The $36 Billion Bargain: U.S. Aid to Israel and American Public Opinion

by A.F.K. Organski

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231071973
• ISBN13: 9780231071970
• Release Date: November 1991
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Explanation of the US-Israel Alliance

AFK Organski sets out to examine the theory that the US supports Israel due to the strength of the Jewish Lobby. Organski finds that theory to be woefully inadequate, and sets forth an alternative explanation that is very convincing. First, he destroys the myth of the Jewish lobby using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Organski cited figures that demonstrate that the Jewish vote is not large enough to effect Presidential elections, and the Jewish lobby not rich enough to contribute to enough Congressmen. Furthermore, the causation he finds is that once Congressmen have decided to support Israel the lobby funds them, not vice versa. The quantitative section is very well documented and persuasive. The qualitative section discusses th reason for US support. Organski finds that it is straight strategic purposes that drive US policy to Israel, much like US policy to every country. It wasnt until 1970 that the US really began to give Israel large amounts of aid, and it was clearly in order to balance against the radical Arab states in the region which were financed by the Soviet Union. The partnership increased after the 1973 War, and Israel served its purpose by defeating Egypt and making them turn to the US for support, a process which culminated in the Camp David Accords. Organski's book was written in 1990, so it focused on the Cold War and the containment of the Soviet Union as the reason for US support for Israel. Organksi has not updated his book to include reasons for support since then, but we can surmise he explain it in state goals of countering terrorism, balancing against US enemies, etc. But the main premise of his book is inescapable: The Jewish lobby does not control US policy. It never has and never will. The myth of the Jewish lobby is used by Israel's opponents to explain why the US supports Israel without blaming America while putting the blame on those nasty manipulative Jews. Serious and casual readers alike should examine this book carefully.

A Book for Serious Students of U.S. Foreign Policy

Professor Organski's book is a must-read for any serious student of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. It is a book that is sure to offend both those Arabists who pursue the myth that the United States supports Israel based on the whims of the "Israel lobby", and those Zionists who believe that the United States supports Israel out of sentimentality. The reality, as Professor Organski underlines, is that the first U.S. President to supply military aid to Israel was Richard Nixon, hardly a man who was indebted to the "Israel lobby" for his political position. The cold truth is that American support for Israel was a calculated experiment, one that forced such East Bloc clients as Egypt's Anwar Sadat to break from the Soviet fold. Under this experiment, a military option was no longer available to the Arab leadership. Under this experiment, the only road to a negotiated settlement began at the doorsteps of Washington. All of this, accomplished for less than the cost of a single U.S. carrier task force. Although published prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the lessons of this book remain true. American foreign policy has been, and remains, guided by strategic goals and interests, not by tiny lobby groups nor by sentimental attachments.

An excellent book by a world-renowned scholar and expert.

I am a bit biased, because Prof. Organski was one of my favorite teachers in college. Even so, the truth is Organski was, for more than 30 years, a world renowned political scientist. His work became the text books for political science classes throughout the country. His analysis of the Israel - US relationship is trenchant, easy to read, and persuasive. Plainly, in the context of US-Soviet competition, American aid to Israel was a bargain (never mind also the right and moral thing to do). You will love the scholarship, appreciate the keen analysis, and enjoy the easy, almost jargon-less (for this kind of work) style. For anyone who wants to understand how the U.S.- Israeli relationship came to be, this is a great place to start!