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The United States – Israel relationship is unique. In 1989, Israel was officially designated by the United States as a Major non-NATO ally (MNNA). This has allowed Israel to remain an “unofficial” ally of the U.S. while at the same time conferring them a number of military and economic benefits. While strong U.S. support in the form of economic and military assistance was provided since Israel’s official state recognition in 1948, it was only in 1967 that the relationship between the two countries took its current shape. This unofficial allegiance originated after Israel’s victory in the Six-Day Israeli-Arab War in which it proved its military capabilities at a time when the U.S. was in desperate need of a strong and friendly ally in the Middle East.

Growing nationalism in Arab nations during the mid-1960s threatened U.S. oil interests and was especially problematic for the U.S.’s military campaign in Vietnam which depended on the Middle East for 60% of its oil (Bennis 2003: 37). Although it was strong militarily at this time, Israel was struggling economically from unemployment and high taxes, which was exacerbated by the cessation of German reparation payments. The threats posed to Israel from Syria, Egypt, Palestinian guerillas, and other Arab nations also threatened U.S. oil interests. Thus, after Israel’s victory, a situation arose in which the U.S gained a military presence in the region without involving its own forces. The U.S. greatly increased military and economic aid to Israel, and symbiotically Israel also gained further U.S. support by simply acting in its own national interests.

It is this formulation which still holds today; an Israel autonomous from the U.S., acting in its own interests, and at the same time conveniently serving U.S interests along the way. However, as the huge amount of U.S. economic and military assistance reveals, Israel’s military activities are directly supported by, if not dependent upon, the U.S. It is only political disingenuousness by the U.S. to portray the situation otherwise. By representing Israel as an ally in the War on Terror, the U.S. can legitimate its continued support of Israel to the American public.

The U.S. – Israel Connection

In sheer volume, the amount of aid given by the U.S. to Israel constitutes the most generous aid program ever between any two countries (Zunes 2006). According to the U.S. embassy in Israel, U.S. assistance to Israel began in 1949 with a $100 million Export-Import Bank Loan. From 1949-65, U.S. aid averaged $63 million per year, with 95% going to economic development assistance and food aid. In 1959, a military loan program began and from 1966 through 1970 the average annual aid per year increased to about $102 million, with military loans increasing to constitute 47% of all aid. From 1971 to the present, U.S. aid to Israel has averaged $2 billion per year – of which 66% is military assistance – and the total amount of aid has now reached $100 billion. Contrast this figure with the amount of aid the U.S. has given Palestine, which totaled $1.27 Billion from 1994-2004. In the year 2006 alone, the U.S. provided Israel with $3 billion in aid, which does not include loan guarantees and other unofficial sources of aid.

There are many organizations, individuals, and congressional representatives in Washington working to secure the U.S.’ unique relationship with Israel. The Israeli Lobby is one of the more influential in Washington. The American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is the most prominent organization within this lobby; it was ranked by Fortune magazine as the second most powerful lobby in Washington (Mearsheimer and Walt, 2006). It includes not just Jews, but also powerful Christian Evangelicals who believe the resurrection of Israel after statehood in 1948 is a step towards the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. This organization is also focused on maintaining Israel’s good standing in public, and the starkly biased U.S. media representation of the Israel – Palestine conflict can to some degree be attributed to AIPAC’s powerful presence in U.S. politics. Likewise, the Aerospace Industry Association (AIA), a large lobby group for weapons manufacturers, is believed to be even more powerful in congress than the Israeli Lobby (Mearsheimer and Walt, 2006). The influence of this group is significant because the U.S. is also Israel’s number one arms supplier. Not only does the U.S. supply arms, it also supplies the money to purchase the arms. 70% of the annual $3 billion worth of military aid provided by the U.S. is used to buy arms from U.S. weapon manufacturers like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon; this is essentially a $2.1 billion handout to weapon manufacturers paid for by the U.S. tax payers (Berrigan, Hartung, and Heffel 2005)

The United States & the United Nations

Because the U.S. is one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council it has the ability to veto any resolution put forth by the Council. And it does so, often as the lone voice of dissent in resolutions concerning the condemnation of Israeli actions. In fact, half of all the U.S. vetoes have been connected to Israel. Out of the five permanent members of the Council, the U.S. has used its veto 80 times. Russia, formally the U.S.S.R. has used its veto 122 times. However, the majority of Russian vetoes took place during the Cold War and Russia has rarely used its veto since the fall of the Soviet Union. For comparative purposes, the United Kingdom has used its veto 32 times with 23 of those vetoes coinciding with U.S. vetoes; France has used its veto 18 times with 13 of coinciding with the U.S. and the U.K; and China has used its veto only 5 times. Since the fall of the Soviet Union the U.S. has used twice as many vetoes as the other permanent members combined (Aljazeera.com 2003).

