Editor’s note: the following are the pull quotes from an interesting article by Efraim Inbar and Eran Lerman — I’ve put them into bullet points:
- Israel has declared for decades that it doesn’t want US soldiers to endanger their lives for its security.
- A defense treaty also entails obligations to act together with the US.
- If the casus foederis trigger is left undefined, a defense treaty will become a source of friction.
- A defense treaty may be perceived, rightly or wrongly, as an alternative to stopping Iran’s bid for the bomb.
- A degree of formal distance between Jerusalem and Washington is useful in Israel’s diplomatic interactions.
Read more: Middle East Forum
