It is very ironic that Israel , was, at its beginning , seen by the American bureaucratic, military and intelligence institutions, as the major threat to American interests in the Middle East. Very few in the top echelons of the US government viewed the establishment of Israel as a favorable event. Most saw it as a threat to American interests, particularly access to oil, and strategic positioning in the Indian Ocean, especially the Suez Canal, and others as evidence of a more pronounced Soviet threat….. in that the Israeli leadership was socialist in composition, and many were from the Soviet controlled eastern Europe. Truman in his memoirs was caustic in his criticism of the State Department in its repeated warnings of disaster should the United States recognize and support the fledgling state of Israel. He wrote; “…I wanted to make plain that the President of the United States, and not the the second or third echelon in the State Department, is responsible for making foreign policy.. …I was told that to some of the career men of the State Department this announcement ( Truman’s recognition of the State of Israel ) came as a surprise, It should not have been if these men had faithfully supported my policy. ( Memoirs of Harry S. Truman Vol 11.
The military was equally adamant in opposition to the recognition of Israel. Secretary of Defense James Forrestal wrote,: “America has lost very greatly in prestige in the Arab world by our attitude on Palestine. The British say that they cannot do all they would like for the Arabs because of the pressure we were able to exert in connection with the British loan.” The Forestal Diaries .In fact, with the exception of Winston Churchill, most of the elite establishment in Great Britain were close to being pathologically opposed to zionist aims in Palestine. A generous dose of anti-semitism which has always been present in the elite British establishment was also a critical factor. Many of the British Middle East scholarly gurus, Elizabeth Monroe, Freya Stark, ( not TE Lawrence), and the giant of British academia , Arnold Toynbee wrote about the calamities in the future of an Israel in the Middle East. As a matter of fact within American Middle East academia, this anti-Israeli still exists, albeit in somewhat muted forms. Many years of attending various Middle East academic conferences, and as much reading as my increasingly short attention span allows, has convinced me of that.
All of the above is a preface to the central idea of this blog: Because of the long military, political, and moral ties between Israel and America, the cultural abyss into which the American society is falling into will severely impact the future ability of Israel to defend itself against self-destructing from within. The so called “woke culture” an amalgamation of vague marxist, nihilistic, superficially humanitarian ideas, advocating centralized control by the elite (themselves of course. ). It metastasizes in a polarized society ( see Gertrude Himmelfarb On Looking into the Abyss, and One Nation: Two Cultures) and tolerated by timid aging politicians, ambitious bureaucrats, and the opportunistic agitators of various ethnic groups hoping to link their political futures to it. A marxist ideologically indoctrinated but poorly educated academic and educators perpetrate the Woke poison aided by weak political leadership fearful of crossing the mine field of of “political correctness;” a term which does not adequately describe the danger it poses to a free society.It s difficult to define but very simple to see the effects,; loss of family solidarity, ridicule of patriotism and religious ties, and rejection of a biblically based traditional moral code that has kept societies together for millenniums.
Among the “Wokies”…as I describe them…. are a fairly impressive percentage of American Jews, a fact lamented by the more Orthodox Jews and conservative Jews. they see the danger of this amorphous movement to the Spartan moral fibre required for the Jewish state to survive. It is seen in the paranoid attitude of the wokies to the election of Netanyahu as PM of Israel. The links between the American Jews, and Israel which have always been strong and was once critical in American support for Israel are in many cases, now detrimental. I remember my trips to Brooklyn in the 50’s and seeing all the Buy Israeli War Bonds banners on the streets, but no more. Being on the forefront of Wokies causes, The mostly young and self righteous American Jews like to be on the spearhead of the woke causes e,g., transgenderism, third worldism, suppression of conservative dissent, antipathy to religion in general and American individuality, espousing every trendy political fashion acclaimed by an leftist oriented press, all of which apparently, are much more important than preservation of Judaism and the Jewish state of Israel.
A recent article in the Jerusalem Post that explains this is at https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-726180 (“Israel’s New Government and the Pauline Kael Syndrome”)
Another on positive note Gary Schiff in the JNS . “Will Maccabean Values prevail in todays Israel?” at https://www.jns.org/opinion/will-maccabean-values-prevail-in-todays-israel/
A third one is Alex Traiman “Historic right-wing government is the democratic is the democratic will of the voters ” at https://www.jns.org/opinion/israels-historic-right-wing-government-is-the-democratic-will-of-the-voters/
One example of this Leftist Woke paranoia is the reaction of a number of liberal “wokfied?” Jewish American clerics/scholars who deplore the right wing victory in the election. One can find all sorts of hysterical opinions on the end of democracy as we know it.
All the hand wringing on the part of the Jewish Left wing in the US, which is usually supported by the so called “quality press”e.g., the New York Times and Washington Post, has great influence on the left of Israel… which as in the US…. dominates the Press and much of what passes as erudite opinion.
Israeli needs American support in terms of military hardware and political support. No doubt about that. But the destructive influence of the Jewish voices in the woke movement in the U.S. will be a threat of immense proportions to Israeli existence. Traces of it have permeated the military leadership and intelligence of Israel already.
The United States can afford to lose wars and survive. In fact we have not” won”one since WWII. ( with possible exception of first Iraqi war.That is arguable). As the Israelis always and truthfully say they cannot afford to lose a war such as the 67 and 73 war. The US can hopefully get past the “hate America” environment which has polarized and balkanized the nation but for Israel this is much more problematic.
Interesting perspective and I agree. Thanks, Tex.