Jim Zanotti, “Major Issues and U.S.-Israel Relations,” Congressional Research Service
This is an excellent historical review of the relationship, including discussion of the Israel-Hamas War (31p.).
The State of Israel’s oldest official relationship is with the United States, the first country to recognize Israel after it declared independence in May 1948. But the connections between American officials and leaders and the Zionist movement go back to the 19th century. After the June 1967 war, the United States became Israel’s most important ally. The United States has provided aid, arms, peace mediation and diplomatic support.
Washington saw Israel as a vital asset in its struggle against the Soviet Union during the Cold War, which lasted until the end of the 1980s. Had Arab states not so readily embraced Moscow as a friend, weapons supplier and geographic asset for ports on the Mediterranean Sea, the American embrace of Israel might have been different.
Israel provided the U.S. with vital intelligence sharing, weapons development and advancement, and, particularly after the fall of the Shah in Iran in 1979, an important strategic link for the United States to ensure the means to sustain moderate Arab states, including Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Entangling the state-to-state associations of the two countries are the rooted connections whereby the two largest Jewish communities in the world influence each other. Keen backing for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship emerged broadly through bipartisan support from the American electorate. The U.S. and Israel have diverged, however, on how to manage the territories Israel acquired in June 1967. How Israel would or could exchange land for peace or security became the underlying concept in the Arab-Israeli negotiations the United States evolved as the most important mediator, engineer, financier and guarantor of agreements signed and sought. But Jerusalem and Washington have no written treaty. Instead, dozens of letters of assurance, memorandums of agreement and understanding, and close partnerships define the relationship in military and civilian fields.
In June 2025, after Israel cleared the airspace over Iran, the U.S. military bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities, participating with Israel for the first time in a war against a regional enemy. By then, the U.S.-Israel relationship was deeper than it had ever been, as both stood against the spread of nuclear weapons and the spread of toxic ideologies meant to undermine the region’s political stability.
Key Curated Essentials for U.S.-Israel Relations
US-Israeli Relationship
The US-Israeli relationship is complicated, dynamic, multidimensional, and enduring. From initial American governmental opposition to the present, Washington has become Israel’s most trusted ally. Rooted in common bonds, entrenched military sharing, and valued strategic interests, the association has also greatly influenced the shaping and sustenance of American Jewish identity.
U.S.-Israel Relations: 75 Years and On (52:03)
Join CIE’s founding president, Ken Stein, in a conversation at 5 p.m. ET on Nov. 29 with two experts in the field of U.S.-Israel relations, Aaron David Miller and Raphael Danziger, as part of CIE’s Israel@75: A Yearlong Exploration program.
Loy Henderson, State Department Director of Near Eastern and African Affairs, Vehemently Opposes Jewish State in Memo to Secretary of State George Marshall, 1947
Loy Henderson, Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs, U.S. State Department, to U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall
Writing two months before the U.S. voted at the United Nations in favor of Palestine’s partition into Arab and Jewish states, Henderson voices profound dislike for Zionism and a Jewish state. He advocates for cultivating positive relations with Muslim and Arab states. He is one of many at the State Department at the time who saw Zionism as contrary to American national interests.
Great Powers, the Middle East and the Cold Wars
The clash of great powers to control the Middle East, particularly between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., neither began after World War II nor ended with the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. Today, China, the U.S., Russia and Middle Eastern regional powers vie to influence everyday politics and resources.
Lyndon Johnson’s Five Principles of Peace, 1967
President Johnson’s remarks became the philosophical outline for UN Resolution 242 passed in November 1967. Core to his view was that Israel would not need to return to the pre-1967 war borders, and that the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states in the region should be protected.
Israel’s 9/11 — Changes in the U.S.-Israel Relationship Since the June 1967 War (42:00)
In the days before the June 1967 war, President Lyndon Johnson warned Israel against war, saying, “If you go it alone, you will be alone.” President Joe Biden issued a similar warning in March against…
Hamilton Jordan Memorandum to President Carter, “Foreign Policy and Domestic Politics: The Role of the American Jewish Community in the Middle East,” June 1977
Hamilton Jordan, Carter’s chief political adviser, warned the president to halt the administration’s anti-Israeli actions. Nonetheless, they continued to diminish Carter’s support among American Jews through the 1980 re-election campaign.
Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty — Context and Implications
March 26, 2025 By Ken Stein The ripe conditions that prefaced the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli treaty and might presage additional Arab-Israeli agreements are almost totally absent in 2025. Why? Today, there is an absence of political…
Reagan and Shamir on U.S.-Israel Cooperation, 1983
Areas of bilateral political and military cooperation are noted to fend off Soviet involvement in the the Middle East, to assist Israel in building the Lavi aircraft, to assure an independent Lebanon, and promote Arab-Israeli negotiations.
Abraham Accords: US, UAE, Israel, Bahrain Recognition Agreements, 2020
Quietly pursued in the past, long-standing strategic ties between Israel and Gulf states have become public. Building on the historic Joint Agreement signed between Israel and the UAE in August 2020, the Abraham Accords serve as a framework for normalizing diplomatic relations between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain.
Arab-Israeli Conflict: Quest for Normalization, 1973-Present
Unfold six Arab states’ embrace of Israel since 1973 out of national interests and U.S. mediation, sidelining the Palestinian movement, and explore Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and its implications for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israeli diplomacy.
More Curated Essentials for U.S.-Israel Relations
Through 1948: Recognition
Blackstone Memorial Is Presented to President Harrison
March 5, 1891
William E. Blackstone, a Methodist lay leader and real estate investor, petitions President Benjamin Harrison on behalf of creating “a home for these wandering millions of Israel.” The Blackstone Memorial was the name of the signed petition.
Minister Andrew D. White on the Jewish Situation in Russia
July 6, 1893
Major motivations for some Jews to choose Zionism included their failure to gain civic equality with their non-Jewish neighbors, and increasing outbreaks of rampant anti-Semitism. This account of the miserable economic situation of Jews in eastern Europe was another impetus for Jews to change their economic, political, and social condition through immigration.
Henry Morgenthau Pleads for Aid to Jews in Palestine
October 6, 1914
Responding to a plea from Henry Morgenthau, United States Ambassador to Turkey and American Jewish leaders, led by Louis Marshall and Jacob Schiff, quickly raise $50,000 in aid for the Jewish community in the Palestine.
Zionist Leader Nahum Sokolow Meets With U.S. President
January 13, 1922
Nahum Sokolow, serving as President of the Executive Committee of the World Zionist Congress, meets with President Warren Harding in Washington, D.C.
A Zionist State in 1939
January 19, 2002
“A Zionist State in 1939,” Dr. Kenneth W. Stein, CHAI (Atlanta), Winter 2002 “Had not the Nazi crimes been committed against Jews during World War II, the Jewish State would have never come true.” So...
The Biltmore Program, 1942
May 11, 1942
In New York, urging American (Jewish) support, Ben-Gurion proclaims the eventual establishment of a Jewish state.
U.S. Republican Convention Supports Jewish State in Palestine
June 26, 1944
At the 1944 Republican Party National Convention, New York Senator Thomas Dewey’s strong support for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine captures the attention of Zionists in Palestine and, more notably, American Jewry.
Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine, 1946
April 20, 1946
April 20, 1946 Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, Report to the United States Government and His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, 1946. Unsure how to manage Palestine’s future, the British and...
1947 Truman Doctrine
March 1947
Fearing Communist penetration of the Eastern Mediterranean, Truman at the beginning of the Cold War defines the region as a sphere of US national interest.
Loy Henderson, State Department Director of Near Eastern and African Affairs, Vehemently Opposes Jewish State in Memo to Secretary of State George Marshall, 1947
September 22, 1947
Loy Henderson, Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs, U.S. State Department, to U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall
Writing two months before the U.S. voted at the United Nations in favor of Palestine's partition into Arab and Jewish states, Henderson voices profound dislike for Zionism and a Jewish state. He advocates for cultivating positive relations with Muslim and Arab states. He is one of many at the State Department at the time who saw Zionism as contrary to American national interests.
Saudi King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud to President Truman, 1947
October 26, 1947
No document better reveals the hostility which most Arab leaders and Arab states had in 1947 for Zionism and for a possible Jewish state. The Saudi King notes "that US support for Zionists in Palestine is an unfriendly act directed against the Arabs." The King's views were totally supported by US State Department officials including Loy Henderson and George Kennan who advocated strongly against Truman's support of a Jewish state.
UNGA (Palestine Partition) Resolution 181, 1947
November 29, 1947
The UN recommended establishing Arab and Jewish states in Palestine, with an international regime for Jerusalem. Zionists were jubilant; Arab states and the Palestinians were indignant and rejected two state solution. No Arab state is established, Israel is in 1948
George Kennan Memorandum Urges U.S. Government to Reverse Support for Partition of Palestine, 1948
February 24, 1948
In March 1948, two months before Israel’s establishment, the US State Department sought to reverse the US vote in favor of partition for the creation of Arab and Jewish states in Palestine.
Truman Advisor Clark Clifford Opposes State Department on Partition
March 6, 1948
Clark Clifford did not want the US to waiver from the partition resolution passed at the UN in November 1947, which called for the division of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states.
Joint Chiefs Advise Truman on Trusteeship in Palestine
April 4, 1948
The United States was deeply worried that supporting the establishment of a Jewish state would jeopardize Arab oil supplies and force the US to send troops, risking a confrontation with the USSR.
U.S. Opposes Stationing Troops in Israel
July 21, 1948
The US rejects a UN request that US Marines be temporarily stationed in Jerusalem to support an Israeli-Arab military truce agreement. The US continues its policy of supporting diplomacy in the region, while maintaining politically-strategic, military distance.
Avraham Sela, “The Arabs, Truman, and the Birth of the State of Israel,” 1945-1948
1945-1948
Apart from the Zionist movement and the Jewish community in Palestine, the role of President Truman, however, was the most important factor enabling the establishment of the Jewish state.
The Arab-Israel War of 1948 — A Short History
May 1948-March 1949
Otherwise known as Israel’s War of Independence, or, “the nakbah” or disaster to the Arab world because a Jewish state was established, the war was fought between the newly established Jewish state of Israel opposed by Palestinian irregulars, and armies from five Arab states. Official beginning of the war is usually given as May 14, 1948, the date Israel declared itself an independent Jewish state, but the war’s first of four phases began in November 1947. Lasting for two years, the war ended with armistice agreements signed in 1949 between Israel and four Arab states.
1949-1976: Quiet Support to Strengthening Alliance
Admission of Israel to the United Nations, UNGA Resolution 273, 1949
May 11, 1949
Upon admission to the U.N., Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett said, "It was
the consummation of a people's transition from political anonymity to clear identity, from inferiority to equal status, from mere passive protest to active responsibility, from exclusion to membership in the family of nations."
Saudi Arabia Will Never Recognize Israel, Diplomat Tells U.S.
March 25, 1950
Shaikh Yusuf Yassin, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, states that “Arab states would never agree to any working relationship with Israel.”
American Jewish Relationship With Israel: Speech by Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Response by AJC President Jacob Blaustein, 1950
August 23, 1950
August 23, 1950 American Jewish Yearbook, Vol. 53. 1952. 64-8. Over time, world Jewish opinion became splintered not only about the nature of Zionism or the role of Israel in their identity, but the degree...
Dulles Outlines U.S. Plan for Middle East
August 26, 1955
August 26, 1955 Secretary of State John Foster Dulles delivers a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations that points to the Eisenhower administration’s new plan to launch covert discussions between Israeli Prime Minister David...
