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Asset Test 2021: How the U.S Asset Test 2021: How the U.S. Can Keep Benefiting from Its Alliance with Israel MICHAEL EISENSTADT AND DAVID POLLOCK ith the Biden administration now in office, the February 2021 U.S. “special relationship” with Israel is entering a W new phase.* But its diverse roots remain firmly in place: common values, democratic politics, and strategic interests, as well as close intelligence, military, economic, scientific-technological, cultural, and people-to-people ties. At the same time, recent years have witnessed some dramatic ups and downs in the relationship, along with significant changes in the broader strategic context. Given such parameters, this memo assesses the current status of the U.S.-Israel relationship and offers recommendations for realizing its full potential. *This paper is an update of the authors’ 2012 study, Asset Test: How the United States Benefits from Its Alliance with Israel. EISENSTADT AND POLLOCK Israel is also a world-class innovator in technologies The New Strategic that will be critical to meeting future challenges, including artificial intelligence (AI), information Context for the U.S.-Israel technology (IT), and cybersecurity; sustainable Partnership water, food, and energy solutions; and high-tech medicine. All these areas are supportive of America’s foreign policy priorities: pursuing Over the next decade, the U.S.-Israel alliance will peaceful Great Power competition; restoring global be shaped by concurrent global, regional, and economic competitiveness; and building climate domestic transformations. Taking them all into resilience, while addressing development, public account will be key to sustaining the benefits of this health, sustainability, and similar concerns. And longstanding partnership. While Israel is not at the in all these areas, the United States is the preferred center of U.S. security and international economic partner of Israeli firms seeking to expand opera- policies, it will make an important contribution as tions and access to the global market. Furthermore, the new order emerges. while Israel maintains ties with China, the latter’s investment in the Israeli high-tech sector, for At the global level, the sharpening U.S.-China—and, example, is holding at just around 10 percent, while to a lesser extent, U.S.-Russia—competition looms the remaining 90 percent is overwhelmingly with larger today than in the past, while Middle East oil Western, and especially American, partners. and gas have lost their centrality to the American economy. Nevertheless, the Middle East is an In the Middle East regional arena, a major recent important arena in this new Great Power competi- shift offers new horizons for U.S.-Israel cooperation: tion due not just to growing Asian demand for its the tide of Arab “normalization” with Israel, which energy resources but also to its geographic location, has occurred with active American support. This political and religious significance, and continuing current is embodied by the August 2020 Abraham potential to export instability worldwide. To the Accords with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, extent that Great Power competition is increasingly later joined by Sudan, along with a separate but economic and technological as well as military and parallel Israeli deal with Morocco. Saudi Arabia, political, Israel is one Middle East state well-placed Oman, and others could follow. This trend overturns to deliver outsize contributions. the conventional wisdom that the unresolved Palestinian conflict is an insurmountable obstacle Exemplifying Israel’s seriousness as a player in this to decent relations between Israel and Arab states. new “great game” are its military activities since Beyond that, it paves the way for U.S.-Arab-Israel 2017 to counter Iranian efforts to transform Syria collaboration in a host of areas. The recent decision into a forward military base in the Levant. Even by the U.S. Department of Defense to move Israel beyond the Middle East, Israel’s burgeoning arms from the European Command (EUCOM) to the exports, intelligence ties, and high-tech civilian Middle East–focused Central Command (CENTCOM) partnerships with India, Japan, South Korea, and was greeted without objections by America’s Arab other American allies advance the goals of the U.S. allies and partners, and is another important “rebalance” to the Indo-Pacific region. Moreover, indicator of this new reality. President Joe Biden’s declared intent to hold a “Summit for Democracy” suggests a firm place Partnerships between the United States, Israel, and for Israel in a Trumanesque struggle between Arab states that foster high-tech cooperation will democracy and authoritarianism reminiscent of be essential to meeting the defining challenges of the dawn of the Cold War.1 the future. Already, these