How Did America Become Israel's Godfather? | Flashback with Palki Sharma

0:00 [Music] it was March 1948 Harry Truman was President of the United States one morning he had a guest an old friend named Eddie Jacobson a Jew now Jacobson had a favor to ask he wanted Truman to meet chime wisman he was a top leader of the world Zionist organization also a future president of Israel at first Truman was not pleased he was a known anti-semite his letters to his wife were filled with anti-jewish bias but that morning Truman relented he agreed to

0:47 meet WIS men and when he did he promised us support for the state of Israel months later he did just that on May 14th 1948 the state of Israel was declared 11 minutes later 11 minutes after the Declaration Truman signed a press release he was the first world leader to recognize the new Jewish State his own diplomats could not believe it some of them apparently burst out laughing they thought How Could An anti-semite support Israel but in 1948 that's how things played out it's been 75 years since then today Israel and the US are special allies many biographers credit Eddie Jacobson for Truman's decision Maybe did play a role but favors do not lead to military aid worth

1:33 $150 billion only strategy does so how exactly did that strategy emerge why are America and Israel best buddies time for a [Music] flashback the 1950s made one thing clear West Asia would be affected by the Cold War Arab nationalism was on the rise but Washington mistook it for communism so US presidents hunted for allies they wanted to contain Soviet influence in the region Saudi Arabia and Iran were their top choices the Saudis were on board Iran was not so in 1953 the CIA plotted a coup they installed the pro Western Sha of

2:19 Iran where was Israel all this time not really on America's radar and sometimes on the opposite side like in 1956 that's when Israel Britain and France hatched a plan their target Egypt and the sus Canal Egypt's President was Gamal Abdul Naser he was a celebrated Arab leader in 1956 he nationalized the sus Canal Britain was appalled they plotted with Israel and France the plan was to invade Egypt take over the canal and topple Naser just one problem though the United States disapproved when the fighting began President Eisenhower of the US put his foot down he refused to support the invasion so in the end the plan failed Eisenhower's successor was John F Kennedy he too put pressure on Israel by

3:07 the 1960s Israel was building nuclear weapons all top secret stuff but Kennedy wanted Israel to stop to not build nuclear weapons but all of this would change in 1967 that's when Arab countries waged war on Israel and they had another thing coming in 6 days Israel routed the Arab armies it was a comprehensive Victory even the Americans had to take notice at that point their fortunes were very different America stuck in Vietnam Israel beating back the Arabs and that too without any Western support So Washington was thoroughly impressed they thought here's our best chance a strong military to project our interests in West Asia no split leadership no Clan rivalries no Kings or emers with

3:54 Tantrums Israel was a democracy like the US from that point on there was no looking back in 1973 there was another War Arab neighbors attacked Israel again but this time the US was much more proactive they sent tanks fighter jets and ammunition many say America saved the day that without America's support the Arab armies would have won so now the relationship was was a win-win America armed Israel in return Israel protected American interests after 1979 that became more important there was a revolution in Iran in that year the pro Western sha was toppled so one US Ally gone in his place came the Ayatollah a leader who made America Public Enemy Number One so Washington

4:40 needed Israel even more but this plan had a problem Israel's neighbors did not need Israel they supported Palestine none of them even recognized the Jewish state so the US went went about fixing that in the mid 1970s that was Henry Kissinger's job first he talked Ted to Israel in Syria then to Israel in Egypt he negotiated an end to the 1973 War even got Israel to give up some of its land and this work continued under the next Administration that of Jimmy Carter in 1978 he hosted a historic meeting the venue was the presidential retreat at Camp David Israel was represented by prime minister minim beIN Egypt by President Anar Sadat think apples and

