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View of Common Fears Drives U.S.-Israel Policy

[Boston Globe] Farah Stockman - The recent conflict in Lebanon has showcased what many foreign policy analysts see as a new era in U.S.-Israeli relations: For the first time in Israel's history, key figures in the U.S. government believe that the same forces that threaten Israel - Islamic terrorists and a nuclear-armed Iran - also present the greatest strategic threat to the U.S. In the past, U.S. officials say, much of the U.S.' involvement in Israel's conflicts stemmed from a feeling of moral obligation to ensure that the nation of Jewish refugees survived, as well as a desire to balance the concerns of Arab allies who opposed Israel. Now, Israel has evolved into a strategic ally in a war on terror that directly threatens the U.S. "The Bush administration and the president himself tends to look at so much that happens in the Middle East through the prism of terrorism, and in that context, he is very sympathetic to very aggressive actions by Israel to respond," said Arthur Hughes, who served as deputy chief of mission in Tel Aviv in the '80s and director general of peacekeepers in the Sinai Peninsula in 1998-2004. In the recent conflict, the U.S. government rushed previously approved shipments of jet fuel and munitions to Israel.
2006-08-18 01:00:00
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