Sunni Saudi Arabia. It is suspected by international intelligence agencies to have (and continues to) support Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and fund designated terrorist organizations (including Hamas [Gaza], Hezbollah [Lebanon], and the Houthi Rebels [Yemen]) whose goals are to weaken their targets (Israel, United States strategic positions, and Sunni regimes and populations).

In regards to Israel specifically, Iranian-backed Sunni Hamas and Shiite Hezbollah frequently attack Israeli populations (including civilians) - either directly or by launching rockets into Israeli territory.

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...The policy differences between the Obama administration and Israel over Iran illustrated the consequences of this Israeli worldview particularly clearly. Many Israelis, and particularly people within the ruling coalition, are absolutely convinced that the Iranian government is committed to possessing nuclear weapons and to using those weapons to destroy Israel. Non-Israelis, including those whose opinions prevailed in the Obama administration, do not consider the latter Israeli perception to be likely, but it activates the enormous opposition to the Iranian nuclear program the Israelis hold.

Because Israel fears what a nuclear Iran will do to them, they favor extreme actions to negate the threat, notably military actions to destroy the Iranian program before it can reach fruition. Because they consider the problem an existential threat that only they can personally negate, they are willing to contemplate and possibly to act unilaterally against the Iranians, even in the face of united outside opposition.

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....to Israel goes back to at least the declaration of Israeli independence (from British rule) on May 14, 1948 when the U.S. and Soviet Union co-sponsored the successful resolution in the United Nations Security Council that approved the new Israeli state. Much of the basis for American support arose from revulsion tinged with guilt over the Holocaust and the failure of the U.S. and its WW2 allies to prevent or attenuate Germany's systematic attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe.

Although establishing the new state of Israel had the overwhelming support of most of the developed world - and even the Soviet Union - this sentiment was not shared by most of Israel's Islamic neighbors.

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The extent of disagreement between the two countries...

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The extent of disagreement between the two countries...

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...on this subject was heightened by the contentious May 2011 address of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu to the United States Congress - in direct opposition to then President Barack Obama's policy in regards to the Iranian Nuclear Deal and the question of what to do about the city of Jerusalem. The merits of the disagreement between the two leaders are in some ways less important than the very real veto that a foreign leader was able to exercise over a sitting American president.

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Watch Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's full speech to Congress

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The U.S. and Israel have three options...

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The U.S. and Israel have three options...

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...in regards to a political settlement that will produce a stable peace in the region.

1. Two-State Solution
What it is: An agreement to go back to pre-1967 territorial boundaries that would provide the stateless Palestinians with a homeland over which they can exercise sovereign control, end Israeli occupation, assuage the international community's concern over the illegality of that occupation, and mute both American and international criticism of Israel.
Problems: Would leave Israel unacceptably vulnerable in that it would displace Israeli settlers, result in a loss of living space for additional immigrants to Israel and prime, tactical advantages of West Bank settlements (that act as buffer zones against hostile neighbors).
2. The One-State Solution
What it is: a single Israeli-Palestinian state encompassing pre-1967 Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. This would solve the settlement problem since the Israeli-owned settlements become part of the new entity.
Problems: The Palestinians would never accept it feeling that it would simply be a guise for continued Israeli domination and suppression: that they would be second-class citizens in the new entity. Politically, this new state would become a kind of "apartheid state."
3. Maintain the Status Quo
What it is: To maintain the current state of affairs
Problems: Would require compromise on both sides - which is near impossible as each blames the other - extremist Palestinians want the West Bank and all of Israel back and will accept nothing less. In democratic Israel, many Israelis in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) oppose the two-state solution.

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...exercise leverage over Israel if it wanted to. The largest source of this is the very generous American economic and military assistance to Israel. The state of Israel receives more American aid than any other country in the world, gets that aid on highly favorable terms not made available to other states (most of it, for instance, is effectively in the form of grants, not loans), and the contribution is particularly striking when stated in per capita terms. Egypt receives the second largest amount in U.S. foreign aid in exchange for maintaining a peace treaty between Israel and its Arab neighbors (Egypt has the largest and most powerful military of all the Arab countries).

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Current events and a  prediction for the future...

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Current events and a  prediction for the future...

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...Under the Trump Administration, Israel has enjoyed many triumphs. In December of 2017, President Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel - this was upsetting for both the Arab world and some Western allies. In May/June the United States opened an embassy in Jerusalem which sparked deadly protests along the border between Israel and Gaza. Ever since, Hamas (the official government of Gaza) continues to launch rockets into Israel.

It is also worth mentioning that recently, the Trump administration officially withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal, sending a strong message to those that oppose Israel’s right to exist.

I predict these attacks will get worse and Israel will officially declare war against the Palestinians. More Palestinians will be displaced or will be killed and Israel will officially annex Gaza, the West Bank, and the contested Golan Heights. The Israelis will continue their goal of becoming "Greater Israel" - with the ultimate goal of reclaiming all of their historic lands. They will dismantle the Al Aqsa mosque that sits on the Temple Mount and rebuild their temple (the third Solomon's temple) for which they already have all the materials needed (tapestries, utensils, trained high priests, and bred red heifers they will need for sacrifice). Eventually the international community - including the United States - will pressure Israel to make concessions and sign a peace treaty with its Islamic neighbors. This treaty will most likely be overseen by Turkey.

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Snow, D. M. (2013). Cases in American Foreign Policy. Pearson Education, Inc

Picture below: Jews at the Wailing Wall