Israel, and the Jewish people at large, must learn from this past. Gratitude for friends must always be paired with vigilance. No deal is sacred. No alliance eternal. And the Jewish future cannot depend solely on any one power, party, or president.

That’s the game in the Middle East: what is promised at noon can be revoked by dusk.

The Land of Israel was won not through diplomacy, but resilience; not by White House decrees, but Jewish blood, sweat, and prayer. Promises come and go. 

In the kaleidoscope of Middle Eastern diplomacy, no deal ever truly lasts. Today’s alliance is tomorrow’s liability. Treaties inked in bold are quietly erased in footnotes a decade later. And while Israel is, justifiably, thankful for certain bold moves made by President Donald Trump, it would be foolish for Jews to believe this represents an eternal shift in America’s historical posture toward the Jewish state. History warns otherwise. The record of American presidents regarding the Jews and Israel is, at best, checkered—marked by a strange duality of lifesaving courage and shameful betrayal.

Franklin D. Roosevelt – The Deaf Ear of 1939

Franklin D. Roosevelt is still beloved by many Americans for guiding the country through the Depression and World War II. But his record on the Jews is a stain on his legacy. In 1939, as Nazi Germany's shadow grew darker, the United States refused to accept the St. Louis, a ship carrying more than 900 desperate Jewish refugees. The passengers, many of whom would later perish in the Holocaust, were turned away by FDR’s America. Though Roosevelt later supported the war effort against Hitler, the administration made deliberate choices to limit Jewish immigration, turning a blind eye at the hour of greatest need.

Harry Truman – Recognition and Regret

Harry Truman famously recognized the State of Israel just eleven minutes after it declared independence in 1948, over the objection of many in his own administration. Yet Truman's support came with limits. He imposed an arms embargo on the nascent Jewish state, forcing Israel to rely on black market and Czechoslovak arms to survive the 1948 War of Independence. His humanitarian instincts and biblical sympathies clashed with cold war realpolitik. He gave with one hand and withheld with the other.

Dwight D. Eisenhower – The 1956 Suez Humiliation

In 1956, following Egypt’s nationalization of the Suez Canal, Israel, Britain, and France launched a military campaign to wrest control. Israel succeeded militarily—but was politically betrayed. Eisenhower, fearing Soviet intervention and keen to assert U.S. influence in the region, demanded a full Israeli withdrawal. The U.S. pressured its ally to relinquish strategic gains without securing long-term guarantees. It was a moment that taught Israel a painful truth: American backing is never unconditional.

Richard Nixon – The Paradox of 1972–1973

In 1972, Richard Nixon made overtures to strengthen U.S.-Israel ties, understanding the Jewish vote and geopolitical leverage. But it was only after the shock of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 that Nixon ordered a vital resupply airlift to Israel—Operation Nickel Grass—against resistance within his own administration. Yet this same Nixon, revealed on tape to hold deeply antisemitic views, saw the Jews as a political nuisance and an ethnic stereotype. He aided Israel not out of love, but strategic necessity.

Jimmy Carter – Peace with a Side of Pressure

Jimmy Carter brokered the Camp David Accords in 1978, a landmark peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, for which he deserves credit. But Carter’s legacy is also tarnished by his later writings and rhetoric, accusing Israel of apartheid and consistently blaming it for the lack of peace. He viewed Israel through a moralizing lens that rarely demanded the same ethical rigor from its adversaries. His approach was idealistic but condescending—a peace that lacked understanding of the region’s intractability.

Ronald Reagan – Love in Rhetoric, Restraint in Practice

Ronald Reagan’s rhetoric overflowed with affection for Israel and the Jewish people. Yet in 1981, when Israel bombed Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor, Reagan publicly condemned the move. Later, during the 1982 Lebanon War, his administration pressured Israel to withdraw, and he even temporarily froze arms shipments. Reagan’s Holocaust remembrance was sincere, but his visit to Bitburg cemetery—where SS members were buried—betrayed a tone-deafness that cast a shadow on his otherwise warm relationship with Jews.

George H. W. Bush – Cold Calculation and the Loan Guarantee Fight

George H. W. Bush’s relationship with Israel was perhaps the most openly confrontational since Eisenhower. While he led a global coalition in the 1991 Gulf War and asked Israel not to retaliate against Iraqi SCUD missile attacks—a request Israel painfully honored—Bush's legacy with Jews is marred by the 1991 loan guarantees crisis. Israel requested $10 billion in U.S. loan guarantees to absorb Soviet Jewish immigrants, but Bush delayed them, tying the funds to a halt in West Bank settlement activity. In a now infamous moment, he cast himself as “one lonely guy” standing up to “a thousand lobbyists” on Capitol Hill—widely perceived as a dig at the American Jewish community. While pragmatic, Bush’s cold tone and conditional support revealed the limits of America’s strategic friendship.

Barack Obama – Affection and Alienation

Barack Obama’s relationship with Israel was complex and often tense. While he oversaw record levels of military aid and helped fund the Iron Dome missile defense system, his administration clashed repeatedly with the Israeli government over settlements, Iran, and Palestinian statehood. Most controversially, Obama pursued and signed the Iran nuclear deal—JCPOA—despite Israeli objections, seeing diplomacy where Israel saw existential threat. His final act in office—refusing to veto a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements—was seen by many as a diplomatic slap in the face. Obama's posture was cerebral, cautious, and often emotionally cold toward Israeli security concerns.

The Unchanging Law of the Region

No matter the administration, one lesson recurs: American policy toward the Jewish state swings between affection and aloofness, support and scolding. Each president has, at one time or another, both helped and hindered Israel. Today’s celebration can quickly become tomorrow’s correction.

Israel, and the Jewish people at large, must learn from this past. Gratitude for friends must always be paired with vigilance. No deal is sacred. No alliance eternal. And the Jewish future cannot depend solely on any one power, party, or president. The Land of Israel was won not through diplomacy, but resilience; not by White House decrees, but Jewish blood, sweat, and prayer. Nations come and go. Promises come and go. 

But the Jewish people remain.

 

REPUBLISHED

 

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/no-deal-is-sacred-no-alliance-eternal/