Eisenhower Urges Israel to Adhere to U.N. Resolutions
February 20, 1957
In a nationally televised address to the American people, President Dwight Eisenhower discusses the tense situation in the Middle East in the aftermath of the October 1956 Suez War.
Eisenhower Doctrine, 1957
January 5, 1957
Further reinforcing the Truman Doctrine, the US President promises military or economic aid to any Middle Eastern country resisting Communist aggression.
Eban, Dulles Discuss Arms Deal
January 25, 1956
January 25, 1956 Abba Eban, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, and John Foster Dulles, the U.S. secretary of state, discuss a proposal for the United States to sell Israel $50 million worth of weapons...
U.S. Agrees to Sell A-4 Bombers to Israel
May 19, 1966
May 19, 1966 The Johnson administration announces that it will sell A-4 Skyhawk light bombers to Israel, marking the first sale of U.S. warplanes to Israel and a shift from France to the United States...
Operation Diamond Obtains Iraqi MIG-21
August 16, 1966
Known as Operation Diamond, the plan to recover a functional, Russian-made MIG-21 fighter jet succeeds after the Mossad cuts a deal with disillusioned Iraqi-Christian fighter pilot Munir Redfa. As part of the deal, Redfa receives $1 million, Israeli citizenship for himself and his family, and guaranteed full-time employment.
Ambassador Gideon Rafael to the U.N. Security Council, 1967
June 3, 1967
A detailed outline is presented of events that led to the June 1967 War.
Abba Eban Speech at U.N. Special Assembly, June 1967
June 19, 1967
Following the conclusion of the June 1967 War, the Israeli government sent word to Egypt and Syria seeking peace plan that was intended to jumpstart a peace process with Israel’s belligerent neighbors, Egypt and Syria. The messages were sent through the US, but no response was apparently received.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, 1967
November 22, 1967
The Resolution calls for unspecified Israel withdrawal from territories in return for right of all states to live in peace. It does not call for full withdrawal. It is the basis of Egyptian (1979) and Jordanian (1994) Treaties with Israel, and PLO (1993) recognition of Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State William Rogers’ Plan for an Arab-Israeli Settlement, 1969
October 29, 1969
Without any consultation with Jerusalem, Israel rejects US proposal for full withdrawal.
Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976: “Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1973”
January 2, 1973
Foreign Relations of the United States 1969-1976, Vol. 25: Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1973, published in 2011 and running more than 1,200 pages in covering all of 1973 and the first two weeks of 1974....
Transcript of Secret Talks Between Egyptian National Security Adviser Hafez Ismail and U.S. National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, 1973
February 25-26, 1973
October 6, 2023, was the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the October 1973 war. Six months prior, Egyptian President Sadat sent his national security adviser to meet with Secretary of State Kissinger to determine whether the U.S. would engage Egypt and Israel in serious mediation for a Sinai agreement, or a series of them, all focused on Israeli withdrawal and gradual acceptance of Israel. Kissinger did not take Sadat’s overtures seriously. Would American action then have avoided the October 1973 war? All informed analyses say no.
The 1973 October War — A Short History
October 1973
Egyptian President Sadat colluded with Syrian President Assad to attack Israel on October 6, 1973. Sadat's objective was not to seek Israel's destruction but to gain a limited success by crossing the canal. He also sought to engage American diplomacy to generate talks with Israel that would see Israeli withdrawal from Egyptian land Israel secured in the June 1967 War. Sadat took a large gamble by attacking Israel yet he unfolded a negotiating process with Israel that lasted through 1979. He achieved his overarching long-term priority of having Egyptian Sinai returned to Egyptian sovereignty.
The October 1973 War and Its Aftermath — Quotable Quotes and Key Conversations
October 1973-January 1974
In carrying out research in the 1990s for Heroic Diplomacy: Sadat, Kissinger, Carter, Begin and the Quest for Arab-Israeli Peace, Routledge, 1999, I undertook 84 interviews with individuals who participated in the diplomacy.
William B. Quandt, “Kissinger’s Strategic Thinking During the October War” (31:00)
September 10, 2013
September 10, 2013 Speaker: Professor William Quandt, Professor Emeritus, University of Virginia, speaks at the “Yom Kippur War — A Launching Pad for U.S. Middle East Policy” conference, held in Tel Aviv by the Institute...
President Nixon and the Role of Intelligence in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War
January 30, 2013
Proceedings of a conference concluded that while pre-war intelligence was plentiful and accurate, there was a massive U.S. intelligence failure. Misinterpretation layered on top of preconceived notions of Arab military ineptitude and faith in diplomacy formed the core of the failures.
Israel State Archives, “The Yom Kippur War,” October 1973
September 23, 2023
The Israel State Archives has created a 16-chapter, document-based narrative of the October 1973 war, the events leading to it, and its aftermath. The landing page includes links to other documentary sources for the war....
Kenneth W. Stein, “Evolving a Diplomatic Legacy From the October War: The US, Egyptian, and Israeli Triangle”
2013
Kenneth W. Stein, “Evolving a Diplomatic Legacy From the October War: The US, Egyptian, and Israeli Triangle,” in Asaf Siniver (ed.), The October 1973 War Politics, Diplomacy, and Legacy, London: Hurst and Company, 2013. This...
In Damascus in December 1973, Kissinger Rebuffed by Assad: “Mr. Secretary, Is It My Turn to Speak?”
December 15, 1973
Henry Kissinger and and Hafez al-Assad meet in Damascus in December 1973 (credit: Agence France-Presse stringer, released by Getty in January 1974). By Ken Stein Sandwiched between the end of the 1973 October Middle East...
Memorandum of Conversation Between Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, December 1973
December 15, 1973
U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger failed to persuade Syrian President Assad to attend the December 1973 Geneva Middle East Peace Conference. Assad saw the proposed conference, which it was, a ruse to cover up a "pre-cooked" Israeli-Egyptian arrangement. Assad wanted no part of implicitly supporting any agreement where Israel's legitimacy might be enhanced.
Geneva Middle East Peace Conference Opens
December 21, 1973
Convened under the co-chairmanship of the United States and Soviet Union, the Geneva Middle East Conference is “aimed at establishing a just and durable peace in the Middle East.”
Israel-Egypt Separation of Forces Agreement, 1974
January 18, 1974
The US mediates an agreement separating forces in Sinai after the 1973 War; Egyptian and Israeli
generals will negotiate additional details.
Map of Israeli-Egyptian Separation of Forces Agreement, January 1974
January 1974
For Sadat, who had gone to war against Israel three months earlier, securing a military disengagement agreement was important. In addition, diplomatically engaging the US to secure the agreement meant entrenching Washington as a friend of Egypt. The US embraced the opportunity to quell tensions between Israel and Egypt, while squiring Cairo away from decades of Moscow’s embrace. Israel had its POWs returned and slowly tested Sadat’s broader intentions toward Jerusalem.
U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding, 1974
January 18, 1974
The US promises to implement an Egyptian-Israeli disengagement agreement and have the Suez Canal cleared. Israel sees eventual repopulation of Suez Canal cities as a sign that Egypt will not go to war again soon.
Reassessment of Washington-Israel Relationship Begins
March 18, 1975
The US undertakes a “reassessment” of the Washington-Israel relationship, creating enormous tension between the US executive branch and the Israeli government.
Israel, U.S. Sign Economic Pact
May 13, 1975
A wide-ranging agreement on expanded economic cooperation provides short term relief to Israel’s struggling economy.
President Ford’s Promises About the Golan Heights, 1975
September 1, 1975
President Ford promises that the US will give “weight” to any future Israeli peace agreement with Syria that Israel should remain in the Golan Heights.
Sinai II Accords: Egyptian-Israeli Disengagement Agreement, 1975
September 4, 1975
Cairo and Jerusalem agree to additional Sinai withdrawals, demilitarized zones, limited force zones and, importantly, placement of US civilians in Sinai to monitor observance of agreement.
U.S.-Israeli Memorandum of Agreement on Future Negotiations, 1975
September 17, 1975
The US promises coordination with Israel on resumed negotiations, not to negotiate or recognize
the PLO until it recognizes Israel’s right to exist, and accepts UNSC Resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973).
Assistant Secretary of State Saunders on U.S. Foreign Policy and Peace in the Middle East, 1975
November 12, 1975
For the first time a US State Department official states the “legitimate interests of the Palestinian Arabs must be taken into account in the negotiating of an Arab-Israeli peace.”
UNGA Resolution 3379: Zionism Is Racism
November 10, 1975
Led by USSR and Arab states, Zionism is labeled as racist; the resolution is revoked in 1991.
Brookings Institution Report: “Toward Peace in the Middle East,” 1975
December 1975
Outlining an Arab-Israeli settlement, it calls for Israeli withdrawal to “almost the pre-June War borders” and “extensive Palestinian autonomy.” The Carter Administration embraces the report for its policy.
1977-1981: Camp David and the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty
“Jimmy Carter’s Middle East Legacies,” Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, September 2024
September 2024
September 2024 By Kenneth Stein Kenneth Stein is Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Middle Eastern History, Political Science and Israel Studies at Emory University and President of the Atlanta-based Center for Israel Education. He is the author...
Memorandum of Conversation: U.S. Secretary of State Vance in Israel With Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, 1977
February 16, 1977
With candor, Israeli Foreign Minister Allon tells Secretary of State Vance that the Israeli Labor government would under no circumstances negotiate with the PLO until it gave up terrorism, recognized UNSC 242, and unequivocally accepted Israel’s right to exist. Only in 1993, did the PLO accept these premises, Sixteen years had then passed while Israel built settlements virtually without restraint in the territories.
Memorandum of Conversation Between President Carter and Prime Minister Rabin, March 1977
March 8, 1977
This first Carter-Rabin meeting was unpleasant at best. Rabin would not turn over Israel's negotiating prerogatives to the US; Carter publicly told Israel that it might have to return to the June 1967 borders. Carter said Rabin was like a "dead fish." and Rabin said that he felt 'cornered by Carter." His administration was interested in carving out the West Bank for Palestinian political expression even before the PLO was prepared to accept Israeli legitimacy. And Israel was not prepared to withdraw from the West Bank, a position also held by Menachem Begin.
Jimmy Carter Remarks on Palestinian Homeland and Q&A Session in Clinton, Massachusetts, 1977
March 16, 1977
Carefully stated, Carter says that there should be a homeland for the Palestinian refugees. He is the first US president to assert the need for a place for the Palestinians and for Israel’s right to exist in peace.
Memorandum of Conversation Between President Carter and President Sadat, April 1977
April 5, 1977
In their first meeting, Anwar Sadat and Jimmy Carter have a vividly detailed exchange about negotiations between Israel and Arab parties, particularly Egypt.
Minutes of a Policy Review Committee Meeting About the Middle East, 1977
April 19, 1977
When the Carter Administration entered office in 1977, an early foreign policy priority was to kick-start Middle East negotiations. In this Policy Review Committee Meeting, Carter’s staff proposed a negotiating outcome that would pass through a conference, including the withdrawal of Israel’s forces to almost the 1967 borders, bringing the PLO into talks as Palestinian representatives, all the while seeking to uphold Israel's security requirements.
