The US and Israel have a special relationship.
Israel has received more foreign aid from the US than any other country and the US has used its veto in the UN Security Council more times for Israel than for any other country. Why is this? Is it because of shared strategic interests, or the influence of the pro-Israel lobby in American politics, or the fact that many Americans have traditionally identified with Israel as a pioneering democracy, or for religious reasons?
This lecture will examine the questions and assess the future of the relationship in light of the changes in Israel, the Middle East and America itself.
Prof. Rynhold is the head of the department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. He received his PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1998. In 2012-13 he was the Schusterman Visiting Professor of Israeli Politics at the George Washington University in Washington DC.
Prof. Rynhold’s research focuses on US-Israeli relations, Israel politics and foreign policy. His book entitled The Arab-Israeli Conflict in American Political Culture, published by Cambridge University Press, won the Israeli Association for Political Science prize for the best book of 2015. Recently, he has published articles on: the future of US-Israeli relations, Democrats attitudes to Israel and the Palestinians; the Pro-Israel lobby and the Iran deal, as well as articles on: Israel’s relations with Europe, and its relations with Saudi Arabia.
In partnership with Bar Ilan University.
