Israel exists in no small part due to US military support and political backing.
I think that US role in Israel's survival is rather overstated, given that the country received no American military support whatsoever until the 1973 Middle East War - and even then, that only eventuated once the conflict was well advanced, and the Israeli defence forces were with their against the wall.
Prior to that, though, the Israelis had already fought and won no less than three different wars with a confederation of Arab armies:
- 1948, in which Israel actually received military supplies from the Soviet Union. (This was done with the intent of further destabilising British influence in the Middle East, at a time when Britain was still the most powerful force in that part of the world. These Russian supplies were pivotal in turning the tide in favour of Israel, at a time when Jordan's British-officered Arab Legion was more than holding its own against the Israelis. General Glubb's A Soldier with the Arabs is a very informative read on these events).
- 1956, in which Israel was equipped by France, with the very latest French weaponry. This was a war that America strongly disapproved off, and as a consequence Israel, France and Britain all got their knuckles well and truly rapped by the USA.
- 1967, in which Israel got its military equipment from whoever it could beg, steal or borrow from. By this time, its 1956 benefactor, France, no longer even wanted to know Israel, and America's then president, Lyndon Johnson, politely turned down all Israeli requests for military equipment.(See Tom Segev's 1967 - Israel, the War and the Year that Transformed the Middle East)
It is true that the mass supply of American equipment to Israel during the desparate days of the mid-point of the 1973 war saved Israel from defeat. However, were it not for the three previous Arab-Israeli wars - during which Israel received either no US support at all (1948 and 1967), or outright American opposition (1956) - there would have been no Israeli state to save.
Bill
