Introduction

American sympathy for Zionism and the State of Israel is widespread, long-standing, and deeply rooted in American political culture. This orientation not only predates the creation of professional pro-Israel lobbying organizations; it actually preceded the mass immigration of Eastern European Jews to the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1948, Jews constituted fewer than 4 percent of all Americans. Even if every American Jew favored Israel, no more than 10 percent of American supporters of Israel could have been of Jewish origin in that year. By 2009, Jews were estimated to be only 1.8 percent of the population, accounting at most for 3 percent of Israel’s supporters in the United States. Consequently, the answer to the puzzle of American sympathy for Israel does not lie on the Lower East Side of New York; rather, it is deeply embedded in the very foundations of American national identity and political culture.

The chapter begins by identifying the main strands of American identity and political culture. It then explores the way in which those strands have informed positive orientations toward Zionism and the State of Israel. Subsequently, American public opinion toward the Arab-Israeli conflict is surveyed and contrasted with Western European attitudes, with the focus on the first decade of the twenty-first century. This transatlantic divide is then explained in terms of broader cultural differences between America and Western Europe.