Mordechai Gazit
AMERICA AND ISRAEL
In rece nt years, as politi cal theori sts have bee n ta lking
about the a ffinit y between certain na tion sta tes, the almost
hackneyed term "spec ia l rel a ti onship" has been in erted into the
language o f political scienti sts. Tha t there ex ists a "special
relati onship" between the United Sta tes a nd Israel has long been
widel y accepted . And the limits of tha t unique relati onship , inherent
in the bas ic di sproporti on in size betwee n the two countries , will one
day be examined full y. For a special rela ti onship between a super–
powe r like the United Sla tes a nd a sma ll sta te like Israel seems
incongruous. Is one no t tempted to assume tha t the gia nt pa rtner is
bound to behave omewha t condescendin gly a nd pa troni zingly, if
not hi gh-ha nded ly, towa rd the sma ll pa rtner ?
In reality, in the three decades o f close rel a ti ons, the United
Sta tes has a lmos t invari a bl y di splayed fri endliness a nd under–
standing towards Israe l.
If
Israel has not ye t become relaxed in its
attitude towa rd the United Sta tes, it is not due to a lack of American
courtesy or good ma nne rs, but to the grave di sappo intments Israel
has encounte red a t criti ca l junctures in its hi story.
There is a n unusu al amount of relucta nce to remember the
painful episodes in relationships in which bo th sides have very hi gh
stakes . We a ll wa nt to fo rgive a nd forge t, ye t the rude memories of
the events have not faded away .
T o begin wilh , durin g the Wa r of Independence in 1948, the
United Sta tes did not se nd a ny forces to the se riously endange red
new sta te, although fi ve regul a r Arab a rmies had invaded it , nor did
the Americans ta ke a ny o ther meaningful steps. There is also the sad
memory of the United Sta tes strictly adhering to a n a rms emba rgo a t
a time when Brita in , Ameri ca's closes t all y, continued to suppl y the
Arabs with the a rms they needed. Looking back thirty years la ter ,
American indifference to the fa te of the J ewi sh community in
Palestine, then tota llin g 600 ,000 , seems unbelievable, es pecia lly
when we recall tha t American passi vity could not have been based
on intelli gence es tima tes tha t the poorl y a rmed J ewi sh militi as would
