A discussion on the israel foreign policy

Overview[ edit ] ICFR was founded in by David Kimche —a former deputy-director of the Mossadthe Israeli intelligence agency, who later served as director general of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Israeli ambassador-at-large. Based on the models of the New York Council on Foreign Relations and the British Chatham Housethe Council is not affiliated with any governmental or academic institutions. It is an autonomous body maintaining a non-partisan approach to foreign policy matters, and accommodating a broad range of viewpoints. The Council hosts speakers from around the world, including heads of state, prime ministers, foreign ministers, and other distinguished visitors.

Israel on the International Stage: A Security or Foreign policy? Security is the dominant policy concern, and when there are other goals, which have had to be pursued for reasons domestic electoral supremacy, they have always been implemented or assessed through the prism of security.

For this essay, considerations of the external appearance of Israel are central. And before the discussion can begin justifiably, the security focus must be proven. Thus, the internal rubric, which aggregates the influences on internal foreign policy creation, holds little significance for this treatment.

Evidenced by meetings of the cross party forum of foreign policy and defense issues, the overlapping of foreign and military spheres are rife and well-documented. Untangling the strands of Foreign Policy In claiming one policy can be subservient to another, one generally assumes foreign and security policies can be segregated and balanced against each other.

However, appealing critiques argues that in Israel the two areas converge far too regularly, or are too inextricably linked, to be considered separately. In most 21st century states, especially since the advent of the War on Terror, this approach seems tenable.

Indeed, as threats to most liberal democracies have become more domestic so too has foreign policy become more centered on national security: In reality, it is still possible to see different foreign policy directions. In Israel, where domestic and foreign security threats exist inseparably, it is more accurate to say national security has been the dominant focus of foreign policy rather than usurped its significance entirely: Foreign policy can be split into four overlapping areas: However, for our purposes, the sentiment rings true.

However, the aims themselves are unclear. Whereas, in most cases one could locate the dominant considerations of foreign policy by consulting a stated doctrine — such as the Bush administration NSS document — this for Israel is impossible.

The lack of a clear national security doctrine to which one can refer is a problem that has plagued most of the literature, justifying stunted comparisons.

In Israel carefully evolved strategy remains ad hoc, developing sporadically upon a combination of peacetime principles and wartime necessities Rodman,election patterns and international circumstance.

Therefore to argue that foreign policy in Israel is subservient to security policy the signifiers must be reductively identified.

The pursuance of these aims, born from weak borders, limited manpower and historical ostracisation, is our focus here, starting with a dependency on a global Hegemon. Historically, the fit has been uncomfortable.

However, in light of their malaise towards non-liberal-democracies, Israel originally turned to France for a relationship culminating in the Lavon Affair. The building of such relationships Eytan, regardless of socio-cultural symmetry, indicates an Israeli foreign policy concerned less with ideology than with arms.

Free Palestine

Where America failed to supply weaponry, commit troops or develop research-links, France succeeded, creating close ties between Jerusalem and Paris. Where such assurances of security faltered e.

Even before specific alliances are formed then, we see options considered through a security prism. Parasitic Interests and The Lobby The subsequent progression of academic evaluations of Israel and its great power — from co-beneficial to parasitic — has been retarded by strange systematic oversights.

Special relationships like these, by definition, recognize the supremacy of one country over another, thus academic analysis has often discounted the policies of the lesser party as reactive: However, if we ignore the host temporarily and consider the parasite, a more equitable distribution of aims emerges.

US-Israeli relations, and specifically the lobby, have been largely separated from consideration of the Israeli national security doctrine: Most considerations survive by their interaction with the seminal work of John J.

Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Such evaluation posits that every available example of the lobby exerting influence has been for security ends below. The background of the appointee is less significant than his destination. This was not a victory for the Israeli lobby in cultural or economic spheres, but in security.

The significant weight of the Israeli lobby was again bought to bear on security aims before any other. It is worth noting, though, that security aims may have been facilitated by unregulated socio-cultural hegemony between the two countries.

A large Jewish Diaspora, and similar patterns of political evolution, has allowed other issues area to fade in significance, maintained as they are by informal cultural influences.

However, the quantifiable evidence available shows a relationship between soft power influences in, hard policy output of, the US administration that has allowed the importance of security in Israel to bleed out of the American lobby.

The US response is a tacit assurance of the supremacy of security policy in Israel, evidenced by American conduct during the NPT conference Steinberg, Such timidity from the US is the result of security rhetoric of a more obvious kind:Key Elements of Israel’s Foreign Policy Symposium Summary Tel Aviv University, 25 March An event of Mitvim - The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, the The discussion centered on a research paper written by Dr.

Yuval Benziman and Lauren Romm, and published by the Mitvim Institute. Oct 01,  · Forums > Global Discussion > Israel and Palestine > Israel a bigger terrorist than Palestine?

Discussion in 'Israel and Palestine' started by SobieskiSavedEurope, Sep 28, Would we have our same foreign policy all these years, if there were no oil in the Middle East?

the ev evolution must be an improved . Oct 22,  · PERSPECTIVES | China is looking to partner with Israel to create an integrated global economy. How do they see the situation in the Middle East?

Israeli Foreign Policy Israel’s foreign policy was shaped by the years prior to its establishment when state-seeking and state-making dominated Zionist ideology and diplomacy. After the state was established, foreign policy was determined by the element of state-keeping.

Sep 07,  · Israel discreetly funded and armed at least 12 rebel groups in southern Syria in order to keep Iranian-backed militias and Islamic State fighters away from Israel's border, Foreign Policy magazine reported on Thursday.

In Israel, where domestic and foreign security threats exist inseparably, it is more accurate to say national security has been the dominant focus of foreign policy rather than usurped its significance entirely: security is dominant amongst equals, a supreme sub-section of traditional foreign policy.