ABSTRACT
The US-Israeli “special” relationship is an axiom of international relations. It is a relationship that has endured, on a domestic scale, transitions from Democrat to Republican administrations and on the international stage the transition from the Cold War to the “War on Terror.” It is a relationship that is without equal in international affairs and one in which a small state of five million people is perceived, by many, to hold sway over the interests and policies of a global superpower. The reason for the depth and longevity of the US-Israeli relationship has long been debated. It has been attributed to national and strategic interest, economic imperatives and the activities of domestic pressure groups. While each of these rationales goes some way to elucidating the dynamics of the relationship, they do not adequately account for the groundswell of public opinion in support of Israel. A complimentary explanation that contributes greatly to understanding the
force of public support in defense of Israel, resides in the concept of political culture. While somewhat imprecise and impressionistic, this concept reveals much about the origins of an American commitment that is often costly in economic and diplomatic terms. It is not contended that political culture is the sole explanatory factor in the depth and longevity of the US-Israeli relationship, but that it shapes the core values of American society that influence the approach to foreign affairs. In perceiving their society to be a beacon of what they like to call “freedom” and “democracy,” in a world in which these values are largely absent, Americans have been encouraged to believe that they share a political kinship with societies similarly imbued and that they have an obligation to assist where such values are under threat. It is this
belief that sets Israel apart from other nations and forms the bedrock of the US-Israeli “special relationship.” Political speeches are replete with references to the values that the US and
Israel share. Bill Clinton, in the 1992 presidential election campaign, drew on Israel as an example of a “democratic ally” and claimed that “Democracy has always been our nation’s perfecting impulse … democracy abroad also protects our own concrete economic and security interests here at home.”1
Sixteen years later, Hillary Clinton echoed similar sentiments in her own bid for the presidency when, before the New York chapter of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), she said that “what is vital is that we stand by our friend and our ally and we stand by our own values. Israel is a beacon of what’s right in a neighbourhood overshadowed by the wrongs of radicalism, extremism, despotism and terrorism.”2
