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America Should Be Israel's Partner, Not Its Patron
(Foreign Affairs) Raphael BenLevi - The cooperation between Israel and the U.S. during the war with Iran marks the culmination of a long shift in the relationship between the two countries. For years, Washington effectively served as Israel's patron, providing funding to purchase U.S. military equipment and a diplomatic umbrella (including veto protection in the UN Security Council) in exchange for general alignment with U.S. policy preferences and close cooperation on intelligence and military technology. Through the latest joint military action against a mutual enemy, the relationship has now entered a qualitatively different phase. Rather than acting alone or being excluded from a U.S.-led coalition, as it was during both Gulf wars, Israel has operated as a full partner, sharing targets and operational responsibilities with U.S. forces. The existing U.S.-Israeli framework for defense industrial cooperation has served both sides well for decades, but it is no longer suited to the realities of the Middle East today. Israel is now a major regional power, boasts an advanced economy, and is no longer at odds with many of its neighbors. It does not need American financial aid to either survive or thrive. At the time the aid model was instituted in the 1970s, U.S. aid constituted 19% of Israel's GDP and 23% of its state budget. Today, the aid amounts to less than 1% of GDP and just under 3% of the state budget. Israel's reliance on the U.S. defense industry has also hampered its domestic industry, especially its independent munitions production capabilities. Moreover, at a time of deep partisan polarization in the U.S., the need for Congress to regularly approve aid gets Israel unnecessarily tangled up in American domestic politics. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently insisted that Israel should seek to wind down the U.S. military aid it receives. Washington should maintain the mutually beneficial aspects of technological, intelligence, and military cooperation but stop supplying aid to Israel, allowing the country to stand on its own feet. Instead of a client, Israel should be the U.S.' genuine partner. The transition away from U.S. military aid should be understood as the natural evolution of a relationship that has matured over decades. By replacing a patronage-based aid structure with a deeper technological, industrial, and strategic relationship, the two countries can build a partnership better suited for today's geopolitical realities. The writer is a senior fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and director of the Churchill Program for Statecraft and Security at the Argaman Institute in Jerusalem.