US-Israel relations: Past and present of US-Israel dynamics during war

As the war in Gaza unfolds, questions arise about whether Israel is breaking free from Washington's influence, asserting its own agenda on its strategic ally.

Will the United States impose its conditions on Israel in its war against the Gaza Strip?

Political repercussions of this war begin to surface in American youth and within both the Republican and Democratic parties on the doors of the 2024 presidential elections.

Contradictions mark the historical backdrop of US-Israeli relations, a theme evident in today's developments titled "Prolonging the Battles and the Post-War Plan for Gaza." This is not the first time the US and Israel have found themselves at odds.

Israel initiated a war against Egypt alongside France and Britain. The Soviet Union threatened intervention, angering the US, as its President Eisenhower compelled Israel to withdraw militarily from Gaza and Sinai in the spring of 1957 in exchange for securing Israel's freedom of navigation in the Tiran Strait.

During coordinated attacks on Israeli forces by Egyptian and Syrian forces to reclaim Sinai and the Golan Heights, the Israeli army advanced and nearly reached the outskirts of Cairo.

Therefore, Arab nations imposed an oil embargo on the West. US diplomacy pressured Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir to immediately ceasefire, a demand swiftly met. It marked the first time Israel faced an attack and did not retaliate.

Saddam Hussein later targeted Tel Aviv with ballistic missiles, and despite American pressure, Israel refrained from responding. Washington feared that an Israeli counterattack would lead Arab nations to withdraw from the international coalition against Saddam Hussein, who was then waging war on Kuwait.

Amid strained relations with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, President George H.W. Bush called for an international peace conference between Arabs and Israelis. Under Washington's threat of suspending its annual aid to Israel, Shamir attended the Madrid conference.

However, after 68 days of war and talks of US-Israeli disagreements, President Biden recently warned Israel about losing international support in its war against Hamas. Netanyahu undoubtedly lacks the cohesive popular base that Sharon, Rabin, Begin, and Shamir once had, but even these leaders yielded to US pressures.

In this existential moment for Israel, requiring absolute American support, challenging any fundamental US strategic decision regarding the war on Gaza may be difficult unless Netanyahu plays his unpredictable cards and his final ace.