U.S. Criticism of Israel

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The United States has been Israel's closest ally throughout its history;
nevertheless, the U.S. has acted against the Jewish State's wishes many times.

The U.S. effort to balance support for Israel with placating the Arabs began in
1948 when Truman showed signs of wavering on partition and advocating
trusteeship. After the surrounding Arab states invaded Israel, the U.S.
maintained an arms embargo that severely restricted the Jews' ability to defend
themselves.

Ever since the 1948 war, the U.S. has been unwilling to insist on projects to
resettle Arab refugees. The U.S. has also been reluctant to challenge Arab
violations of the UN Charter and resolutions. Thus, for example, the Arabs were
permitted to get away with blockading the Suez Canal, imposing a boycott on
Israel and committing acts of terrorism. In fact, the U.S. has taken positions
against Israel at the UN more often than not, and did not use its Security
Council veto to block an anti-Israel resolution until 1972.

Perhaps the most dramatic example of American policy diverging from that of
Israel came during the Suez War when President Eisenhower took a strong stand
against Britain, France and Israel. After the war, U.S. pressure forced Israel
to withdraw from the territory it conquered. David Ben-Gurion relied on dubious
American guarantees that sowed the seeds of the 1967 conflict.

At various other times, American Presidents have taken action against Israel.
In 1981, for example, Ronald Reagan suspended a strategic cooperation agreement
after Israel annexed the Golan Heights. On another occasion, he held up
delivery of fighter planes because of unhappiness over an Israeli raid in
Lebanon.

In 1991, President Bush held a press conference to ask for a delay in
considering Israel's request for loan guarantees to help absorb Soviet and
Ethiopian Jews because of his disagreement with Israel's settlement policy. In
staking his prestige on the delay, Bush used intemperate language that inflamed
passions and provoked concern in the Jewish community that anti-Semitism would
be aroused.