Memorandum of Conversation Between President Carter and President Assad, 1977
May 9, 1977
This meeting between President Carter and Syrian President Assad was the only one they had during the Carter presidency. Carter wanted to learn what Assad’s requirements were for an agreement with Israel: borders, security, nature of peace and willingness of other Arabs join. Assad doubted that the Saudis would join this process. When the conversation was finished, Assad made it clear that he was not rushing into an agreement with Israel, even if asked by the United States. Carter acknowledged to Assad that he knew little about the Palestinian refugee issue. Carter did tell Assad that the U.S. was committed to the security of Israel. Assad did not say that the Soviet Union’s participation at a conference was necessary; in fact, Assad noted how difficult his relations were with Moscow in the immediate past. Assad did tell Carter that it was Secretary of State Vance who first raised the possibility of Moscow attending such a peace conference. From American diplomatic sources we learn that Assad was pleased to have been squired by Carter. For their part, the Israelis were deeply anxious about Carter’s positive statements about Assad after this meeting.
Ken Stein to Dan Senor: “Carter Didn’t Understand” National Interests in Middle East
January 26, 2025
January 9, 2025 Dan Senor, co-author of The Genius of Israel and Start-Up Nation, brought Center for Israel Education President Ken Stein on his Call Me Back podcast on Jan. 9 just hours after the...
Israel On Board: Carter’s Search for Middle East Peace (4:15)
September 5, 2018
In this animated white board video, we explore Jimmy Carter’s efforts at achieving peace in the Middle East.
Israel’s Framework for the Peace-Making Process With Its Neighbors, July 1977
July 19, 1977
Begin tells Carter that Judea, Samaria (the West Bank) and the Gaza Strip will not be placed under foreign sovereignty; likewise, these areas will not be annexed, leaving them open for possible negotiations.
Memorandum of First Meeting Between Prime Minister Begin and President Carter, 1977
July 19, 1977
Following his surprise electoral victory in May, Prime Minister Menachem Begin traveled to Washington in an effort to establish a positive rapport with President Carter. While this initial meeting was cordial, each met the others’ stubbornness, a characteristic that would keep their relationship respectful but acrid for years to come.
President Carter’s Meeting With Israeli Foreign Minister Dayan, September 1977
September 19, 1977
The vast gulf in US and Israeli positions about Palestinian self-determination, the degree of withdrawal from the West Bank, and future borders is precisely stated. A year later at the end of the Camp David negotiations, Israeli and US views had not changed at all.
Joint U.S.-Soviet Statement on the Middle East, 1977
October 1, 1977
Naively, the Carter Administration believes that a conference with the USSR would start comprehensive negotiations; instead, the fear of Moscow’s engagement helps drive direct Egyptian-Israeli talks.
Memorandum of Conversation Between U.S. President Carter and Israeli Foreign Minister Dayan, October 1977
October 4, 1977
Common to both the Labor Party and to Begin’s government was a fear that the US would pressure Israel into unwanted concessions and deny Israel its right to sovereign decision-making. It was a concern that Dayan expressed in this October 1977 meeting, and one that he would articulate on several occasions during the Camp David negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s Palestinian Autonomy Plan, 1977
December 28, 1977
Five weeks after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat flew to Jerusalem in November 1977, to accelerate Egyptian – Israeli negotiations, Begin brought to President Jimmy Carter, Israel’s response to Sadat’s peace initiative: political autonomy for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. No Palestinian state was considered.
Statements by Presidents Sadat and Carter in Aswan, Egypt, 1978
January 1, 1978
As part of a joint statement, President Carter makes promises regarding US’ role in coming Political-Military Committee Talks in Cairo and Jerusalem. Likewise presenting a four-point formula for resolving the conflict, these statements contribute to US-Israeli tensions.
Carter Proposes Aircraft Sale to Saudis
February 14, 1978
February 14, 1978 President Jimmy Carter announces a plan to sell advanced fighter jets to Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Coming three months after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s visit to Israel, the proposal draws swift...
Mark Siegel Resignation Letter and Conversation With President Carter, 1978
March 8 and 9, 1978
Siegel resigned over two matters: the administration’s policy of selling advanced fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which he believed a threat to Israel’s national security, and his sharp disagreement with the Carter White House for not allowing alternative views on policy matters to find their way to the President’s desk. Siegel’s detailed interview about the administration’s anti-Israeli viewpoints are explained here.
Six July 1978 U.S. Documents on Egyptian-Israeli Narrowing of Differences
July 1978
The documents reveal the very advanced state of Washington's success in finding compromise language, of terms, and principles for achieving Egyptian and Israeli agreement on bi-lateral matters and about Palestinian West Bank self-rule (Begin's ideas). Enormous compatible detail found with significant gaps remaining before the early September Camp Summit started. The US went to Camp David with outlines of possible agreements already drafted.
The Winding Road to the (Camp David) Peace Summit
September 2018
Forty years ago this month, President Jimmy Carter convened the Camp David summit between Israeli and Egyptian leaders to push Arab-Israeli negotiations forward in an unprecedented and intensive manner.
Carter, Sadat and Begin Meet at Camp David, September 6, 1978
September 6, 1978
September 6, 1978, 6 p.m. Source: Israel State Archives/Box/A4314/1 Notes taken by Elyakim Rubinstein in the Israeli delegation’s discussion about a meeting Prime Minister Menachem Begin had with President Jimmy Carter and President Anwar Sadat...
Memorandum of Conversation of Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan and Defense Minister Ezer Weizman With U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Secretary of Defense Harold Brown at Camp David, September 7, 1978
September 7, 1978
September 7, 1978 Source: Israel State Archives/Box/A4314/1. Notes taken by Elyakim Rubinstein. By the time the American, Egyptian and Israeli delegations convened at Camp David, dozens of direct meetings had occurred between Israeli and Egyptian...
Secretary of State Cyrus Vance Meets With Israeli Delegation at Camp David, September 14, 1978
September 14, 1978
This meeting between Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and the Israeli delegation exemplified the injection of US interests and the application of concerted diplomatic pressure on Israel. The Israeli delegation at Camp David repeatedly refused the Carter administration’s vigorous efforts to introduce new formulations that might ultimately result in a Palestinian state.
U.S., Israeli Negotiators at Camp David Discuss Resolution 242, September 16, 1978
September 16, 1978
September 16, 1978 Source: Israel State Archives/Box/A4314/1. Notes taken by Simcha Dinitz. Discussion at Camp David, Maryland, on the use of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 Top Secret Participants: Vance, Mondale, Brzezinski, Lewis, Dayan, Barak...
Camp David Conversation Between President Carter and Foreign Minister Dayan on Jerusalem, September 17, 1978
September 17, 1978
On the last day of negotiations at Camp David, President Carter asked Israel to accept the US position that Jerusalem was occupied territory; Dayan shot back in vigorous opposition, "if we had known that you would declare your position on Jerusalem, we would not have come here. This is the first time that we are confronted with an American position and specifically on the most sensitive issue. All your positions with regards to settlements are insignificant compared to our confrontation on the issue of Jerusalem."
Ken Stein to Scott Slade: Carter Had a Loaded Deck at Camp David
January 9, 2025
January 9, 2025 Ken Stein on “Scott Slade’s Georgia” on WSB radio to discuss Jimmy Carter on Jan. 9, 2025. WSB radio veteran Scott Slade interviewed CIE President Ken Stein about President Jimmy Carter and...
Camp David Accords, 1978
September 17, 1978
With President Carter mediating, Sadat and Begin agree to two outlines: a framework for a treaty between them and to define Palestinian “autonomy,” not self-determination or a state for them.
Israel On Board: 13 Days at Camp David 1978 (6:39)
September 17, 2018
Our second animated white board video covers in detail what took place during the thirteen days of negotiations at Camp David in September 2018. The video begins with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s priority on getting back the Sinai Peninsula which Egypt lost to Israel in the June 1967 War and the origins of direct negotiations between Israel and Egypt following Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem in November 1977.
Minutes of Departure Conversation Between Carter and Begin, September 1978
September 20, 1978
Begin agrees to halt settlements construction only for the duration of the peace treaty negotiations, not until Palestinian autonomy is applied. Carter erroneously believes that Begin made a promise to halt settlements.
Protocol of Conversation Among President Carter, Prime Minister Begin, Secretary of State Vance, Foreign Minister Dayan and Israeli Attorney General Barak, September 1978
September 20, 1978
This document is the only known official written transcript of the Begin-Carter discussion held at the end of the 1978 Camp David negotiations about any moratorium on Israel's future settlement building. This record shows that Begin made no mention of a moratorium on settlement building for longer than three months. However, President Carter publicly, and Secretary of State Vance, in his memoirs, Hard Choices disagreed, believing the time mentioned was five years. For the remainder of Carter's presidency, and for the rest of his post-presidency, the 'building of Israeli settlements' became a key point of contention in shaping his relationship with Israel.
President Jimmy Carter, “The Camp David Accords,” Address to Congress, 1978
July 26, 2023
The Camp David accords culminated after thirteen days of intense negotiations between Israeli, Egyptian, and American delegations. Egyptian and Israeli leaders met with President Carter where after difficult negotiations they signed two accords, one an outline for an Egyptian-Israeli Treaty and one for Palestinian self-rule. The negotiations continued for another six months until the Egyptian-Treaty was signed in March 1979, after considerable bad feeling was tossed back and forth between Israeli and American negotiators.
Israel On Board: Egypt-Israel Peace (2 videos, 7:03 and 7:56)
March 26, 2019
In this two-part Whiteboard video series, we explore the transition from the 1978 Camp David Accords to the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty signed at the White House on March 26, 1979.
President Jimmy Carter, “The U.S. and Iran, the Shah’s Downfall, the Hostage Crisis, and the Rise of Ayatollah Khomeini,” 1985
March 24, 1985
Jimmy Carter, "The U.S.-Iran Relationship, the Shah's Downfall, Khomeyni's Rise to Power, and the Hostage Crisis," an Emory class presentation, Atlanta, March 24, 1985, recorded and transcribed with permission.
Memorandum of Conversation Between U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and Saudi Prince Fahd on Camp David Accords and Other Regional Issues, March 1979
March 17, 1979
Nine days before the March 26, 1979 signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty, US National Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud carried out an extraordinarily frank conversation. It included discussions about their bilateral relations, common fears of regional turbulence, and Sadat’s building estrangement from Arab leaders.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 446: Territories Occupied by Israel, 1979
March 22, 1979
Carefully sandwiched between Carter’s high-risk presidential visit to Egypt and Israel on March 10, 1979—to solve contentious disagreements between Sadat and Begin—and the Peace Treaty signing on March 26, 1979, his administration gladly votes at the UN to deplore Israeli settlement building; including demographic changes in Jerusalem. After the Peace Treaty signing, until it leaves office in 1981, the Carter administration will continue to barrage Israel with condemnation for settlement building.
Memorandum of Agreement Between U.S. and Israel, 1979
March 26, 1979
If Egypt breaches the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty, the US will enhance its presence in the area, provide military and economic supplies to Israel, and vote against any UN resolution contrary to the treaty.
Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, 1979
March 26, 1979
Signed sixteen months after Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem, it calls for establishment of diplomatic relations, staged Israeli withdrawal from Sinai, and American security arrangements to support the bilateral treaty.
Reassessing Sadat, Begin and Carter
May 24, 2024
It is now apparent that distances between the Carter administration and Israel did not begin in earnest after Begin’s May 1977 election or over the settlements. Newly available materials show that from its outset, the Carter administration prioritized curbing Israeli influence in Washington.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 452, 1979
July 20, 1979
This was the second UNSC Resolution within four months supported by the Carter administration condemning Israel's settlement building in the territories. It too greatly angered the Israeli government and American supporters of Israel.
