MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have spent the past week in a very public disagreement about negotiations over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
In speech before Congress on Tuesday, Netanyahu said, “It doesn’t block Iran’s path to the bomb, it paves Iran’s path to the bomb.”
President Obama responded that the Prime Minister didn’t offer any “viable alternatives” to the negotiations.
But both men, despite the public spat, said the bond between United States and Israel is still very strong.
So, why are the two countries so close? Good Question.
“I think what contributes to that strength is a shared sense of history, a shared sense of the commitment to democracy and the structures around democracy,” said Andy Overman, chair of the Classics department at Macalester College. “There’s a strong commitment to an open economy and various kinds of capitalism.”
Of the 14 million Jews in the world, 41 percent live in Israel and 41 percent live in the United States, where they make up 2 percent of the American population.
“We share a common destiny, the destiny of promised lands that cherish freedom and offer hope,” Netanyahu said on Tuesday when describing the U.S.-Israel relationship.
But, Overman says the bond is strengthened beyond religious affiliation, pointing out a shared biblical and immigrant history.
Support for Israel is also politically popular in the U.S., especially among evangelical Christians. Anywhere between half and two-thirds of Americans view Israel positively. In Europe, it’s a different story where only 20 percent of people view Israel’s influence in a positive way.
“I think the Palestinian conflict has loomed larger in European awareness and view,” Overman said.
Since the Cold War, Israel has also been key to American Middle East strategy. Since 1948, when the small country was founded, the U.S. has given Israel $121 billion, mostly in the form of military assistance.
“We have viewed certain countries around Israel as enemies, as threats,” Overman said. “Israel and one or two other countries represent relative stability, and it’s really hard for me as a historian to imagine a time when that relationship’s not there.”
