Arms Transfers to Israel The Strategic Logic Behind American Military Assistance
David Rodman
David Rodman is
the author of Defense and Diplomacy in Israel’s
National Security Experience: Tactics, Partnerships, and
Motives (Sussex Academic Press, 2005). He has also
published articles on the Arab–Israeli conflict in various
professional journals, including Middle Eastern Studies,
The Journal of Strategic Studies, MERIA Journal, Israel
Affairs, Defence Studies, and Air & Space Power Chronicles.
“Rodman's
study of U.S. arms transfers to Israel provides important insight
into this critical and oft-misunderstood element of the strategic
relationship. Relying on extensive U.S. archival research, the book
details the evolution of this relationship from Israel's early reliance
on Western European equipment through the start of U.S. arms sales
during the Johnson era to the end of the Reagan administration.
… As Rodman deftly points out, Israel's conduct during the
1967–1973
period is ‘not comprehensible unless it is examined in the
context of the American-Israeli patron-client relationship.’
Arms Transfers to Israel provides a comprehensive picture
of the origins and development of the U.S.–Israeli
military assistance relationship. In doing so, although not intentionally,
Rodman's study goes a long way toward dispelling the now fashionable
myth that the strategic relationship with Israel is driven primarily
by domestic U.S. politics.” Middle East Quarterly
“This study makes the subject of U.S.
arms to Israel highly accessible and in that manner fills a gap
in the literature on U.S.–Israeli
relations. The author explains in clear and lucid fashion the strategic
background to several major arms deals. At the same time, his analysis
places in perspective both the issue of Israel’s nuclear capability
and the role of the pro-Israel lobby in the United States. [It is]
a concise and well-written account of the evolution of the framework
in which the United States sells Israel arms. Rodman argues convincingly
that the type of relationship he desribes is clearly in the interest
of both countries and likely to remain the setting for their bilateral
ties for a long time.” Israel Studies Forum
This book dispels two common myths about the American–Israeli
patron–client relationship – that arms transfers to
Israel have been motivated by American domestic politics rather
than national interests and that these arms transfers have come
without any political strings attached to them. … The first part of the book describes
and analyzes the institutionalization of the American–Israeli
arms pipeline during the Johnson administration, demonstrating conclusively
in the process that arms transfers to the Jewish state were based
primarily on American national interests. The second part of the
book consists of four case studies that clearly reveal that American
arms transfers to Israel, whether in wartime or in peacetime, have
always come with a diplomatic price tag attached to them. … The book is based largely on
American government documents from the Foreign Relations of
the United States (FRUS) series, from the Lyndon B. Johnson
Presidential Library, and from the United States National Archives.
List of Contents to follow
Publication Details
ISBN:
978-1-84519-178-8 h/b
Page Extent / Format:
156 pp. / 229 x 152 mm
Release Date:
February 2007
Illustrated:
No
Hardback Price:
£32.50 / $45.00
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