Summary of President Jimmy Carter’s Meetings With King Hussein, 1980
June 16 and 17, 1980
After the September 1978 Camp David Accords ended, the Carter administration diligently tried but failed to persuade Jordan's King Hussein to be part of the follow-on negotiations over Palestinian autonomy. Carter felt Hussein was obstructionist; Hussein did not believe in 1978 that the US could halt Israeli settlement building as promised then. Hussein was correct. He also believed that Palestinian Autonomy might have a negative impact on many Palestinians living in his kingdom. Hussein was skeptical of the US capacity to negotiate for his national interests. At the same time, privately, Egypt's Sadat was not displeased that the Jordanians remained out of favor with the US, and away from any negotiations that would detract from implementation of Israel's promised full withdrawal from Sinai, per their 1979 Treaty. In 1988, Hussein stepped away from the West Bank’s future; in 1994, Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 478 on Territories Taken in June 1967, Enacted 1980
August 20, 1980
The United States abstains on a Security Council resolution declaring Israel's Basic Law on Jerusalem to be in violation of international law.
MOU Between U.S. and Israel on Strategic Cooperation, 1981
November 30, 1981
It calls for building a mutual security relationship and for enhancing strategic cooperation to
deter Soviet threats to the region. Establishment of a consultation framework is a key to the agreement.
1982-1999: Middle East Entanglements, Madrid and Oslo
Ronald Reagan Arms Saudi Arabia
October 1, 1981
President Ronald Reagan announces a plan to sell military aircraft to Saudi Arabia.
President Reagan Statement on the West Bank and the Palestinians, 1982
September 1, 1982
US endorses application of UN Resolution 242 to the West Bank and Gaza, and seeks Palestinian
control over land and resources, and for the territories to be affiliated with Jordan.
Multinational Force Arrives in Beirut to Oversee PLO Evacuation
August 21, 1982
American, French, and Italian troops supervise the evacuation of around 15,000 PLO forces from Lebanon's capital. Terrorists and Syrian forces leaving Beirut are one of Israel's principal goals during the 1982 Lebanon War.
U.S.-Israel Free-Trade Agreement, 1985
April 16, 2025
August 19, 1985 Introduction Israel and the United States enacted a free-trade agreement in August 1985 with the explicit goal not only of strengthening bilateral relations and expanding trade, but also of boosting a struggling...
Secretary James Baker, America’s Stake in the Persian Gulf, 1990
September 4, 1990
US Secretary of State James Baker warns that in a post-Cold War world the US would not let Saddam Hussein’s August 1990 invasion and erasure of Kuwait stand. Baker said that intimidation and force would not be tolerated. In January 1991, the US and its coalition partners ejected Iraq from Kuwait and restored its rulers.
U.S. Memorandum of Agreement to Israel on the Peace Process, 1991
September 16, 1991
As part of the preparations for the Fall 1991 Madrid Peace Conference, US Secretary of State James Baker drafted a memorandum of agreement between the US and Israel regarding the particulars of resuming the Arab-Israeli peace process. He opens by reiterating that the intention of the negotiations is to achieve a regional peace agreement based on UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.
Stein and Lewis: “Lessons From Fifty Years of Arab-Israeli Negotiating Experiences”
October 1991
October 1991 Kenneth W. Stein and Samuel W. Lewis, Making Peace Among Arabs and Israelis: Lessons From Fifty Years of Negotiating Experience, United States Institute of Peace, Washington, October 1991, second printing 1992, 69 pages.
Madrid 1991: The Quest for Middle East Peace (video, 9:16)
October 18, 2021
October 18, 2021 Examine the events that led the United States and the Soviet Union to convene high-level delegations from Israel and all of its immediate Arab neighbors, as well as other regional parties, in...
Twenty Years After Madrid: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward for Arab-Israeli Peacemaking
November 2, 2011
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1991 Madrid Middle East Peace Conference, the U.S. Institute of Peace and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy convened Arab, Israeli, American and European diplomats, policymakers, businesspeople, academics and activists in Washington on November 2, 2011, to discuss the achievements and lessons of the peace conference.
Israel in Context: 30 Years After the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference (54:19)
October 27, 2021
This 54-minute webinar, recorded Oct. 27, 2021, is part of the Center for Israel Education’s “Israel in Context” series and is incorporated into an extensive set of documents, study guides, videos and other resources CIE has compiled at https://israeled.org/madrid-conference/ to mark the 30th anniversary of the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference, when Israel first sat at the same table with all of its immediate Arab neighbors to talk peace.
Oslo Accords (Declaration of Principles on Interim Self- Government Agreements), Israel and PLO, 1993
September 13, 1993
Negotiated through the Norwegians, the Accords call for limited Palestinian rule in some of the territories; it did not call for a Palestinian state or an end to settlements.
Remarks by President Clinton at Signing of Oslo Accords, 1993
September 13, 1993
Clinton expresses gratitude to those who brought about the possibilities of reconciling Israeli and Palestinian aspirations, and acknowledges past leaders, Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat, Jimmy Carter, and George Bush for advancing the sides toward this moment of signing the Accords on Interim Palestinian Self-Government. Over the next two decades, funds pour into the West Bank and Gaza Strip and elections for a self governing authority are held, but autocratic rule and financial mismanagement prevail, stymying along with other reasons, successful Palestinian self-rule.
Remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Rabin at Signing of Oslo Accords, 1993
September 13, 1993
As a lifetime soldier-politician, Rabin acknowledges that the signing of the Declaration of Principles was profoundly difficult, and yet there is a yearning to end the cycle of violence and engage in reconciliation with the Palestinians. Drawing inspiration from Jewish tradition, he stresses the timeliness of pursuing peace and prays for a new era in the Middle East.
Remarks by PLO Chairman Arafat at Signing of Oslo Accords, 1993
September 13, 1993
Arafat offers gratitude to President Clinton for hosting this historic event, expressing hopes that the agreement will end a century of suffering and usher in peace coexistence and equal fights.
He acknowledges the courage of the people of Israel to seek the determination to build peace.
While advocating joint responsibility of Palestinians and Israelis to enforce the agreement, history shows that over the next decade, Arafat does not clamp down on violent attacks against Israelis.
Israeli-Jordanian Treaty Excerpts, 1994
October 26, 1994
Jordan becomes the second Arab country after Egypt (1979) to sign a peace treaty ending the state of war with Israel. The Treaty addresses boundary demarcations, water sharing, police and security cooperation, environmental issues, border crossings, administration of Muslim holy sites and other issues.
U.S.-Israel Joint Statement on Strategic Cooperation, 1996
April 30, 1996
President Clinton and Prime Minister Peres agree to deepen cooperation between their countries through regular consultation in all economic, political, military spheres.
The Arab-Israeli Peace Process, 1997
1997
Kenneth W. Stein, “The Arab-Israeli Peace Process,” Middle East Contemporary Survey, Vol. XXI, 1997, Bruce Maddy-Weitzman (ed.), Westview Press, pp. 71-109. On a macro level, in 1997, Israel and much of the Arab world spent...
Wye River Memorandum on Unilateral Actions, Security and Other Matters Between Israel and PA, 1998
October 23, 1998
With Israeli-Palestinian talks in a hapless state, President Clinton rejuvenates them. In the Arafat-Netanyahu agreement Israel shares Hebron, with the CIA playing a role in West Bank security.
The Arab-Israeli Peace Process, 1998
1998
Kenneth W. Stein, “The Arab-Israeli Peace Process,” Middle East Contemporary Survey, Vol. XXII, 1998, Bruce Maddy-Weitzman (ed.), Westview Press, pp. 56-89. For almost all of 1998, the Arab-Israeli peace process was analogous to a driver...
The Arab-Israeli Peace Process, 1999
1999
Kenneth W. Stein, “The Arab-Israeli Peace Process,” Middle East Contemporary Survey, Vol. XXIII, 2000, Bruce Maddy-Weitzman (ed.), Westview Press, pp. 48-76. For some aspects of Arab-Israeli relations and negotiations, the beginning and end of 1999...
2000-2019: Post-Oslo, Political Cracks
Camp David and the Pursuit of Peace: Comparing the Camp David Summits
1978-2000
Perspective provides valuable insights in evaluating contemporary diplomacy. Though neither the Palestinian-Israeli-U.S. summit of July 2000 nor the Egyptian-Israeli-U.S. summit of September 1978 ended discussions between Israel and its Arab adversaries, there were more differences than similarities between the two intense and highly charged meetings.
Clinton Parameters for Negotiating Peace, 2000
December 23, 2000
After trying but not succeeding in having PLO leader Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Barak reach an understanding at Camp David in August 2000, he offers a US view of a final status agreement near the end of his term in office.
President George W. Bush: “The Future Itself Is Dying” in Middle East, 2002
April 4, 2002
He castigates PLO leader Arafat for support of terrorism and condemns Palestinian groups that “seek Israel’s destruction.” Bush suggests to Israel to support economically a viable Palestinian state.
Roadmap for a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 2003
April 20, 2003
As a negotiating plan it seeks an end to the conflict with reciprocal performance objectives. Israel accepts the plan with some reservations; Hamas rejects it out of hand. The plan is not enacted.
George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon Letters, 2004
April 14, 2004
President Bush outlines view of Palestinian-Israeli settlement with Israeli Prime Minister: two state solution, borders to take into account changes in territories since 1967 War, and refugee resettlement in a future Palestinian state.
Annapolis: Precedents and Transactions but Not Transformations
December 2007
Since the June 1967 war, more than two dozen mediators have engaged in Arab‐ Israeli diplomacy seeking to clarify one underlying question: under what conditions and over what period of time would Israel relinquish land attained in the June 1967 War, and what kind of understanding or agreement from an Arab partner would Israel receive in return? The Annapolis Conference in 2007, was again a Transaction but not a Transformation of Outcomes.
U.S., Israel Agreed in 2009 to Stop Flow of Arms to Hamas
January 16, 2009
Should the United States become centrally or peripherally involved in monitoring a cease-fire and the movement of a cease-fire into a new status-quo for Gaza, the contents of this MOU could constitute a workable outline for helping enforce calm in Gaza and on its borders.
Prime Minister Netanyahu at Bar-Ilan University on 2-State Solution, 2009
June 14, 2009
Thirteen years ago, then Prime Minister Netanyahu endorsed the evolution of a Palestinian state, stipulating that it had to be demilitarized, and he would not rule out a complete halt to settlement activity, noting that Palestinian refugees would not be resettled inside Israel's borders.
Remarks by Secretary of Defense Panetta, 2011
December 2, 2011
The speech is typical of high American office holders in summarizing the US-Israeli relationship; it affirms an unshakable relationship, support for Israeli security, and the need for negotiating progress.
Vice President Joe Biden’s Remarks to the Rabbinical Assembly, 2012
May 8, 2012
Vice President Joe Biden emphatically tells a rabbinic group in Atlanta, “unambiguously, were I an Israeli, were I a Jew, I would not contract out my security to anybody, even to a loyal, loyal friend like the United States.”
U.S.-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act, 2012
July 27, 2012
Building on a collaborative relationship of over 50 years, the US once again affirms its strategic commitments to Israel through an additional “Security Cooperation Act.” The agreement bolsters American military and financial aid to Israel.
Remarks by Vice President Joe Biden to the AIPAC Policy Conference, 2013
March 4, 2013
Biden's is seized by Iran's nuclear weapons program, and its continued support of terrorist organizations, like Hezbollah and Hamas; they endanger Israel and the world. Golda Meir told him. "Israel's secret weapon; it has no place to go."
