Eye on Israel: How America Came to View the Jewish State as an AllyEye on Israel shows how the seeds of contemporary U.S.-Israeli relations were sown in the cultural narratives of the late 1940s and 1950s, long before American policymakers formed a close political and strategic relationship with Israel. Michelle Mart brings together diverse areas of history and examines the cultural antecedents of this much-heralded relationship. She also tackles the difficult question of the relationship between American Jews and U.S. policy toward the Jewish state. Finally, Mart demonstrates that American images of Israel and Jews were shaped by specific cold war concerns visible in movies, novels, magazines, and newspapers and reflect American identity and political mythology in the midst of the struggle against communism. The result is a unique examination of the intersections of culture, diplomacy, and ethnic and national identity through the specific case of U.S.-Israeli relations and American Jewish identity in the postwar period. |
Contents
Building on the Legacies of Antisemitism and the Holocaust | 1 |
A Particularist State with a Universal Mission | 23 |
The Americanization of Israel | 53 |
4 The 1950s Religious Revival and Christianizing the Image of Israel and Jews | 85 |
5 Acceptance and Assimilation Jews in 1950s American Culture and Politics | 109 |
Cultural Images and Changing AmericanIsraeli Relations in the Late 1950s | 141 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Acheson Amer American culture American Jewish American Jews antisemitism Arab refugees Arab-Israeli conflict argued arms assimilation Ben-Gurion biblical celebrated characters Christian Clifford Cold Cold War Communists creation of Israel criticized David David Ben-Gurion depicted diplomats Dulles Papers economic Egypt Eisenhower Library Eleanor Roosevelt emphasis ethnic example Exodus February fighting film FRUS heritage Hersey Holocaust ican ideal image of Israel immigration Israelis issue January Jerusalem Jewish Jewish identity John Foster Dulles journalists Judaism Judeo-Christian Last Temptation leaders March Marjorie Morningstar masculinity Memo of Conversation Middle East military moral Moreover Nasser Nazi novel November NYTBR October Palestine pioneering political popular fiction postwar president public culture Rabbi region religion religious Secretary September soldiers Soviet Speech story Suez Suez crisis Telegram tion tough Truman Library U.S. officials U.S. policy U.S. policymakers United Nations universal Uris victims views WHCF White House Whitman File writers York Zionist