The November 1981 US-Israel MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) was the first of several US-Israeli agreements that specified significant and steady deepening of the relationship between the two countries.
As US administrations stepped up their involvement in promoting a resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Towards the end of his administration, President Gerald Ford and his team made public efforts to end the conflict. In his November 1975 official statement to Congress, Assistant Secretary of State Harold Saunders made the case that “legitimate interests of the Palestinian Arabs must be taken into account in negotiating an Arab-Israeli peace.” While the Carter and Reagan administrations provided security assistance to Egypt and Saudi Arabia with supply of highly advanced fighter aircraft, the Reagan administration was eager to alleviate growing Israel skittishness about the US becoming too evenhanded in identifying Middle Eastern Arab allies.
After the 1973 Arab oil embargo on the United States for its support of Israel, the key turning point emerged from Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s policy turn away from the Soviet Union and to the United States. Sadat’s policies and personality generated Washington’s irrevocable slide, perhaps not a shift, in securing Egypt as a firm US ally. In a broader context, the US had since the late 1960’s made it clear to Israel officials, that the US had “interests in the Middle East that did not center on Israel alone.” (Remarks by Under-Secretary of Political Affairs, Joseph Sisco, June 1969)
For the US, in 1981, and since, keeping Middle Eastern friends close was strategically vital. The region was churning. The Soviets were still in Afghanistan, Khomeini’s anti-American, Islamic Republic was ensconced in Iran, the Iran-Iraq war was churning the region, oil supplies were still in jeopardy, and the Cold War between Moscow and Washington found Arab states such as Iraq, Libya, and Syria as passionate clients of the Soviet Union. Significantly, this MOU was issued a month after Sadat’s assassination. The US wanted to assure Israel of its commitment to Israel’s security, particularly since the date for Israeli withdrawal from Sinai was scheduled and took place at the end of April 1982.
Washington’s assertion of its friendship with Israel made sense. This MOU was not a formal treaty, but it affirmed the common interests of both countries to stand against the USSR and deepening pockets of instability in the Middle East. While the Carter administration had increasingly used a mailed fist in frequently criticizing the Begin government’s settlement policies in the territories, the Reagan administration by contrast used a velvet glove in its public relationship with Israel. Subsequent major US-Israeli agreements about Israeli security, U.S. – Israeli economic and military cooperation, and sanctioned changes in Israel’s borders and Israel as a strategic asset were signed by both Democrat and Republican US Presidents in November 1983, April 1988, April 1996, April 2004, and July 2016. To secure America’s Arab allies, from 1990 through 2012, the US administrations forgave almost $30 billion in Egyptian debt to the United States, the US and Jordan in in December 2001entered a Free Trade Agreement, and in 2017, the U.S. Security Cooperation Agreement with Saudi Arabia included $126 billion in military sales to Riyadh.
Ken Stein
December 2021
PREAMBLE
This memorandum of understanding reaffirms the common bonds of friendship between the United States and Israel and builds on the mutual security relationship that exists between the two nations. The parties recognize the need to enhance strategic cooperation to deter all threats from the Soviet Union to the region. Noting the longstanding and fruitful cooperation for mutual security that has developed between the two countries, the parties have decided to establish a framework for continued consultation and cooperation to enhance their national security by deterring such threats to the whole region.
The parties have reached the following agreements in order to achieve the above aims.
ARTICLE I
United States-Israel strategic cooperation, as set forth in this memorandum, is designed against the threat to peace and security of the region caused by the Soviet Union or Soviet-controlled forces from outside the region introduced into the region. It has the following broad purposes:
1. To enable the parties to act cooperatively and in a timely manner to deal with the above-mentioned threat.
2. To provide each other with military assistance for operations of their forces in the area that may be required to cope with this threat.
3. The strategic cooperation between the parties is not directed at any state or group of states within the region. It is intended solely for defensive purposes against the above-mentioned threat.
ARTICLE II
1. The fields in which strategic cooperation will be carried out to prevent the above-mentioned threat from endangering the security of the region include:
1. Military cooperation between the parties, as may be agreed by the parties.
2. Joint military exercise, including naval and air exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, as agreed upon by the parties.
3. Cooperation for the establishment and maintenance of joint readiness activities, as agreed upon by the parties.
4. Other areas within the basic scope and purpose of this agreement, as may be jointly agreed.
2. Details of activities within these fields of cooperation shall be worked out by the parties in accordance with the provisions of Article III below. The cooperation will include, as appropriate, planning, preparations, and exercises.
ARTICLE III
1. The Secretary of Defense and the Minister of Defence shall establish a coordinating council to further the purpose of this memorandum.
1. To coordinate and provide guidance to joint working groups.
2. To monitor the implementation of cooperation in the fields agreed upon by the parties within the scope of this agreement.
3. To hold periodic meetings, in Israel and the United States, for the purposes of discussing and resolving outstanding issues and to further the objectives set forth in this memorandum. Special meetings can be held at the request of either party. The Secretary of Defense and Minister of Defence will chair these meetings whenever possible.