actors have taken steps 2 THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY EISENSTADT AND POLLOCK HOW THE U.S. CAN KEEP BENEFITING FROM ITS ALLIANCE WITH ISRAEL toward such cooperation in the energy, cyber, borders, and proxy and partner militias in Lebanon, and medical spheres, in addition to the recently Syria, Iraq, the Gaza Strip, and Yemen—pose an announced “Abraham Fund,” a $3 billion trilateral urgent threat not just to Israel and its Arab neigh- endowment meant to spur development and bors but to U.S. interests as well. Seen in this light, economic cooperation in the Middle East and the public jousting over the JCPOA is truly the North Africa.2 One can also expect the Biden exception that proves the rule. administration to encourage tighter security cooperation between its Arab allies and Israel Similarly, regarding the Palestinians, Arab-Israel to facilitate a lighter U.S. military footprint in normalization could provide a path forward, or the region. at least a respite from bilateral tension. Today, normalization itself signals the reduced salience Regarding Iran, Washington and Jerusalem were among many Arabs of the Palestinian cause, thereby at odds during President Barack Obama’s second reducing it as a priority for Washington as well. Still, term, then in agreement in the era of President one can readily foresee renewed diplomatic disputes Donald Trump, as he withdrew from the Joint over West Bank settlements, peace process terms Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the of reference, and the fate of the two-state solution. nuclear deal is known, and reimposed stiff Managing, if not resolving, such disputes will sanctions against Tehran. Renewed disagreement pose a complicated challenge for both Washington can be expected as the Biden administration and Jerusalem. To be sure, resolving the Israeli- seeks to rejoin the nuclear accord in some form. Palestinian conflict would be best for all parties, As demonstrated by the recent controversy but this issue is no longer central to U.S.-Israel surrounding Israel Defense Forces chief of staff bilateral ties or the region’s politics. Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi’s public criticism of this U.S. plan, it is best to air these differences privately.3 Looking ahead, however, a number of countervailing Future consultations on this matter, moreover, factors present major challenges. Center-right and will likely include a number of Israel’s new Gulf right-wing governing coalitions will likely dominate Arab partners. in Israel into the future, due to demographic and political trends, including the perceived absence Yet despite the serious Obama-era quarrel, both of a peace partner on the Palestinian side, and sides have long understood the value of coopera- settlements and other facts on the ground. This is tion against threats from Iran. This has included likely to remain a long-term issue in any U.S.-Israel intelligence sharing, missile defense, joint cyber dialogue about the Palestinians—and indeed about activities, and covert counterterrorism operations— Israel’s destiny as both a Jewish and a democratic including the 2008 killing of Hezbollah’s chief state. In the United States, there is rising partisan of external operations, Imad Mughniyah, in polarization regarding Israel. Whereas a half- Damascus, and of al-Qaeda’s number two, Abu century ago polling showed Democrats to be more Muhammad al-Masri, in Tehran in 2020. The pro-Israel, today the trend is reversed, owing to perceived threat of Israeli action against Iran’s increased Democratic sympathy for the Palestinians nuclear program has at times helped the United and growing evangelical Christian influence in the States marshal international support for sanctions Republican Party.4 This trend, too, could affect the or negotiated limits instead. And developments tone if not the substance of future bilateral ties. over the past five years have clarified to U.S. policymakers that Iran’s growing conventional Nevertheless, at least two mitigating factors should military capabilities—including highly accurate be borne in mind. First, the aforementioned polls drones and missiles, military bases far from Iran’s also demonstrate that, while Republicans and POLICY NOTES FOR THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION 3 EISENSTADT AND POLLOCK independents are more solidly supportive of Israel, the majority of Democrats (who today are about a The Enduring Strategic third of the American public) still consider Israel an ally or friend of the United States. More important, Logic of the Alliance American domestic politics is no longer the primary driver of the informal U.S.-Israel alliance. Rather, new regional and global realities, along with the The U.S.-Israel special relationship has traditionally tangible benefits
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