PNN – Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer writes in Foreign Policy: Despite unprecedented military cooperation between Washington and Tel Aviv in the recent war, the alliance is now on the verge of decline. The political pillars and powerful lobbying networks that have secured this relationship for half a century are now crumbling under the pressure of America’s extreme bipolarity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to have achieved something his predecessors could only dream of: American and Israeli fighter jets flying side by side over Tehran, and Israeli officers stationed at the U.S. Central Command in Florida. Since the days of David Ben-Gurion, Israeli leaders have sought the support of the world’s unrivaled superpower, hoping that it would guarantee their state’s survival in perpetuity. None of them could have imagined the level of cooperation we are witnessing now. If we were to awaken “the old man”—as Ben-Gurion was nicknamed—from his eternal slumber, he would surely be delighted to hear the news.
However, appearances can be deceptive. From one perspective, US-Israeli relations are at their peak; from another, they are entering their final decline. The political, ideological, and sociological pillars that have supported the so-called “special alliance” for more than half a century are beginning to crumble.
The pro-Israel lobby network—the network of pressure groups like AIPAC, Jewish community organizations like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and Christian Zionist groups like Christians United for Israel—was once considered an invincible force in the U.S. Congress. But in today’s highly polarized environment, it is beginning to falter, challenged first by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and now increasingly by the isolationist wing of the MAGA coalition.