Arms Transfers to Israel The Strategic Logic Behind American Military Assistance

by Rodman, David

• ISBN13: 9781845191788
• ISBN10: 1845191781
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-03-01
• Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Summary

This book dispels two common myths about the American-Israeli patron-client relationship -- that arms transfers to Israel have been motivated by American domestic politics rather than national interests and that these arms transfers have come without any political strings attached to them. The first part of the book describes and analyses the institutionalisation of the American-Israeli arms pipeline during the Johnson administration, demonstrating conclusively in the process that arms transfers to the Jewish state were based primarily on American national interests. The second part of the book consists of four case studies that clearly reveal that American arms transfers to Israel, whether in wartime or in peacetime, have always come with a diplomatic price tag attached to them. The book is based largely on American government documents from the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series, from the Lyndon B Johnson Presidential Library, and from the United States National Archives.

Author Biography

David Rodman is the author of Defense and Diplomacy in Israel's National Security Experience. Tactics, Partnerships, and Motives (Sussex Academic Press, 2005). He has also published articles on the Arab-Israeli conflict in various professional journals, including Middle Eastern Studies, The Journal of Strategic Studies, Meria Journal, Israel Affairs, Defence Studies, and Air Space Power Chronicles.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. vii
Preface	p. viii
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction: The American-Israeli Relationship in Historical Perspective	p. 1
The Early Years of the American-Israeli Relationship	p. 2
The Birth of the American-Israeli Patron-Client Relationship	p. 5
How the Arms Relationship Emerged
The Israeli Quest for Arms: Western Europe and the United States	p. 9
Arms Acquisition for a Jewish State	p. 9
From the 1950 Tripartite Declaration to the 1956 Sinai Campaign	p. 11
From the Sinai Campaign to the Hawk Sale	p. 13
Armored Breakthrough: The I96S Sale of M-48 Patton Tanks to Israel	p. 17
The Road to the Sale	p. 18
The German Option to the Fore	p. 20
Water Woes and Arms Flows	p. 22
The Harriman-Komer Mission to Israel	p. 24
One Step Forward and One Step Backward: The 1966 Sale of A-4 Skyhawk Aircraft to Israel and the Post-1967 Six-Day War Arms Embargo	p. 27
The Israeli Wish List and the American Reaction	p. 28
The Road to the Sale	p. 29
The Post-Six-Day War Arms Freeze	p. 31
The Demise of the Arms Freeze	p. 33
Air Support: The 1968 Sale of F-4 Phantom Aircraft to Israel	p. 35
The Arab-Israeli Air Balance	p. 36
The Road to the Sale	p. 38
The Consummation of the Sale	p. 41
National Interests or Domestic Politics?: The Rationale Behind American Arms Sales to Israel in the 1960s	p. 45
The (Minor) Role of Domestic Politics in Arms Sales to Israel	p. 50
How the Arms Relationship Has Operated
The 1967 Six-Day War: A Delayed "Green Light" for Preemption	p. 59
The Prewar Crisis	p. 59
Analysis of American and Israeli Conduct	p. 64
The 1969-1970 War of Attrition: Restricting Israel's Military Options	p. 67
Escalation and Deescalation During the War	p. 67
Analysis of American and Israeli Conduct	p. 73
The 1973 Yom Kippur War: Limiting Israel's Military Victory	p. 76
American Arms Transfers and the War	p. 76
Analysis of American and Israeli Conduct	p. 80
Peacetime Arms Transfers: The Nixon, Carter, and Reagan Administrations	p. 84
The Nixon Administration	p. 84
The Carter Administration	p. 85
The Reagan Administration	p. 89
Analysis of American and Israeli Conduct	p. 91
Conclusion: The Costs of an Alliance and the Benefits of a Patron-Client Relationship	p. 94
The American Perspective	p. 94
The Israeli Perspective	p. 95
Into the Future	p. 97
Notes	p. 98
Select Bibliography	p. 119
Index	p. 123
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