Israelis are a pro-American bunch, for deep historical and ideological reasons. The United States was the safe haven for Jews and the fortress of democracy. Today, it is also a crucial Israeli ally. These facts have cultivated the sense that we exist only by dint of American grace, that we are a satellite state that merely talks about independence, similar to some countries in Europe.
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There's a fundamental misunderstanding here. Israel has been abandoned numerous times to fight for its life without American help. Sometimes the US even tried siding with its enemies: Eisenhower with Egypt in 1955-56; Obama with Turkey during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and with Iran on the terrible nuclear deal; and perhaps now with Joe Biden, in his attempt to revive it. This relationship with the US is very different from the relationship of dependence Western European countries have with America, their "liberator" and patron since 1945.
No country is fully independent. Independence is a relative term, but this doesn't negate the difference between an independent country and a protectorate. A country must be considered a satellite state of another country when it has surrendered its ability to act independently in pursuit of its own vital interests. Israel, even prior to its inception, never fell under this category. Now, in the face of Iranian imperialism and American appeasement, when Israel is far stronger, it cannot flounder under a sense of interminable dependence.
Israel's pre-state leadership established a country here while fighting a war, in the face of certain invasion and an American threat to deter it from declaring independence. The Truman administration barred the delivery of weapons to the Jews, rescinded support for the UN partition plan and asked Ben-Gurion and other senior Israeli leaders not to establish a state once the British leave. American intelligence believed the Jews would be routed. The weapons ban was supposed to ensure this defeat, which would have opened the door for the British and Americans to return to the Holy Land and save the Jews from their slaughter and, ultimately, purge their delusions of independence.
Israel started its path as an independent country, to the extent that countries can be independent. It was aided reservedly by the USSR but refused to be one of its satellites. Soviet help ceased in 1950 and Israel was left without an ally. The US turned a cold shoulder, even in the midst of Nasser's pan-Arab imperialism and the considerable threat he posed due to the massive influx of Soviet weapons in 1955, the Egyptian army in the Sinai and the noose of military alliances spearheaded by Egypt. The Eisenhower administration continued competing with the USSR for Egypt's heart, even after their gigantic weapons deal. Similar to Obama and the nuclear deal with Iran, Eisenhower wanted to crown the Egyptians the preeminent regional power under American patronage. Together with Great Britain, he even tried taking the southern Negev Desert from Israel and giving it to Egypt and Jordan.
During the crisis in 1967, the US and Israel behaved similarly: The Americans shrugged with indifference as Egypt moved its army into the Sinai Peninsula, blocked the Straits of Tiran and threatened to invade Israel; and Israel attacked, this time alone. Only its victory in six days, and in the ensuing War of Attrition, made it a worthy ally in the eyes of the Americans, but not a satellite.
Opinions are split regarding the United States in 1973, in part because some of the information is still confidential. American aid to Israel was delayed. One theory is that the US wanted to weaken Israel to squeeze more concessions out of it in post-war negotiations. Either way, both before and after the two countries eventually cemented their multi-layered alliance, Israel was never a US protectorate state. Israel's dogged pursuit of possessing a nuclear option, despite nearly a decade of US opposition beginning in the early 1960s, is ample evidence of this fact.
This is not the time to wallow in thoughts of dependency, as several defense officials are recommending. We know from experience that the US can hedge on an enemy of Israel in the hopes of balancing out the Middle East. We must not assume that Israel can only go far as the US permits in dealing with Iran's imperialist-nuclear threat. The current pleas and warnings currently emanating from dovish circles in Israel could impede the country's critical ability to maneuver diplomatically and operationally in this regard.
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