The majority of the U.S.’s vetoes concerning Israel were related to Israel’s occupation and military involvement in Palestine and Lebanon. The U.S. has also vetoed resolutions concerning the U.N.’s attempts at humanitarian involvement in Palestine, allowing for Israel to follow through with its actions without witness. The U.S. vetoed a resolution that would have held Israel accountable for the killing of U.N. workers and the destruction by Israel of the United Nations World Food Program warehouse holding 537 metric tons of food intended for needy Palestinians (Haaretz 2004).

The U.S.’s selective use of the veto has clearly demonstrated that it is not concerned with the condemnation of human rights violations. This year, the U.S. cast the lone veto in a resolution that would have set up worldwide standards for the selling of arms (Omar 2006). This resolution would have prohibited the selling of arms to states with poor human rights records and seemingly coincided with the U.S.’s stated humanitarian position, but such a move would, of course, have been antithetical to U.S. economic interests.

Appendix A

U.S. Weapons in the Israeli Arsenal

Selected list

Weapon	Quantity	Manufacturer	Cost Per Unit
Fighter Planes
F-4E Phantom	50	Boeing	$18.4 million
F-15 Eagle	98	Boeing (originally McDonnell Douglas)	$38 million
F-16 Fighting Falcon	237	Lockheed Martin	$34.3 million
Helicopters
AH-64 Apache Attack	42	Boeing	$14.5 million
Cobra Attack	57	Bell Textron	$10.7 million
CH-53D Sea Stallion	38	Sikorsky
Blackhawk	25	Sikorsky	$11 million
Missiles
AGM 65 Maverick		Raytheon	$17,000-$110,000
AGM 114 Hellfire		Boeing	$40,000
TOW		Hughes	$180,000
AIM 7 Sparrow		Raytheon	$125,000
AIM 9 Sidewinder		Raytheon	$84,000
AIM 120 B AMRAAM		Raytheon	$386,000
Patriot		Raytheon and Lockheed Martin
Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile		Boeing	$720,000

Also for free the U.S. has given Israel

• 64,744 M-16A1 rifles
• 2,469 M-204 grenade launchers
• 1,500 M-2 .50 caliber machine guns
• .30 caliber, .50 caliber, and 20mm ammunition

Source: (http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/israel050602.html)

Appendix B

U.S. Vetoes of UN Resolutions Critical of Israel

(1972-2006)

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Vetoes: 1972-1982

Subject	Date & Meeting	US Rep Casting Veto	Vote
Palestine: Syrian-Lebanese Complaint. 3 power draft resolution 2/10784	9/10/1972	Bush	13-1, 1
Palestine: Examination of Middle East Situation. 8-power draft resolution (S/10974)	7/2/1973	Scali	13-1, 0 (China not partic.)
Palestine: Egyptian-Lebanese Complaint. 5-power draft power resolution (S/11898)	12/8/1975	Moynihan	13-1, 1
Palestine: Middle East Problem, including Palestinian question. 6-power draft resolution (S/11940)	1/26/1976	Moynihan	9-1,3 (China & Libya not partic.)
Palestine: Situation in Occupied Arab Territories. 5-power draft resolution (S/12022)	3/25/1976	Scranton	14-1,0
Palestine: Report on Committee on Rights of Palestinian People. 4-power draft resolution (S/121119)	6/29/1976	Sherer	10-1,4
Palestine: Palestinian Rights. Tunisian draft resolution. (S/13911)	4/30/1980	McHenry	10-1,4
Palestine: Golan Heights. Jordan draft resolution. (S/14832/Rev. 2)	1/20/1982	Kirkpatrick	9-1,5
Palestine: Situation in Occupied Territories, Jordan draft resolution (S/14943)	4/2/1982	Lichenstein	13-1,1
Palestine: Incident at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. 4-power draft resolution	4/20/1982	Kirpatrick	14-1, 0
Palestine: Conflict in Lebanon. Spain draft resolution. (S/15185)	6/8/1982	Kirpatrick	14-1,0
Palestine: Conflict in Lebanon. France draft resolution. (S/15255/Rev. 2)	6/26/1982	Lichenstein	14-1
Palestine: Conflict in Lebanon. USSR draft resolution. (S/15347/Rev. 1, as orally amended)	8/6/1982	Lichenstein	11-1,3
Palestine: Situation in Occupied Territories, 20-power draft resolution (S/15895)	8/2/1983	Lichenstein	13-1,1

