Abstract
How did Israel, a small country in the Middle East, come to play such a large part in U.S.
foreign policy? To answer this question, we will critically examine the past and present of
U.S.-Israel relations, and their major themes, historical events, and personalities, from
multiple perspectives and diverse sources. The course is divided into three parts. The first
part considers the role of the America’s Jewish diaspora, the largest in the world, in the
creation and support of the state of Israel over time. The second part deals with how
successive presidents and other foreign policy elites have framed U.S. interests vis-à-vis the
Israeli state since 1948. In this section, we will cover the history of U.S. diplomacy vis-à-vis
Israel, focusing on the decades-long American effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. The third part focuses on the domestic politics of U.S. policy toward Israel, including
the role of pro-Israel pressure groups, people-to-people ties, and movements and
organizations opposing continued U.S. support of the Israeli state. In the process, we will use
tools and approaches in political science and international relations to help us understand
the making of U.S. foreign policy and Israel itself.