Making of an Alliance

Laying the foundation for an understanding of US-Israeli relations, this lively and accessible book provides critical background on the origins and development of the 'special' relations between Israel and the United States. Questioning the usual neo-realist approach to understanding this relationship, David Tal instead suggests that the relations between the two nations were constructed on idealism, political culture, and strategic ties. Based on a diverse range of primary sources collected in archives in both Israel and the United States, The Making of an Alliance discusses the development of relations built through constant contact between people and ideas, showing how presidents and Prime Ministers, state officials, and ordinary people from both countries, impacted one another. It was this constancy of religion, values, and history, serving the bedrock of the relations between the two countries and peoples, over which the ephemeral was negotiated.

'For anyone seeking to understand why American policymakers and Americans in general support Israel, this book is essential reading. Tal convincingly argues that the 'special relationship' between the United States and Israel is deeply rooted and very resilient - shaped by religion, culture and history, not merely by strategic interests.' Dov Waxman, University of California, Los Angeles, 'Based on extensive archival research, David Tal examines the many explanations for the close ties between the United States and Israel. He demonstrates that while shared values and culture, as well as shared interests, underlie this informal alliance, in a rapidly changing world, even these ties may not be immutable.' Ronald W. Zweig, New York University, '… a compelling read, especially for those seeking a critical academic approach that transcends superficial over-simplifications used to justify preconceived viewpoints.' Natan Aridan, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs

David Tal is Professor and Yossi Harel Chair in Modern Israel Studies in the Department of History at the University of Sussex. An historian of diplomatic and military history, he has published extensively on Israeli diplomatic and military history, and US diplomatic history and disarmament policies. He is the author of books including Israel's Conception of Current Security: Origins and Development 1949-1956 (1998), War in Palestine, 1948: Strategy and Diplomacy (2004), The American Nuclear Disarmament Dilemma, 1945–1963 (2008), and US Strategic Arms Policy in the Cold War: Negotiation and Confrontation over SALT, 1969–79 (2017). He is the editor of The 1956 War: Collusion and Rivalry in the Middle East (2001) and Israeli Identity: Between Orient and Occident (2004).