Security Council Vetoes/Negative voting 1983-present

Subject	Date	Vote
Occupied Arab Territories: Wholesale condemnation of Israeli settlement policies – not adopted	1983
S. Lebanon: Condemns Israeli action in southern Lebanon. S/16732	9/6/1984	Vetoed: 13-1 (U.S.), with 1 abstention (UK)
Occupied Territories: Deplores “repressive measures” by Israel against Arab population. S/19459.	9/13/1985	Vetoed: 10-1 (U.S.), with 4 abstentions (Australia, Denmark, UK, France)
Lebanon: Condemns Israeli practices against civilians in southern Lebanon. S/17000.	3/12/1985	Vetoed: 11-1 (U.S.), with 3 abstentions (Australia, Denmark, UK)
Occupied Territories: Calls upon Israel to respect Muslim holy places. S/17769/Rev. 1	1/30/1986	Vetoed: 13-1 (US), with one abstention (Thailand)
Lebanon: Condemns Israeli practices against civilians in southern Lebanon. S/17730/Rev. 2.	1/17/1986	Vetoed: 11-1 (U.S.), with 3 abstentions (Australia, Denmark, UK)
Libya/Israel: Condemns Israeli interception of Libyan plane. S/17796/Rev. 1.	2/6/1986	Vetoed: 10 -1 (US), with 4 abstentions (Australia, Denmark, France, UK)
Lebanon: Draft strongly deplored repeated Israeli attacks against Lebanese territory and other measures and practices against the civilian population; (S/19434)	1/18/1988	vetoed 13-1 (US), with 1 abstention (UK)
Lebanon: Draft condemned recent invasion by Israeli forces of Southern Lebanon and repeated a call for the immediate withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Lebanese territory; (S/19868)	5/10/1988	vetoed 14-1 (US)
Lebanon: Draft strongly deplored the recent Israeli attack against Lebanese territory on 9 December 1988; (S/20322)	12/14/1988	vetoed 14-1 (US)
Occupied territories: Draft called on Israel to accept de jure applicability of the 4th Geneva Convention; (S/19466)	1988	vetoed 14-1 (US)
Occupied territories: Draft urged Israel to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention, rescind the order to deport Palestinian civilians, and condemned policies and practices of Israel that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories; (S/19780)	1988	vetoed 14-1 (US)
Occupied territories: Strongly deplored Israeli policies and practices in the occupied territories, and strongly deplored also Israel’s continued disregard of relevant Security Council decisions.	2/17/1989	Vetoed 14-1 (US)
Occupied territories: Condemned Israeli policies and practices in the occupied territories.	6/9/1989	Vetoed 14-1 (US)
Occupied territories: Deplored Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied territories.	11/7/1989	Vetoed 14-1 (US)
Occupied territories: NAM draft resolution to create a commission and send three security council members to Rishon Lezion, where an Israeli gunmen shot down seven Palestinian workers.	5/31/1990	Vetoed 14-1 (US)
Middle East: Confirms that the expropriation of land by Israel in East Jerusalem is invalid and in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions and provisions of the Fourth Geneva convention; expresses support of peace process, including the Declaration of Principles of 9/13/1993	5/17/1995	Vetoed 14-1 (US)
Middle East: Calls upon Israeli authorities to refrain from all actions or measures, including settlement activities.	3/7/1997	Vetoed 14-1 (US)
Middle East: Demands that Israel cease construction of the settlement in east Jerusalem (called Jabal Abu Ghneim by the Palestinians and Har Homa by Israel), as well as all the other Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories	3/21/1997	Vetoed 13-1,1 (US)
Call for UN Observers Force in West Bank, Gaza	3/27/2001	Vetoed 9-1 (US), with four abstentions (Britain, France, Ireland and Norway)
Condemned acts of terror, demanded an end to violence and the establishment of a monitoring mechanism to bring in observers.	12/14/2001	Vetoed 12-1 (US) with two abstentions (Britain and Norway)
On the killing by Israeli forces of several UN employees and the destruction of the World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse	12/19/2002	12-1 (US) with two abstentions (Bulgaria and Cameroon)
Demand that Israel halt threats to expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat	9/16/03	Vetoed 11-1 (US) with three abstentions (Britain, Germany and Bulgaria)
Seeks to bar Israel from extending security fence	10/14/03	Vetoed 10-1 with four absentations (Britain, Germany, Bulgaria and Cameroon)
Condemns Israel for killing Ahmed Yassin	3/25/04	Vetoed 11-1 (US) with three absentations (Britain, Germany, Romania)
Calls For Israel To Halt Gaza Operation	10/05/04	Vetoed 11-1 (US) with three absentations (Britain, Germany, Romania)
Calls For Israel To Halt Gaza Operation	7/13/06	Vetoed 10-1 (US) with four absentations (Britain, Peru, Denmark and Slovakia)

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Source: U.S. State Department; UN

Taken from: (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/UN/usvetoes.html).

This article was written by Daniel Benson, Will Dockendorf & Michael Tracy

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