Israel, Iran, and the United States: A Precarious Alliance

135 Pages·2014·0.88 MB·English

by  Roy J. Ellsworth

ISRAEL, IRAN, AND THE UNITED STATES: A PRECARIOUS ALLIANCE

by
Roy J. Ellsworth

A thesis
submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts in History
Boise State University

May 2014
© 2014
Roy J. Ellsworth
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COLLEGE

DEFENSE COMMITTEE AND FINAL READING APPROVALS

of the thesis submitted by

Roy J. Ellsworth

Thesis Title: Israel, Iran, and the United States: A Precarious Alliance

Date of Final Oral Examination: 11 October 2013

The following individuals read and discussed the thesis submitted by student Roy J.
Ellsworth, and they evaluated his presentation and response to questions during the final
oral examination. They found that the student passed the final oral examination.

Michael Zirinsky, Ph.D. Chair, Supervisory Committee

Shelton Woods, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee

Peter Buhler, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee

The final reading approval of the thesis was granted by Michael Zirinsky, Ph.D., Chair of
the Supervisory Committee. The thesis was approved for the Graduate College by John
R. Pelton, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College.
DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to my inspiring, beautiful, and understanding wife,
Frances. She has put up with “I can’t go because I have to finish my history paper” for all
the 32 years of our married life, for it has taken me far too long to finish this work.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I owe thanks to many people who have helped me through the past five thesis
years. I started taking history classes at Boise State in the 1970s and have slowly
progressed toward finishing my degree in history. I am grateful to all my excellent
professors in the History Department at Boise State for helping me understand history,
teaching me how to write, and every one becoming my friend. I particularly want to
thank Dr. Michael Zirinsky for turning me on to the Middle East—especially Iran—
chairing my thesis committee, and pushing me on to finish. Also to Dr. Shelton Woods
for helping me to understand Southeast Asia better, serving on my committee, and
continually encouraging me. Many thanks to my other committee member, Dr. Peter
Buhler, who taught me first in 1979 and again in 1998 as we both witnessed the history
department at Boise State progress to excellence by obtaining additional outstanding
faculty with national prominence. I want to also thank my patient and talented editors,
Driek Zirinsky and Sharon Matthies. It has been a long and great ride.
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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Roy J. Ellsworth, M.D.
Roy Ellsworth graduated from high school in Twin Falls, Idaho, then received a
Bachelor’s degree in General Science (pre-med) at the University of Oregon in 1953. He
received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Oregon Medical School
(now Oregon Health Science University, OHSU) in 1957. After internship and residency,
he practiced ophthalmology in Boise until retiring in 1995. Roy has four children: Mark,
Brian, Joe, and Jennifer, who all have successful careers. He continues to live in Boise
and has been married to Frances, a talented interior designer, for 32 years. Since
retirement, Roy has served on many non-profit boards including the Idaho Humane
Society (IHS), chairing their two capital campaigns with his wife Frances (including
hosting the annual Lawn Party fund-raiser for IHS at their home for 23 years). He served
on the boards of the Boise Art Museum and Saint Alphonsus Foundation and is currently
serving on the Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center Trustees and Project Haiti
boards. He also serves on the Frank Church Institute and Friends of Nursing boards at
Boise State University and the College of Science board at the University of Idaho.
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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this work is to examine the relationship between Iran and Israel
after Israel became a state in 1948 following the United Nations (UN) Partition Plan for
Palestine in 1947, which would lead to independent Arab and Jewish states. The
Palestinians and their Arab neighbors rejected the UN Partition Plan and attacked Israel
but were defeated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Israel and Iran (not an Arab
country) quickly became best friends and trading partners, since their Arab neighbors
were hostile to both countries. This new partnership included a joint pipeline to transport
oil across Israel and the sharing of Israel missile technology with Iran.
Additionally, this research explores how the United States (US) became part of
the Israeli-Iranian alliance after the British decided to withdraw their military forces from
the Gulf in the late 1960s. President Richard Nixon proclaimed his Twin Pillar Policy of
handing over security of the Persian Gulf to Iran and Saudi Arabia. Both countries,
especially Iran, were heavily armed by the United States. Iran’s close ally Israel
subsequently also received billions of dollars in arms from the United States, becoming
part of the bulwark intended to prevent the Soviets from increasing their influence in the
Middle East.
The triple alliance collapsed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran when the
US hostage crisis compelled the United States to disengage. The hostage issue turned the
United States against Iran; consequently the United States has rejected numerous
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overtures by Iran to improve relations over the last 30 years. The Islamic Revolution also
ended the robust alliance between Iran and Israel. However, during its war with Iraq
(1980-1988), Israel continued to sell arms to Iran in exchange for oil, hoping Iran would
become more secular and the alliance could be reestablished. The United States illegally
sold arms to Iran as well, leading to the Iran-Contra scandal.
Many Arab states assisted the United States and Western allies in defeating Iraq
in the first Gulf War. This was followed by the Oslo Accords prompting a possibility of
peace between Israel and the Palestinians. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991
and the possibility of peace with the Palestinians, Israel perceived it was no longer a
strategic asset to the United States and would lose vital financial and political support
from its major benefactor. To ensure that the crucial support from the United States
would continue, Israel turned on Iran, painting it as irrational and therefore the new
existential enemy of both Israel and the United States, if it were to develop a nuclear
weapon. At the same time, the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC) carried the same message to the US Congress and Administration.
Israel continues to exist, to a large extent because of US aid assured by the pro-
Israel lobby in the US.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................... iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... v

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ........................................................................................ vi

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ vii

LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. x

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................. xi

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1

CHAPTER ONE: HISTORICAL LINKS BETWEEN JEWS AND PERSIANS .................... 5

CHAPTER TWO: THE ISRAELI-IRANIAN ALLIANCE DEVELOPS ............................. 21

CHAPTER THREE: THE ALLIANCE STARTS TO UNRAVEL ....................................... 28

CHAPTER FOUR: THE TABLES TURN; PROSPECTS FOR PEACE .............................. 43

CHAPTER FIVE: THE ISRAELI LOBBY, IRANOPHOBIA, AND THE BOMB .............. 57

CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 79

ENDNOTES ........................................................................................................................... 85

BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................. 110

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1.
  The boundaries of the Land of Israel defined by Numbers and Ezekiel3 ... 6

Figure 1.2.
  The Cyrus Cylinder.13 Photograph by Jona Lendering. Courtesy of The
British Museum. .......................................................................................... 8

Figure 1.3.
  1910 photo of Jewish children in Samarkand with their Rabbi (modern
Uzbekistan).14 Photograph by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokidin-Gorskii.
Courtesy of Creative Commons. ................................................................. 9

Figure 1.4.
  President Harry S. Truman meeting with Prime Minister David Ben-
Gurion of Israel and Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban on May 8, 1951.43
President Truman is receiving a gift of a menorah. Photograph by Abbie
Rowe. Courtesy of The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and
Museum. .................................................................................................... 15

Figure 1.5.
  In 1949 immigrants flocked to Israel, then one year old.46 Associated
Press. Photograph courtesy of The Associated Press. .............................. 16

Figure 2.1.
  Iranian Foreign Minister Reza Saffinia arriving at the house of Israeli
president Chaim Weizmann in Rehovot on Yom Ha’atzmaut, 1950.
Photograph courtesy The State of Israel National Photo Collection.8 ...... 23

Figure 4.1.
  The Handshake: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman
Yasser Arafat with US President Bill Clinton, September 13, 1993.12
Courtesy of The William J. Clinton Presidential Library. ........................ 46

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