Strategic Assessment

While tensions between the Israeli government and the US administration indeed exist, mostly on the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they must be examined in their historical and political perspectives before a conclusion is reached that President Obama has in fact broken away from previously held norms in the bilateral relations. In fact, the friction between the governments that marked the first part of Obama’s tenure is highly resonant of previous US-Israel tensions. The essay reviews these moments of conflict, and urges that they not be misread by any of the parties involved in the greater Middle East conflict.