The Uncertain Alliance: The U.S. and Israel from Kennedy to the Peace Process

This critical examination of American-Israeli relations from the last year of the Kennedy administration to the last year of Bill Clinton’s tenure in office is a companion volume to Herbert Druks’ previous book The Uncertain Friendship: The U.S. and Israel from Roosevelt to Kennedy. Based upon extensive research of archival sources and interviews of those who made this history happen, such as Harry S. Truman, Averell Harriman, Yitzhak Rabin, and Yitzhak Shamir, this study provides a challenging examination of key events and issues during the last three decades, including JFK and Israel’s nuclear research, Johnson and the Six Day War, Kissinger-Nixon and the Yom Kippur War, the rescue at Entebbe, Begin’s decision to liberate Lebanon from the PLO, Bush and Iraq, and the Land for Peace formula.

In addition to this comprehensive narrative account, Druks does not shy away from the tougher questions that plague the history of the two nations. What was the nature of the friendship and alliance that Israel achieved with the United States? Did that friendship and alliance help sustain Israel’s independence, or did it merely turn Israel into a vassal state of the American empire? Did Israel have another viable alternative? What may lie in store for the future of American-Israeli relations?

HERBERT DRUKS is Professor of History and Politics in the Department of Judaic Studies at Brooklyn College. He has taught at Hafia University, The School of Visual Arts and Yale University.