Remarks by Secretary of State John Kerry at the Saban Forum, 2013
December 7, 2013
Kerry reaffirms that the US-Israeli relationship as an “unshakable bond” and calls for a two-state solution. He promises that the US will “never allow” Iran to gain a nuclear weapon.
Remarks on Israeli-Palestinian Talks by U.S. Negotiator Ambassador Martin Indyk, 2014
May 8, 2014
As part of the US negotiating team, Indyk enumerates why talks faltered after nine months. He asserts Israeli settlement activity undermined Palestinian trust for Israel. He also blames Palestinian indecision.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Addresses Congress on Iranian Nuclear Program, 2015
March 3, 2015
Netanyahu praises the Obama administration for its support of Israel’s security, then roundly criticizes it for negotiating a deal with Iran that will not roll back its nuclear breakout time and for not demanding that before sanctions are lifted that Iran stop its support of terrorism and threats to wipe Israel off the map.
Ken Stein: Stopping an Ominous Iran
August 31, 2015
In the interest of securing any deal rather than the right deal – politics over principle - the president and the diplomats he sent to negotiate seem to have forgotten or perhaps never learned why Iran must not get a nuclear weapon.
Hisham Milhem: Obama’s Scarred Legacy in the Middle East
October 22, 2015
Obama’s legacy in the Middle East will be defined and deeply scarred by the region’s inconclusive wars.
Michael Singh: Implications of the JCPOA for U.S. Policy in the Middle East
August 5, 2015
"When we analyze foreign policy, the first question should be what interest or objective is served by a particular policy. A good policy should clearly advance U.S. interests and should complement rather than clash with our larger strategy, unless the policy in question heralds an entirely new strategy that can be clearly articulated and implemented."
Secretary of State John Kerry’s Address to the Saban Forum, 2015
December 5, 2015
Kerry states five major objectives for US foreign policy in the Middle East: mobilize partners to defeat ISIS, work diplomatically to end the civil war in Syria, keep it from destabilizing friendly nearby countries, monitor Iranian adherence to the nuclear deal, and seek a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro’s Address to Security Conference in Tel Aviv, 2016
January 18, 2016
Claiming that Israel employs a double legal standard in the West Bank, US Ambassador Dan Shapiro receives a harsh rebuke for his remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu; Obama administration continues to chide Israel for its management of the West Bank.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Testifies Before the Senate Armed Services Committee, 2016
February 9, 2016
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified at the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 9, 2016 on the top global threats to the US.
U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice’s Remarks at American Jewish Committee Global Forum, 2016
June 6, 2016
US National Security Adviser, Susan Rice presented the Obama administration’s two pronged outlook toward Israel: strong and unwavering American administration support for Israel’s long term security, and emphatic opposition to continued Israeli settlement activities.
From Truman to Obama: The Past, Present and Future of U.S.-Israel Relations (1:12:58)
August 15, 2016
On August 15, 2016, I had the pleasure of participating in a panel discussion with former Ambassador Dennis Ross for the Foundation of Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington, DC.
U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding on Military Aid, 2016
September 14, 2016
The US promises Israel $38 billion in military aid over a decade, the assistance promised despite Jerusalem and Washington periodically differing over matters relating to Iran and the Palestinians.
Egyptian-Drafted U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334 on Israeli Settlements and East Jerusalem, 2016
December 23, 2016
December 23, 2016 U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334 on Israeli Settlements and East Jerusalem https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12657.doc.htm Reaffirming its relevant resolutions, including resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 446 (1979), 452 (1979), 465 (1980), 476 (1980), 478 (1980),...
Kerry’s Frustration About Arab-Israeli Negotiations
January 11, 2017
In the aftermath of UNSC Resolution 2334 condemning Israeli settlement construction, Secretary of State John Kerry publicly blamed Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank for being the major barrier to a two-state solution to resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, May 2017
May 22, 2017
After visiting Saudi Arabia, Trump meets with Netanyahu where both assert joint views on the peace process, Iran, regional cooperation, and the long-standing relationship between Israel and the US; Trumps second meeting with Netanyahu since taking office.
Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Anti-Iran-Deal Speech, 2018
April 30, 2018
With reams of evidence secured by Israeli intelligence, the PM calls out Iran for lying about their nuclear activities both before and since signing the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement with six countries.
The American Intelligence Threat Assessment on Iran’s Nuclear Program
March 11, 2019
On Jan. 29, 2019, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence: “We do not believe Iran is currently undertaking the key activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device.” However, experience helps us realize that the American intelligence community has a very problematic track record in revealing, on time, nuclear weaponization efforts of many countries (e.g., North Korea, India, Pakistan, Syria, and Iraq) including Iran itself, so one has to be very humble about this kind of assessment.
U.S.-Israel Relationship (6:35)
January 30, 2019
Scholars and policy experts Jonathan Schanzer, Todd Stein, Alan Makovsky and Professor Ken Stein discuss the evolution, successes, and challenges of the US-Israel relationship.
Are They Legal or Not? Pompeo’s Announcement on the Israeli Settlements
November 24, 2019
The announcement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that "the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not, per se, inconsistent with international law" is in line with Israel's official position, and its inherent message - that preoccupation with the question of the legality of the settlements narrows Palestinian flexibility and discourages the achievement of a negotiated resolution to the conflict - is correct. However, the announcement’s practical value is minor, and there are even potential risks and costs for Israel.
The Future of U.S.-Israel Relations Symposium
December 9, 2019
The symposium held on December 2, 2019 analyzed the consequences of U.S. retrenchment for the future of Israel and the Middle East. For more than four decades, the United States has played a large part in the Middle East regional order. However, it is now pulling back from the region in a manner that has generated uncertainty and insecurity for America’s allies and partners. The event convened experts to discuss whether Israel is in a particularly exposed position given its traditional dependence on the United States.
Post-Presidency Insider Ken Stein Offers Insights on Jimmy Carter
January 10, 2025
Professor Ken Stein spent decades working with and researching the presidency and post-presidency of Jimmy Carter and shared many of his insights with the media and fellow scholars after the 39th U.S. president died Dec....
2020-Present: Abraham Accords, Regional Challenges
Vision for Peace, Prosperity, and a Brighter Future for Israel and the Palestinian People, 2020
January 28, 2020
The plan builds on previous proposals for a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict and contains a US-Israeli agreement that sets forth final borders for two states. The plan contains multiple prerequisites for Palestinian behavior before either the US or Israel might agree to Palestinian statehood as well as a proposed $50 economic development package to be allotted over a decade.
Trump Peace Plan Map Showing Settlements and Solutions, 2020
January 28, 2020
This map shows the State of Palestine as proposed by the Trump plan with features and selected locations from the Washington Institute Settlements and Solutions website.
The U.S. Peace Plan: A Return to the Rabin Doctrine of Defensible Borders
February 5, 2020
The U.S. peace plan offers a return to the security-first approach of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and, specifically, the concept of defensible borders. On Jan. 29, 2020, Shimon Sheves, former Director-General of Prime Minister Rabin’s office, told Israel Army Radio, “The Trump plan is essentially the Rabin plan” and a “continuation of Rabin’s legacy.” Journalist Ben Caspit, writing in Maariv, called it “a modern incarnation of Rabin’s plan from 25 years ago.”
Ambassador David Friedman — The Trump Plan: A Changing Diplomatic Paradigm for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 2020
February 11, 2020
US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman provides the most detailed Trump administration analyses of the prescribed two-state solution for terminating the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.
Trump Plan for the Middle East: Context and Implications (43:32)
February 20, 2020
The analysis summarizes the declaratory or aspirational Trump Plan for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, outlining proposals on final status issues, and the proposed economic development package, with a hope for a two state-solution. Maps are used to show how Palestine's and Israel's borders have changed over the last 150 years. (Video or audio)
Gulliver’s Troubles: America in a Violent and Dysfunctional Middle East, Aaron David Miller (audio only, 1:07:44)
March 3, 2020
March 3, 2020 Aaron David Miller analyzes the evolving role of the United States in Middle Eastern and Israeli politics and diplomatic processes. Miller currently serves as vice president for new initiatives and a distinguished research...
China’s Rise, U.S. Opposition and the Implications for Israel
March 20, 2020
This article offers assessments of China in a clear-eyed and non-polemical fashion. It offers not an apology but an explanation for why China, having suffered a century of humiliation by external powers in the 19th century, is focused on re-establishing its role in the world – a role it believes its global economic weight entitles it to have. The Chinese response to the coronavirus is a vivid reminder of the fear that constrains honest discussion or reporting or intellectual development in that vast country.
Mapping West Bank Settlements: Territorial and Political Uncertainties, 2020
June 15, 2020
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has repeatedly declared that he will be putting forward his proposal for West Bank annexation as early as July 1. Yet uncertainties about his plans still abound, indicating that this timetable may not be met despite his assertions to the contrary.
Abraham Accords: US, UAE, Israel, Bahrain Recognition Agreements, 2020
September 15, 2020
Quietly pursued in the past, long-standing strategic ties between Israel and Gulf states have become public. Building on the historic Joint Agreement signed between Israel and the UAE in August 2020, the Abraham Accords serve as a framework for normalizing diplomatic relations between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain.
UAE-Israel-Bahrain Agreement (Abraham Accords), Ken Stein and Nachman Shai (46:02)
October 15, 2020
CIE Founding President, Professor Ken Stein and Visiting Israeli Scholar, Dr. Nachman Shai, who served in the Israeli Parliament for 10 years, explain the context and implications of the Abraham Accords for Israel and the Middle East.
Biden Administration Details Two-State Solution to Resolve Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, 2021
January 26, 2021
A week after Antony Blinken's confirmation as Secretary of State, the Acting US Ambassador to the UN outlined with considerable detail the administration's objective to an agreed, not imposed two-state resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.
2022 — Revisiting the Possibility of a Regional Military Alliance, Kobi Michael and Yoel Guzansky, INSS
July 23, 2022
Notwithstanding the signing of the Abraham Accords (1920) and the growing prominence of the cooperation between Israel and the Arab Gulf states, including on security matters, the road toward its establishment increasingly rests with American involvement or leadership. Will this be a Biden priority when he visits the region over the summer?
Jerusalem U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Joint Declaration, 2022
July 14, 2022
On President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel, he and Prime Minister Yair Lapid affirmed the long-term U.S.-Israel strategic relationship.
Congressional Research Service, September 22, 2022, Israel: Background and U.S. Relations in Brief
September 28, 2022
Political instability and fall 2022 election, Israeli Palestinian issues, Abraham Accords and Israeli normalization, countering Iran, Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine
President Isaac Herzog’s Speech to Congress, 2023
July 19, 2023
In just under an hour, Herzog emphasized the special US-Israeli relationship, citing common values between the two democracies, noting, "when the US is strong, Israel is stronger. And when Israel is strong, the US is more secure." He cited Israel's domestic and foreign policy challenges in its 75th year.
Workshop 2023: Israel Between East and West (34:56)
July 25, 2023
How has Israel through its 75 years managed its relationships with superpowers, neighbors and other countries while trying to survive and thrive in an often hostile neighborhood? Why is the U.S. relationship essential? What is...
President Biden Unequivocally Condemns Hamas, Supports Israel, October-November 2023
October-November 2023
In the aftermath of the horrific Hamas attack on Israelis where Hamas terrorists murdered more than a thousand Israelis and more than two dozen Americans, and others in southern Israel, in half a dozen speeches, President Biden unequivocally categorizes Hamas’s brutality as ‘pure unadulterated evil.’ He reiterates that the US will “stand with Israel.” He punctuates his support of Israel by sending two aircraft carrier groups to the Middle East, and his administration provides Israel with needed military supplies.