2. Joint working groups will address the following issues:
1. Military cooperation between the parties, including joint U.S.-Israel exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
2. Cooperation for the establishment of joint readiness activities including access to maintenance facilities and other infrastructure, consistent with the basic purposes of this agreement.
3. Cooperation in research and development, building on past cooperation in this area.
4. Cooperation in defence trade.
5. Other fields within the basic scope and purpose of this agreement, such as questions of prepositioning, as agreed by the coordinating council.
3. The future agenda for the work of the joint working groups, their composition and procedures for reporting to the coordinating council shall be agreed upon by the parties.
ARTICLE IV
This memorandum shall enter into force upon exchange of notification that required procedures have been completed by each party. If either party considers it necessary to terminate this memorandum of understanding, it may do so by notifying the other party six months in advance of the effective date of termination.
ARTICLE V
Nothing in the memorandum shall be considered as derogating from pervious agreements and understandings between the parties.
ARTICLE VI
The parties share the understanding that nothing in this memorandum is intended to or shall in any way prejudge the rights and obligations which devolve or may devolve upon either government under the charter of the United Nations or under international law. The parties reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the charter of the United Nations and their aspiration to live in peace with all countries in the region.
Government of Israel on Strategic Cooperation
November 30, 1981
After a few weeks of discussions between working groups, Israel’s Defense Minister Sharon and the U.S. Defense Secretary Weinberger signed on 30 November in Washington a memorandum of understanding on strategic cooperation. The main objective was to deter Soviet threats in the Middle East. There would be joint military exercises, land, sea and air; there would also be planning for the establishment and maintenance of joint readiness activities. Joint working teams will deal with specific military issues. The Arab world and the Soviet Union were highly critical of this agreement, which they felt would impair America’s ability to deal fairly with the peace process in the Middle East.
TEXT:
PREAMBLE
This memorandum of understanding reaffirms the common bonds of friendship between the United States and Israel and builds on the mutual security relationship that exists between the two nations. The parties recognize the need to enhance strategic cooperation to deter all threats from the Soviet Union to the region. Noting the longstanding and fruitful cooperation for mutual security that has developed between the two countries, the parties have decided to establish a framework for continued consultation and cooperation to enhance their national security by deterring such threats to the whole region.
The parties have reached the following agreements in order to achieve the above aims.
ARTICLE I
United States-Israel strategic cooperation, as set forth in this memorandum, is designed against the threat to peace and security of the region caused by the Soviet Union or Soviet-controlled forces from outside the region introduced into the region. It has the following broad purposes:
1. To enable the parties to act cooperatively and in a timely manner to deal with the above-mentioned threat.
2. To provide each other with military assistance for operations of their forces in the area that may be required to cope with this threat.
3. The strategic cooperation between the parties is not directed at any state or group of states within the region. It is intended solely for defensive purposes against the above-mentioned threat.
ARTICLE II
1. The fields in which strategic cooperation will be carried out to prevent the above-mentioned threat from endangering the security of the region include:
1. Military cooperation between the parties, as may be agreed by the parties.
2. Joint military exercise, including naval and air exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, as agreed upon by the parties.
3. Cooperation for the establishment and maintenance of joint readiness activities, as agreed upon by the parties.
4. Other areas within the basic scope and purpose of this agreement, as may be jointly agreed.
2. Details of activities within these fields of cooperation shall be worked out by the parties in accordance with the provisions of Article III below. The cooperation will include, as appropriate, planning, preparations, and exercises.
ARTICLE III
1. The Secretary of Defense and the Minister of Defence shall establish a coordinating council to further the purpose of this memorandum.
1. To coordinate and provide guidance to joint working groups.
2. To monitor the implementation of cooperation in the fields agreed upon by the parties within the scope of this agreement.
3. To hold periodic meetings, in Israel and the United States, for the purposes of discussing and resolving outstanding issues and to further the objectives set forth in this memorandum. Special meetings can be held at the request of either party. The Secretary of Defense and Minister of Defence will chair these meetings whenever possible.
2. Joint working groups will address the following issues:
1. Military cooperation between the parties, including joint U.S.-Israel exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
2. Cooperation for the establishment of joint readiness activities including access to maintenance facilities and other infrastructure, consistent with the basic purposes of this agreement.
3. Cooperation in research and development, building on past cooperation in this area.
4. Cooperation in defence trade.
5. Other fields within the basic scope and purpose of this agreement, such as questions of prepositioning, as agreed by the coordinating council.
3. The future agenda for the work of the joint working groups, their composition and procedures for reporting to the coordinating council shall be agreed upon by the parties.
ARTICLE IV
This memorandum shall enter into force upon exchange of notification that required procedures have been completed by each party. If either party considers it necessary to terminate this memorandum of understanding, it may do so by notifying the other party six months in advance of the effective date of termination.
ARTICLE V
Nothing in the memorandum shall be considered as derogating from pervious agreements and understandings between the parties.
ARTICLE VI
The parties share the understanding that nothing in this memorandum is intended to or shall in any way prejudge the rights and obligations which devolve or may devolve upon either government under the charter of the United Nations or under international law. The parties reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the charter of the United Nations and their aspiration to live in peace with all countries in the region.