5:26 oranges beIN was a protocol man he came dressed in a full suit saddat was much more relaxed he turned up in Sporting apparel it took 13 days to thrash out an agreement what is called the Camp David Accords it had three parts Palestinians would have self-rule in West Bank and Gaza Egypt and Israel would sign a peace deal other Arab neighbors would follow Egypt's template the next year a peace deal was signed Egypt recognized Israel it was the first Arab country to do so but other Arab countries Ries were not thrilled they kicked Egypt out of the Arab League So the plan was only partially successful in the next decade came a new president Ronald Reagan he focused on the military aspect of this

6:11 relationship in 1981 he signed an agreement for strategic cooperation America was now giving $1.8 billion to Israel 1.8 billion every year in return they hoped for restraint but they were wrong the next year in 1982 isra invaded Lebanon and a lot has been said about this Arab countries say the US supported this Invasion that Israel would never have done this without Washington's permission but officially the White House denied it Reagan's own AIDS were split some wanted to reign in Israel others wanted to give the green light at first Reagan chose option one he criticized Israel's bombing of beu even sent peacekeepers to keep Israel at Bay but in 1983 that changed extremists

6:58 attacked US Marines in Beirut more than 200 of them were killed now Reagan had two options again either deploy more troops to exact revenge or let Israel do the Dirty Work and since the Pentagon would not give him troops he chose the second option let Israel do the Dirty Work he signed another agreement with Israel and this was much broader the two sides now held joined drills developed fighter jets together conducted bombing practice at one point Israel hosted voice of America transmitters they would blast us propaganda into Southern Soviet Union Peak Cold War stuff in 1987 they signed another deal this time Israel was declared a major non-nato Ally all of this had one major

7:44 consequence Israel's weapons industry became massive in 1983 they sold weapons worth $9 million to the US by 1988 it was worth 240 million tells you how rapid the growth was if the the ' 80s was about arms the '90s was again about peace the first Ina was underway it was a message to not ignore the question of Palestine Plus in 1991 the Cold War ended so the us could put more pressure on Israel it wasn't easy though Israel's government was hard right they were not willing to make any concessions at one point the Americans were fed up especially James Baker he was the US Secretary of State it's going to take some really good faith

8:29 affirmative effort on the part of our good friends in Israel everybody over there should know that the telephone number is 1 2024561414 when you're serious about peace call us back channels had more success like the one in Oslo representatives from Israel and Palestine talked in secret they agreed to a two-state solution in 1993 the agreement was formalized US President Bill Clinton hosted a White House ceremony Israel was represented by prime minister Yak grain Palestine by yasar Arafat the two men shook hands and signed the documents the next year in 1994 Jordan recognized Israel it was a

9:15 second Arab country to do so so things were looking up peace was looking possible but extremists on both sides had other plans one such extremist assassinated prime minister Robin so back to square one in the 21st century the US and Israel have come closer there are many reasons for that like 911 which involves Saudi terrorists Riyad was supposed to be an American Ally yet they could not stop it plus Iran was going Nuclear So Washington needed a strong stable Ally once again only Israel fit the bill it was never a perfect relationship though like in the early 2010s President Barack Obama and prime minister Benin Netanyahu could not stand each other Obama signed a nuclear deal with nanahu trashed it in the US

10:01 Congress but through it all the support never wavered the US continues to protect Israel at the UN Security Council they've used The veto more than 50 times for Israel even during Obama's time then came president Donald Trump arguably Israel's best friend in Washington he recognized Israel's control over Goan Heights he also shifted the US Embassy to Jerusalem despite all this America's concern Remains the Same Arab Israel rivalry Washington has invested billions into this relationship but like any investor they want returns maximum returns and for that Israel has to be mainstreamed it has to be at peace with Arab countries everything they do is aimed at

10:48 that political endgame the normalization deals the so-called West Asia quad the Europe India Railway Corridor it's all about mainstreaming Israel and you have to ad admit Washington is a confident investor they have risked the wroth of the Arab world in sticking with Israel even now during the Gaza War but 75 years is a long time to wait for Returns on an investment so at what point does Washington cut its losses Israel will be hoping [Music] never

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