ABSTRACT
The role of Congress in national security affairs has changed dramatically since the end of World War II. From a position of generally unquestioning support of executive-branch initiatives, Congress has become an assertive, sometimes contentious partner in the making of national security policy. Members of Congress whose concerns and experience were turned inward to domestic concerns seldom if ever challenged the wisdom of military experts. The Congress has members that are sympathetic to the views of almost the full spectrum of Israeli politics, a mixture reflecting the richness of the brew of democratic politics in Israel. The Middle East is less and less identified in the public mind in stereotypes of sandy deserts, bedouins on camels, oil wells, and Israel. Of growing importance is the greater prominence and effect that Mikhail Gorbachev's less militant and more conciliatory foreign policies are having throughout the world but particularly in the Middle East.
