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Israel, Iran, and the United States: a Precarious Alliance

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Israel, Iran, and the United States: a Precarious Alliance View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Boise State University - ScholarWorks ISRAEL, IRAN, AND THE UNITED STATES: A PRECARIOUS ALLIANCE by Roy J. Ellsworth A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Boise State University May 2014 © 2014 Roy J. Ellsworth ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COLLEGE DEFENSE COMMITTEE AND FINAL READING APPROVALS of the thesis submitted by Roy J. Ellsworth Thesis Title: Israel, Iran, and the United States: A Precarious Alliance Date of Final Oral Examination: 11 October 2013 The following individuals read and discussed the thesis submitted by student Roy J. Ellsworth, and they evaluated his presentation and response to questions during the final oral examination. They found that the student passed the final oral examination. Michael Zirinsky, Ph.D. Chair, Supervisory Committee Shelton Woods, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee Peter Buhler, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee The final reading approval of the thesis was granted by Michael Zirinsky, Ph.D., Chair of the Supervisory Committee. The thesis was approved for the Graduate College by John R. Pelton, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College. DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my inspiring, beautiful, and understanding wife, Frances. She has put up with “I can’t go because I have to finish my history paper” for all the 32 years of our married life, for it has taken me far too long to finish this work. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe thanks to many people who have helped me through the past five thesis years. I started taking history classes at Boise State in the 1970s and have slowly progressed toward finishing my degree in history. I am grateful to all my excellent professors in the History Department at Boise State for helping me understand history, teaching me how to write, and every one becoming my friend. I particularly want to thank Dr. Michael Zirinsky for turning me on to the Middle East—especially Iran— chairing my thesis committee, and pushing me on to finish. Also to Dr. Shelton Woods for helping me to understand Southeast Asia better, serving on my committee, and continually encouraging me. Many thanks to my other committee member, Dr. Peter Buhler, who taught me first in 1979 and again in 1998 as we both witnessed the history department at Boise State progress to excellence by obtaining additional outstanding faculty with national prominence. I want to also thank my patient and talented editors, Driek Zirinsky and Sharon Matthies. It has been a long and great ride. v AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Roy J. Ellsworth, M.D. Roy Ellsworth graduated from high school in Twin Falls, Idaho, then received a Bachelor’s degree in General Science (pre-med) at the University of Oregon in 1953. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Oregon Medical School (now Oregon Health Science University, OHSU) in 1957. After internship and residency, he practiced ophthalmology in Boise until retiring in 1995. Roy has four children: Mark, Brian, Joe, and Jennifer, who all have successful careers. He continues to live in Boise and has been married to Frances, a talented interior designer, for 32 years. Since retirement, Roy has served on many non-profit boards including the Idaho Humane Society (IHS), chairing their two capital campaigns with his wife Frances (including hosting the annual Lawn Party fund-raiser for IHS at their home for 23 years). He served on the boards of the Boise Art Museum and Saint Alphonsus Foundation and is currently serving on the Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center Trustees and Project Haiti boards. He also serves on the Frank Church Institute and Friends of Nursing boards at Boise State University and the College of Science board at the University of Idaho. vi ABSTRACT The purpose of this work is to examine the relationship between Iran and Israel after Israel became a state in 1948 following the United Nations (UN) Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947, which would lead to independent Arab and Jewish states. The Palestinians and their Arab neighbors rejected the UN Partition Plan and attacked Israel but were defeated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Israel and Iran (not an Arab country) quickly became best friends and trading partners, since their Arab neighbors were hostile to both countries. This new partnership included a joint pipeline to transport oil across Israel and the sharing of Israel missile technology with Iran. Additionally, this research explores how the United States (US) became part of the Israeli-Iranian alliance after the British decided to withdraw their military forces from the Gulf in the late 1960s. President Richard Nixon proclaimed his Twin Pillar Policy of handing over security of the Persian Gulf to Iran and Saudi Arabia. Both countries, especially Iran, were heavily armed by the United States. Iran’s close ally Israel subsequently also received billions of dollars in arms from the United States, becoming part of the bulwark intended to prevent the Soviets from increasing their influence in the Middle East. The triple alliance collapsed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran when the US hostage crisis compelled the United States to disengage. The hostage issue turned the United States against Iran; consequently the United States has rejected numerous vii overtures by Iran to improve relations over the last 30 years. The Islamic Revolution also ended the robust alliance between Iran and Israel. However, during its war with Iraq (1980-1988), Israel continued to sell arms to Iran in exchange for oil, hoping Iran would become more secular and the alliance could be reestablished. The United States illegally sold arms to Iran as well, leading to the Iran-Contra scandal. Many Arab states assisted the United States and Western allies in defeating Iraq in the first Gulf War. This was followed by the Oslo Accords prompting a possibility of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the possibility of peace with the Palestinians, Israel perceived it was no longer a strategic asset to the United States and would lose vital financial and political support from its major benefactor. To ensure that the crucial support from the United States would continue, Israel turned on Iran, painting it as irrational and therefore the new existential enemy of both Israel and the United States, if it were to develop a nuclear weapon. At the same time, the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) carried the same message to the US Congress and Administration. Israel continues to exist, to a large extent because of US aid assured by the pro- Israel lobby in the US. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... v AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ........................................................................................ vi ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................. xi INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE: HISTORICAL LINKS BETWEEN JEWS AND PERSIANS .................... 5 CHAPTER TWO: THE ISRAELI-IRANIAN ALLIANCE DEVELOPS ............................. 21 CHAPTER THREE: THE ALLIANCE STARTS TO UNRAVEL ....................................... 28 CHAPTER FOUR: THE TABLES TURN; PROSPECTS FOR PEACE .............................. 43 CHAPTER FIVE: THE ISRAELI LOBBY, IRANOPHOBIA, AND THE BOMB .............. 57 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 79 ENDNOTES ........................................................................................................................... 85 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................. 110 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. The boundaries of the Land of Israel defined by Numbers and Ezekiel3 ... 6 Figure 1.2. The Cyrus Cylinder.13 Photograph by Jona Lendering. Courtesy of The British Museum. .......................................................................................... 8 Figure 1.3. 1910 photo of Jewish children in Samarkand with their Rabbi (modern Uzbekistan).14 Photograph by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokidin-Gorskii. Courtesy of Creative Commons. ................................................................. 9 Figure 1.4. President Harry S. Truman meeting with Prime Minister David Ben- Gurion of Israel and Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban on May 8, 1951.43 President Truman is receiving a gift of a menorah. Photograph by Abbie Rowe. Courtesy of The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. .................................................................................................... 15 Figure 1.5. In 1949 immigrants flocked to Israel, then one year old.46 Associated Press. Photograph courtesy of The Associated Press. .............................
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