Israel’s 9/11 — The War Resumes; Some Hostages Returned: The U.S.-Israel Relationship in the Context of Regional Politics (42:00)
December 6, 2023
Eight weeks after Hamas brutally killed over 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 239 hostages, some hostages were exchanged and humanitarian convoys flowed into the Gaza Strip during a cease-fire. Hovering over the weeks of conflict, the...
Israel’s 9/11 — One on One With David Harris: Defending Israel, Supporting the U.S., Reinforcing the Jewish People (45:19)
December 20, 2023
The 11th webinar in the Center for Israel Education’s weekly series on the Israel-Hamas war is a special one-on-one conversation between CIE President Ken Stein and David Harris, the former longtime CEO of the American...
2024 – Hanin Ghaddar, “Reinforcing U.S. Diplomacy to Stop a Hezbollah-Israel War,” Washington Institute for Near East Policy
February 1, 2024
View PDF Since the Hamas-led attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, Hezbollahsecretary-general Hassan Nasrallah has made five public appearancesto address the group’s own confrontation with Israel along the Lebaneseborder. Taken together, these speeches acknowledge...
Biden’s Lifelong Support for Israel: Compatibility to American Strategic Interests in the Middle East
February 14, 2024
Scott Abramson and Ken Stein, Center for Israel Education Common political, emotional and strategic threads are present in President Joe Biden’s speeches and comments about the brutal reality of the Hamas attacks on Israel and...
Schumer Identifies 4 Obstacles to Ending Hamas-Israel War
March 14, 2024
In presenting four obstacles in the way of ending the Hamas-Israel War, Schumer omits six basic obstacles that remain in the negotiating pathway to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Israel’s 9/11 — U.S.-Israel Relations in Times of Tension (43:56)
March 27, 2024
After Hamas brutally murdered 1,200 Israelis and others and kidnapped more than 240 on Oct. 7, President Joe Biden’s support was immediate and unflinching. But in the shadow of a U.S. presidential campaign and an...
Ronald E. Neumann, “Lessons for Postwar Gaza From the American Experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Jerusalem Strategic Tribune, July 2024
July 18, 2024
(with permission) “Don’t repeat our mistakes—we can do it ourselves.” This line occurred to me as I listened to discussions of “the day after” in Gaza. Plans and ideas need to address the detailed problems...
Prime Minister Netanyahu Addresses Congress on Hamas War, 2024
July 24, 2024
In a 52 minute speech, Netanyahu explained Israel’s absolute need for total victory in the Gaza war because Hamas and Iran were both enemies of the United States and Israel. With bi-partisan emphasis, he thanked Presidents Biden and Trump for their unwavering current and past support. Dozens of congressional members did not attend his speech, noting disagreements with the Prime Minister's policies.
Congressional Research Service, Israel and Hamas Conflict in Brief: Overview, U.S. Policy, and Options for Congress, October 2024
October 4, 2024
On Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas (a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, or FTO) led surprise attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip. More than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals (including at...
Iran’s Nuclear Program (video, 4:29)
November 5, 2024
Compiled by Aidan New Iran’s development of a nuclear weapons program began in the late 1990s, accelerate in the early 2000s, and has remained a focal point for regional tension and international sanctions. It is...
Hamas-Israel January 2025 Cease-Fire — Commentary and Implications
January 15, 2025
The details of the three-stage Hamas-Israel cease-fire that went into effect January 19, 2025, along with unanswered questions, insightful analyses and the relevant U.N. resolution from June 2024.
Second Trump Administration’s Views on Israel, Middle East
January 26, 2025
By Aidan New and Michael Jacobs (updated April 9) President Donald Trump’s second administration had an impact in the Middle East even before his inauguration Jan. 20, 2025: Special Middle East envoy Steven Witkoff was...
Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, White House, February 2025
February 4, 2025
February 4, 2025 Trump Unveils Plan for U.S. Takeover of Gaza In President Donald Trump’s first meeting at the White House with a foreign leader in his second term, he welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin...
Jordan’s Abdullah Sees Middle East “Finish Line” From Trump White House, 2025
February 11, 2025
Abdullah II remains studiously noncommittal in support of Donald Trump's idea for the U.S. to take over the Gaza Strip, rebuild it and relocate its Palestinian residents to other countries. With Jordan's strong economic, strategic and defense ties to Washington, no one expected the king to be effusive for Trump's suggestions for Gaza's future. Jordan lacks the economic and demographic absorptive capacities and the political interest to take another wave of Palestinians into its territory.
President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu Meet in Washington, April 2025
April 16, 2025
April 7, 2025 Source: Press conference during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House and President Donald Trump, as broadcast by C-SPAN, April 7, 2025. U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for new tariffs...
“We Will Always Be Friends” — President Trump in Saudi Arabia, May 2025
May 14, 2025
May 13, 2025 President Donald Trump’s address laying out a vision for Middle East peace and prosperity and ending sanctions on Syria at the 2025 Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, https://www.youtube.com/live/wj1QOz3iuCE?si=qQRR2GcqZhtt1F5o Well, thank...
Interviews Addressing U.S.-Israel Relations
Atherton: Ken Stein Interview With Ambassador Roy Atherton, Washington, D.C.
July 16, 1992
July 16, 1992 Ken Stein Interview with Ambassador Roy Atherton, Washington, D.C., July 16, 1992 Alfred Roy Atherton Jr. participated in U.S-Soviet Middle East negotiations and formulation of the Rogers Plan, 1969; Kissinger-Ismail secret meeting...
Avineri: Ken Stein Interview with Professor Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem, Israel
July 6, 1993
Serving as director general of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1976-1977, Avineri recounts Romanian overtures to Rabin for a visit to gauge interest in another agreement with Egypt. He estimates that Rabin and Begin both took strategic considerations in hand in negotiating; he is highly critical of Carter's political naivete.
Bar-On: Ken Stein Interviews With Hanan Bar-On, Jerusalem, Israel
November 12, 1992, and July 9, 1993
In the 1975-1979 period, Hanan Bar-On served in the Israeli Embassy in Washington and then for seven years as director general of the Foreign Ministry. His insights highlight the building strain that evolved between Jimmy Carter and Menachem Begin. From an Israeli viewpoint, he recalls how unpredictable Zbigniew Brzezinski behaved toward the Israelis, how flexible Moshe Dayan was in seeking compromises, and how the Leeds Castle foreign minister talks in England in July 1978 established the contours for the successful Camp David negotiations two months later. He sheds important light on the context of the four Egyptian-Israeli agreements: Sinai I (1974), Sinai II (1975), the Camp David Accords (1978) and the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty (1979).
Bashir: Ken Stein Interviews with Tahsin Bashir, Cairo, Egypt
November 10, 1992, and July 7, 1993
Tahsin Bashir served as spokesman for Egypt and for the Arab League in many capacities from 1963 to 1978. He knew Anwar Sadat intimately, revealing that Sadat kept his own counsel while using others to test political and diplomatic options. His long-term goal was to reorient Egypt away from Moscow and obtain Sinai's return. Sadat cleverly managed others, including Kissinger, Carter and his own advisers.
Interview With Israeli Prime Minister-Elect Menachem Begin, ABC News’ “Issues and Answers,” May 1977
May 22, 1977
Prime Minister-elect Begin rebukes President Carter’s assertion that Israel will need to withdraw from almost all the lands Israel secured in the June 1967 war, especially Jerusalem and the West Bank. Begin is adamant opposed to dealing with the PLO. Begin refuses to relinquish Israeli decision-making to US preferences or dictates. These fundamental policy disagreements will remain unresolved between Begin and Carter for the duration of Carter’s presidency, and years after.
Ben-Aharon: Ken Stein Interview With Yossi Ben-Aharon, Jerusalem, Israel, November 12, 1992
November 12, 1992
Yossi Ben-Aharon was the director general of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's office from 1988 to 1992. He was intimately involved in Israeli-U.S. negotiations that eventually saw a highly reluctant Israeli prime minister attend the October-November 1991 Madrid Middle East Peace Conference. Ben-Aharon's evaluations of U.S. Secretary of State Baker, his assistant Dennis Ross, and President George H.W. Bush are insightful.
Ben-Elissar: Ken Stein Interview With Dr. Eliyahu Ben-Elissar, Jerusalem, Israel
November 13, 1992
As a longtime confidant of Menachem Begin involved in the Herut party, Eliyahu Ben-Elissar was Israel’s first ambassador to Egypt. He was a staunch supporter of keeping the area of the West Bank — Judea and Samaria — under Israeli control. Later he became Israel’s ambassador to France and then the United States.
Bin Sultan: Interviews with Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Sultan on the Arab world and Palestinian leaders
October 5-7, 2020
Ambassador Bandar Bin Sultan served as Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States from 1983 to 2006. From 2005 to 2015 he led the country's National Security Council. He offers a scathing attack on Yasser Arafat's failure to embrace multiple negotiating overtures proposed by Presidents Carter and Reagan. Additionally, he expresses his anger at the present Palestinian leadership for criticizing the UAE's recognition of Israel in the 2020 Abraham Accords.
Dinitz: Ken Stein Interview With Simcha Dinitz, Jerusalem, Israel
March 20, 1992
Dinitz focuses on mostly the 1973 October War period, the controversy of delay in the resupply of American military materials to Israel, his relationship with Kissinger and how the US Secretary of State maneuvered the Soviet Union out of postwar diplomacy. He notes that elements of the Israeli army leadership strongly wanted to embarrass Sadat after the war by harming his Israeli surrounded Egyptian Third Army. In the end Israel's political leadership allowed diplomacy to unfold. Dinitz has great praise for Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat.
Eilts: Ken Stein Interview With Ambassador Hermann Frederick Eilts, Boston, Massachusetts
April 11, 1991
Hermann Eilts played a pivotal role in representing the U.S. to Egypt and vice versa in the vital 1973-1980 period when Egypt embraced Washington and turned away from Moscow, and made peace with Israel. Eilts knew Egyptian President Sadat as well as any American official in the period. He provides rich detail and vivid insights into Sadat's often mercurial decision-making.
Evron: Ken Stein Interviews With Ambassador Ephraim Evron, Ramat Aviv, Israel
March 24, 1992 and November 15, 1992
A life-long Israeli civil servant, Epi Evron was deeply engaged with Kissinger, Sadat, Meir, Rabin, Carter, Begin and others, as Egyptian-Israeli negotiations unfolded in the 1970s. One will find crisp in his interview insightful assessments of personalities, decision-making processes, and colorful vignettes.
Gazit: Ken Stein Interview With Mordechai Gazit, Jerusalem, Israel
March 22, 1992
Mordechai Gazit served as Director General in Prime Minister Golda Meir's office from March 1973 to her resignation in April 1974. He observed the outbreak of the October 1973 War and Henry Kissinger's diplomatic choreography as it unfolded thereafter. Gazit suggests that he was the source of Israeli and Egyptian generals to negotiate face to face at the end of the war near Kilometer 101.
Ismail: Ken Stein Interview With Egyptian National Security Adviser Hafez Ismail, Heliopolis, Egypt
December 19, 2024
Hafez Ismail was a close adviser to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Ismail carried out secret negotiations with Henry Kissinger before the 1973 war to see if the U.S. would quietly start talks with the Israelis. Kissinger said no. Ismail provides notable insights into Sadat's sophisticated decision-making.
