U.S.-Israel Relations
News about governmental relations between Israel and the United States
“We need to have the visibility to know whether U.S. funds are being used in a way that’s actually not compatible with U.S. policy, and U.S. policy should not be promoting this kind of settlement construction,” said Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Ind.
“Let me be very clear in how strongly I believe that that promise that the prime minister made during his political campaign was wrong,” said U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) at the annual J Street Conference.
“We are refining our strategic mission for the coming decade, based on the challenges Jews are facing today,” says Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog.
The news by Rafael of a first delivery of Trophy Active Protection Systems for M1 tanks is a dramatic development, in which the world’s most powerful military selects an Israeli defense system.
“Congress is losing one of its most impactful members and greatest supporters of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship,” tweeted William Daroff, senior vice president of public policy at the Jewish Federations of North America.
“We came back a little prouder of what we do. It sharpened something in our sense of mission,” say Israeli officers who visited American Jewish communities.
They met with Israeli, Palestinian, civil society and religious leaders to discuss issues such as security in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The United States has granted exemptions from those tariffs to Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Australia and South Korea. However, tariffs remain on such imports from Israel.
Trump administration officials say the political stalemate in Israel is leading to a significant missed opportunity from Israel’s perspective, hinting that things may change after the 2020 U.S. elections.
While the idea isn’t new, it hasn’t really been seriously discussed in while. Proponents say that a narrow defense treaty would add a layer of deterrence to enemy aggression, but critics caution that it could undermine the relationship between the two democracies.
Raising the issue of a defense treaty now is “clearly election propaganda” and doesn’t reflect mature policy, says former IDF Military Intelligence head Amos Yadlin.
Given the major departures of pro-Israel figures like the now former national security advisor and the upcoming resignation of U.S. special envoy Jason Greenblatt, questions remain as to the direction of the Trump administration.