Khaddam: Ken Stein Interview With Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam
July 18, 1993
From 1970 to 1984, Khaddam served as Syria’s foreign minister, and later he was Syria’s decision-maker for actions in Lebanon. He recounts Syrian anger toward Egyptian President Sadat’s slow but continual bilateral engagement and recognition of Israel. He recalls how Syrian President Assad, after a four-hour meeting, refused Henry Kissinger’s invitation to attend the 1973 Geneva peace conference, not wanting to sanction the closeness Sadat was establishing with Israel and with Washington. These were the same reasons why Syria refused President Carter’s invitation to attend a similar Middle East peace conference in 1977. Khaddam says, “We were shocked by Sadat’s actions."
Khalifa, Otaiba: David Makovsky Interview With Bahraini and UAE Ambassadors on Abraham Accords, November 2020
November 10, 2020
UAE and Bahraini ambassadors to the U.S. provide incisively sharp assessments about why their peace accords unfolded with Israel in September 2020: to halt West Bank annexation, strengthen ties with the United States, enhance national security, and stimulate, if possible, Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
Kidron: Ken Stein Interview With Mordechai Kidron, Jerusalem, Israel
August 5, 1992
Mordechai Kidron served in the Israeli Foreign Ministry during and after the October 1973 War. He touched on the war, its aftermath and the unfolding of the Sinai I - Egyptian-Israeli military negotiations and short military talks that took place after the war. He thought that the December 1973 Geneva conference was going to be a long process, not knowing that the conference was stage managed by Kissinger, Sadat, and Meir. Meir was deeply emotional about having Israeli POW's returned. He notes that Foreign Minister Abba Eban, whom he called an optimist … "was not really altogether founded in reality.”
Korn: Ken Stein Interview With David Korn, Washington, D.C.
October 29, 1992
October 29, 1992 After learning Hebrew, David Korn rose to become chief of the political section while at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv (1968 to mid-1971). Later, he was office director for northern Arab...
Lau-Lavie: Ken Stein Interview With Naftali Lau-Lavie, Jerusalem, Israel
July 8, 1993
For years, Naftali Lau-Lavie worked closely with Moshe Dayan. His remarks here focus on Dayan as Menachem Begin's foreign minister (1977-1979). He provides sumptuous detail on Dayan's thinking and interactions with the Carter administration as it tried to force a Palestinian/PLO state on Israel in seeking a comprehensive Middle East peace.
Lewis: Ken Stein Interview with U.S. Ambassador Sam W. Lewis, Washington, D.C.
February 28, 1992
Sam Lewis was the U.S. ambassador in Israel when Menachem Begin was prime minister; his influence was most significant in keeping a taut and fraught Israeli-U.S. relationship from unravelling in the Camp David era. Lewis' recollections and conclusions are enormously incisive.
Pattir: Interviews with Dan Pattir, Media Adviser to Prime Ministers Rabin and Begin, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel
August 1992
From 1974 – 1981, Dan Pattir served as advisor on media and public affairs for Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Menachem Begin. Prior to working for two Prime Ministers, he Pattir worked in the Israeli media, and here he recalls in detail how Kissinger maneuvered the Geneva 1973 conference to keep the Soviets out of decision-making. Likewise he was intimate with the negotiating details and personal relationships that unfolded between Egypt and Israel in that period, especially 1977-1979 including his rendition of the September 1978 Camp David negotiations. Pattir concluded that the Carter administration, no matter how long it earnestly tried, it failed to grasp that neither Egypt nor Israel, were going to allow other Arab states or the Palestinian issue to interfere with their eagerly sought mutually beneficial bilateral agreement, before, during or after Camp David.
Rafael: Ken Stein Interview with Ambassador Gideon Rafael, Jerusalem, Israel
March 25, 1992
Gideon Rafael’s contributions to Israeli diplomacy spanned four decades. His recollections are from the 1930s, the end of the 1947-1949 war, unfolding events before the June 1967 war, and his clear
criticisms of his government's insufficient response to Sadat’s negotiating overtures to Israel prior to the 1973 War. His life long conclusion: he had hoped that diplomacy would have worked better than it actually did.
Saunders: Ken Stein Interview With Dr. Harold Saunders, Washington, D.C.
May 12, 1992
From 1961 until the early 1980s, Harold Saunders was a key US State Department bureaucrat, an enormously capable word-smith. He had his hand in drafting the 1974-1975 ARab-Israeli Disengagement Agreements, Camp David Accords and E-I Treaty. His memory for detail enabled consequential decision-makers to understand the historical context of events and ideas such as 'land for peace,' 'territorial integrity,' 'legitimate rights,' and a myriad of diplomatic promises made spanning multiple presidencies.
Shaath: Ken Stein Interview With Nabil Shaath, PLO Adviser, Arlington, VA
October 30, 1992
Nabil Shaath was a close adviser to Arafat particularly in the tumultuous 1998-1993 period when the PLO was buffeted by events and bad choices. Shaath praised Secretary Baker, President Bush and Yitzhak Rabin, and was pleased that Palestinians were participating in the Madrid Conference. He hoped for an end to the conflict with Israel in 1992, based on land for peace but held out for the right of Palestinian return for that to happen. In 2023 he is a foreign policy adviser to Mahmoud Abbas.
Siegel: Ken Stein Interview With Carter Jewish Liaison Mark Siegel, Washington, D.C.
July 21, 2010
As a Democratic Party operative, Mark Siegel astutely helped Jimmy Carter win the 1976 election. He assisted in delegate selection and on the platform committee and kept Eugene MaCarthy’s name off the New York ballot. In the White House, as the administration’s liaison to the Jewish community, he abruptly resigned for being lied to by the administration. He explains Brzezinski/Carter disappointment with Sadat’s historic 1977 trip to Jerusalem because it channeled Arab-Israeli negotiations into a bilateral pathway. With that, the Brzezinski/Carter fear was realized. Any hope of Palestinian self-determination and Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank/Gaza Strip would be endlessly postponed in favor of Egyptian-Israeli national interests. He is frank in his descriptions of the ineptitude of those who worked in the Carter White House.
Sisco: Ken Stein Interview With Joseph Sisco, Washington, D.C.
February 27, 1992
Ambassador Joseph Sisco was an integral member of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's team that put together three military disengagement agreements after the October 1973 War. Sisco has high praise for Sadat's wisdom and courage and insight in working with Kissinger to turn Egypt away from Moscow and into agreements with Israel.
Sterner: Ken Stein Interviews with Ambassador Michael Sterner, Washington, D.C.
May 13, 1992 and June 17, 1993
In the 1970s, US State Department Ambassador Michael Sterner was privy to Sadat's preference for step-by-step diplomacy PRIOR to the 1973 October War. He is critical of the Carter administration for being too satisfied with only a bilateral Egyptian-Israeli Agreement.
Tamir: Ken Stein Interview With General Abrasha Tamir, Tel Aviv, Israel
November 14, 1992
Tamir was a 35-year veteran of the Israeli army, attending all Egyptian-Israeli negotiations as a strategic planner. He stated that he thought the 1973 war could have been averted if Golda Meir had responded to Sadat's pre-war overtures. He credits Henry Kissinger's negotiating successes of the post-1973-war period as laying the basis for the successful 1978 and 1979 Egyptian-Israeli agreements.
Theros: Ken Stein Interview With Patrick Theros, Atlanta, Georgia
March 31, 1993
From the vantage points of Amman and Damascus in the 1970s and 1980s, Patrick Theros heard the sharp political opinions deeply felt about the United States and the profound anger voiced by Arafat, Jordan's King Hussein and Syria's President Assad for each other.
Veliotes: Ken Stein Interview With Nicholas A. Veliotes, Washington, D.C.
September 7, 1995
With a keen memory to detail, Nicholas Veliotes engaged an array of American and Middle Eastern political leaders. This interview is laced with charming and enthusiastic candor as he served in American diplomatic positions from 1973 to 1986 in Tel Aviv, Washington, Amman and Cairo. He was present when sensitive U.S. policies were debated and operationalized. His assessments of Kissinger, Sadat, Meir, Nixon, King Hussein, Brzezinski, Carter, Vance and a whole panoply of Israeli officials bubble with content; the vignettes he shares about Nixon and Brzezinski are priceless. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Veliotes, along with Morris Draper, Hermann Eilts, American consuls general in Jerusalem and other U.S. officials failed in repeated attempts to secure PLO leader Yasser Arafat’s participation in the diplomatic process.
Weiss: Ken Stein Interview With Rabbi Avi Weiss, Riverdale, New York
September 17, 2008
As a political activist, Rabbi Avi Weiss recollects with keen candor the incidents from 1978 to 1980 in which he personally confronted President Jimmy Carter for what he viewed as his definitive anti-Israeli comments and actions.
Key People in U.S.-Israel Relations
Louis Brandeis, 1856-1941
The first Jew on the U.S. Supreme Court, Brandeis influenced many American Jews in the early 20th century to become Zionists. He persuaded President Woodrow Wilson, a close friend, to support the 1917 Balfour Declaration…
Henrietta Szold, 1860-1945
Baltimore native Szold co-founded Hadassah, was its first president from 1912 to 1926, and led its establishment of health care infrastructure in Palestine. In 1896, before Theodor Herzl published “The Jewish State,” she described her…
Emma Gottheil, 1862-1947
Gottheil attended the Second Zionist Congress, where Theodor Herzl invited her to translate his speech into French, Italian and English. In the United States she organized women’s study groups that were the precursors of Hadassah….
Robert Wagner, 1877-1953
As a U.S. senator from New York from 1927 to 1949, Wagner was a prominent Christian Zionist. He introduced unsuccessful legislation in 1939 to admit 20,000 Jewish refugee children from Germany. He co-wrote a congressional…
Harry Truman, 1884-1972
The 33rd U.S. president, Truman had the United States vote for the U.N. partition plan for Palestine in November 1947 and made the United States the first country to recognize the State of Israel in…
David Ben-Gurion, 1886-1973
Ben-Gurion was Israel’s first prime minister and its leading political force for two decades. Born in Poland, he arrived in Palestine in 1907. He formed socialist-leaning Mapai, the dominant political party, in 1930 and became…
Emanuel Celler, 1888-1981
Celler was New York’s longest-serving congressman, holding a House seat from 1923 to 1973. He read Herzl during World War I and became a Zionist. He attempted to assist fellow Jews by opposing the Immigration…
Eddie Jacobson, 1891-1955
Jacobson and Harry Truman became close friends during World War I and partnered after the war in a failed haberdashery. In March 1948, Jacobson visited Truman, now the president, at the White House and persuaded…
Henry Morgenthau Jr., 1891-1967
Morgenthau was the U.S. secretary of the Treasury under Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman from 1934 to 1945. He drove the creation of the War Refugee Board in 1944 to help Jews escape the Nazis…
Jacob Blaustein, 1892-1970
Serving as the American Jewish Committee president, Blaustein in 1950 coordinated with Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to reach the Blaustein-Ben-Gurion Agreement on Israel-Diaspora relations. The agreement aimed to secure financial and political support for…
Levi Eshkol, 1895-1969
Eshkol, Israel’s third prime minister, was a farm worker after arriving from Ukraine in 1914. He organized labor and became a Mapai and Jewish Agency leader. He raised money for arms and for immigrant absorption….
Rose Luria Halprin, 1896-1978
A two-time president of Hadassah, Halprin lived in Jerusalem in the late 1930s to serve as the Hadassah Medical Organization’s liaison during the construction of Hadassah Hospital at Mount Scopus. She spoke against violence during…
Golda Meir, 1898-1978
Born in Ukraine and raised in Wisconsin, Meir rose in Labor Zionism with the Histadrut and engaged in diplomacy for the Jewish Agency and Israel, including trying to keep Transjordan out of the 1948 war…
Eliahu Elath, 1903-1990
A Ukraine-born journalist, politician and diplomat, Elath arrived in the Land of Israel in 1924, joined the Jewish Agency in 1934, and became Israel’s first ambassador to the United States and, when the diplomatic post…
Isaiah “Si” Kenen, 1905-1988
Isaiah “Si” Kenen in 1951 founded the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs, the predecessor of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Kenen’s organization provided a united pro-Israel voice in Washington and helped win…
Clark Clifford, 1906-1998
As a special presidential counsel, Clifford opposed the pro-Arab State Department and urged President Harry Truman to maintain support for the U.N. partition of Palestine and to lift the arms embargo on Jewish forces heading…
Lyndon Johnson, 1908-1973
The 36th U.S. president, Johnson increased U.S. economic and military support for Israel. Unlike Dwight Eisenhower in 1956, Johnson did not demand Israel’s immediate withdrawal from captured territory after the 1967 war. He outlined five…
Arthur Goldberg, 1908-1990
Goldberg resigned as a U.S. Supreme Court justice in 1965 to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He drafted the text of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, the basis of all “land…
Max Fisher, 1908-2005
Pittsburgh native Fisher, who made his fortune in Midwestern gas stations and real estate, advised Republican presidents from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush on the Middle East and Jewish issues. He helped persuade Nixon…
Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004
Although considered pro-Israel, Reagan, the 40th U.S. president, acted to balance U.S. policy toward Israel and Arab states. Under Reagan, the United States halted F-16 sales to Israel after its raid on Iraq’s nuclear reactor…
Henry “Scoop” Jackson, 1912-1983
As a congressman from 1941 to 1953 and a senator from 1953 until 1983 for Washington state, Jackson was one of the leading pro-Zionist and pro-Israel voices in Congress. He wrote legislative amendments in 1970…
Charles Winters, 1913-1984
A U.S. businessman who wasn’t Jewish, Winters bought three surplus U.S. B-17 bombers on the pretense that they were for his Caribbean transport service. Instead, he delivered them to the nascent Israeli Air Force in…
Menachem Begin, 1913-1992
Born in Belarus, Begin joined the Revisionist Betar movement and escaped Nazis and Soviets to reach Palestine. He led the Irgun, then spent three decades in the political opposition, including arguing against German reparations. In…
Richard Nixon, 1913-1994
Though he expressed antisemitic views in private, Nixon as the 37th U.S. president authorized the airlift that replenished Israel’s arms during the October 1973 war, providing the means for Israel to end the war with…
Abba Eban, 1915-2002
A native of Cape Town, South Africa, who was raised in England and made aliyah in 1944, Eban was a diplomat, politician and writer. With the Jewish Agency’s U.N. delegation, he was heavily involved in…
Yitzhak Shamir, 1915-2012
Belarus-born Shamir was the seventh prime minister, serving two terms between 1983 and 1992. He was a Lehi leader during the British Mandate. As a Likud prime minister, he approved Operation Solomon to airlift in…
Anwar Sadat, 1918-1981
Sadat was elevated from Egypt’s vice president to president after Gamal Abdel Nasser died in 1970. With Syria, he launched the October 1973 war against Israel. He flew to Israel four years later in pursuit…
Bella Abzug, 1920-1998
Abzug was the first Jewish woman elected to Congress, representing New York as a Democrat in the House from 1971 to 1977. The daughter of immigrants from Russia, she joined Zionist youth group Hashomer Hatzir…
Yitzhak Rabin, 1922-1995
Rabin was a two-time prime minister whose assassination shattered hopes for peace under the Oslo Accords, for which he shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat. He also signed a…
Shimon Peres, 1923-2016
Peres is the only Israeli to serve as prime minister and president. Born in Belarus, he arrived in Palestine in 1934. He helped establish and arm the initial IDF in the 1940s and launched a…
Henry Kissinger, 1923-2023
Kissinger was the national security adviser and secretary of state to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He heavily influenced U.S. policy in the Middle East and made “shuttle diplomacy” famous after the October 1973…
Ezer Weizman, 1924-2005
Weizman, the nephew of Chaim Weizmann, was Israel’s seventh president from 1993 to 2000. He was a founder of the Israeli Air Force and became its commander in 1958. As defense minister in the first…
Jimmy Carter, 1924-2024
The 39th U.S. president, Carter mediated the 1978 Camp David Accords and 1979 peace treaty between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. The treaty was the first between Israel and an…
Lester Crown, 1925-
American billionaire Crown is a philanthropist who supports many Israeli causes, including Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science. He is dedicated to sharing Israel’s accomplishments with the world. He is a director…
Jeane Kirkpatrick, 1926-2006
Kirkpatrick was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Ronald Reagan. She built a close relationship with Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Blum and was as staunch in her support of Israel as she was…
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, 1927-2003
Moynihan was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 1975 when the U.N. General Assembly passed Resolution 3379, equating Zionism with racism. He delivered a passionate speech lambasting the resolution and its supporters and…
Tom Lantos, 1928-2008
A native of Hungary, Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, representing California in the House from 1981 to 2008. Steven Spielberg’s documentary “The Last Days” featured Lantos’ life story. He was…
Ariel Sharon, 1928-2014
Sharon led IDF commandos in the 1950s, was a field commander in 1967 and drove the Sinai counteroffensive in 1973. As defense minister, he launched the First Lebanon War, which resulted in an 18-year occupation,…
Bernie Marcus, 1929-2024
Home Depot co-founder Marcus has devoted much of his philanthropy to Israel and to organizations supporting Israel. Examples within Israel include the Israel Democracy Institute and Magen David Adom’s underground blood storage facility in Ramle….
Barbi Weinberg, 1929-
Weinberg is the founder and chairman emerita of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, fulfilling a vision she shared with her late husband, Larry, a former AIPAC president. In 1973 she became the first…
Samuel Lewis, 1930-2014
Lewis served as the U.S. ambassador to Israel from 1977 to 1985, second in tenure to Walworth Barbour. He played an important part in brokering Israeli-Egyptian peace and provided the on-site U.S. response to the…
Naomi Lauter, 1930-2017
Recruited by Si Kenen, Lauter worked with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in San Francisco for more than 50 years, from chief volunteer recruiter to regional director to a consultant training staff across the…
Charles Bronfman, 1931-
Bronfman, part of the Canadian Jewish family who built the Seagram beverage company, co-founded Birthright Israel, which brings young Jewish adults from around the world to Israel for a 10-day educational visit. His foundation, Charles…
Mayer “Bubba” Mitchell, 1933-2007
A longtime resident of Alabama, Mitchell was the president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee from 1990 to 1992 and AIPAC’s chairman from 1993 to 1996. As an activist and philanthropist for Jewish and…
Sheldon Adelson, 1933-2021
Casino magnate Adelson was one of the biggest donors to Israeli and Jewish causes. He launched and owned Israel Hayom, Israel’s most widely distributed newspaper, and was a stalwart backer of Benjamin Netanyahu. He funded…
King Hussein, 1935-1999
As Jordan’s king, Hussein tried to annex the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem while ruling them from 1948 to 1967. He lost everything west of the Jordan River after he attacked Israel to support Egypt…
Aharon Barak, 1936-
Lithuania-born Barak was a 28-year Supreme Court justice who served as the president of the court from 1995 to 2006. He lifted restrictions on individual petitions to the court and strengthened the judiciary’s authority to…
Reuven Rivlin, 1939-
The 10th president of Israel from 2014 to 2021, Rivlin was a Likud politician who served as the speaker of the Knesset from 2003 to 2006 and 2009 to 2013. As president, he pushed for…
Michael Steinhardt, 1940-
Billionaire New York philanthropist Steinhardt’s extensive donations to Jewish causes include co-founding Birthright Israel with Charles Bronfman and launching a network of Hebrew-language charter schools. He chaired the board of Tel Aviv University and endowed…
Itamar Rabinovich, 1942-
Diplomat and historian Rabinovich is a former ambassador to the United States and former president of Tel Aviv University. A former IDF lieutenant colonel, he was Israel’s chief negotiator with Syria in the 1990s. His…
Ehud Barak, 1942-
As Israel’s 10th prime minister and last from the Labor Party from 1999 to 2001, Barak ended the occupation of southern Lebanon, participated in the 2000 Camp David talks, was rebuffed by Yasser Arafat in…
Malcolm Hoenlein, 1944-
Hoenlein is transitioning out of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which coordinates support for Israel, after serving as the executive vice chairman since 1986. He handed the CEO position to William…
Avi Weiss, 1944-
Weiss is an author and activist who led the movement to free Soviet Jewry; ultimately, more than 1 million immigrants moved as the Soviet Union crumbled. He served as spy Jonathan Pollard’s personal rabbi and…
Ehud Olmert, 1945-
Olmert, a 10-year Jerusalem mayor, served as Israel’s 12th prime minister from 2006 to 2009, taking office for Kadima after Ariel Sharon’s stroke and resigning amid charges of bribery and obstruction of justice, for which…
Donald Trump, 1946-
The 45th and 47th U.S. president, Trump took steps in both terms to strengthen ties with Israel. He withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. He fulfilled a deferred 1995 law and moved the U.S….
George W. Bush, 1946-
The 43rd U.S. president, Bush offered a vision for a two-state Israeli-Palestinian solution in June 2002 that inspired the “Roadmap for Peace” presented by the Quartet (the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia)…
Bill Clinton, 1946-
As president, Clinton hosted the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords, helped Jordan and Israel achieve a peace treaty in 1994, and mediated the 1995 Oslo II agreement that recognized the Palestinian Authority. He brokered…
Dennis Ross, 1948-
Working in the Defense Department, with the National Security Council or in the State Department under every president from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama, Ross helped shape U.S. Middle East policy. He helped get Israel…
Benjamin Netanyahu, 1949-
Netanyahu has served as the Likud leader for all but six years since 1993. He is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, holding the office from 1996 to 1999, 2009 to June 2021, and December 2022 to…
David Harris, 1949-
Harris served as the chief executive of the American Jewish Committee from 1990 until the end of September 2022. He made advocacy for a Jewish, democratic, internationally accepted Israel a fundamental part of AJC’s efforts….
Doron Almog, 1951-
Almog, a retired IDF major general, was unanimously nominated in June 2022 to serve a four-year term as the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, succeeding Isaac Herzog. A paratrooper, Almog was the first…
Howard Kohr, 1955-
Howard Kohr has served as the top executive of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee since 1996. Under Kohr, AIPAC has built support beyond the Jewish community. Its lobbying for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship has…
Isaac Herzog, 1960-
Herzog has served as the 11th president of Israel since July 2021. His father, Chaim Herzog, also served as president, and grandfather Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog was the chief rabbi of Ireland. A Tel Aviv native,…
Barack Obama, 1961-
The 44th U.S. president, Obama was less active in seeking Middle East peace than his three immediate predecessors and tried to strengthen relations with Israel’s neighbors. He split with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over…
Ted Deutch, 1966-
Deutch, a Democratic congressman from Florida since 2010, succeeded David Harris as the American Jewish Committee CEO on Oct. 1, 2022. In the U.S. House he introduced and supported legislation and resolutions to further U.S.-Israel…
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