This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 000638 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/IPA (MAHER) 
PENTAGON FOR OSD ISRAEL DESK OFFICER (ANDERSON) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2016 
TAGS: PREL PINR MARR MASS IS ISRAEL RELATIONS MILITARY RELATIONS
SUBJECT: ISRAELI REACTTION TO PRESIDENT BUSH'S STATEMENT 
THAT THE U.S. WILL DEFEND ISRAEL 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones.  Reasons: 1.4 (b, d). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (C)  Over the past week, GOI officials have commented 
without solicitation on President Bush's February 2 remarks 
to Reuters to the effect that the U.S. would defend Israel in 
a crisis with Iran, saying Israel welcomes America's support, 
but is prepared to defend itself.  These comments reflect a 
long-held Israeli principle that Israel retains the right to 
defend itself, with or without the approval of its friends, 
third countries, and international organizations.  They also 
appear designed to suggest that nobody in the GOI is pressing 
to formalize a defense commitment between the U.S. and 
Israel.  President Bush's remarks have elicited Israeli media 
speculation that the U.S. and Israel are secretly 
contemplating formal security guarantees between the two 
countries.  The media coverage taps into general anxiety 
about the existential threat Iran poses to Israel, and 
reflects the average Israeli's expectation that the U.S. 
would probably support Israel materially and morally if it 
were attacked, as it has in the past.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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A "DEFENSE UMBRELLA" FOR ISRAEL? 
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¶2. (SBU) Israeli government officials and opinion makers over 
the last week have been commenting privately and publicly on 
President Bush's comments to Reuters -- made in the context 
of a discussion on Iran -- that in a crisis, the United 
States would "rise to Israel's defense" militarily.  Aluf 
Ben, a senior diplomatic correspondent for the national 
newspaper "Ha'aretz," (considered Israel's newspaper of 
record with a nationwide circulation of 70,000 and a globally 
accessed website) has been the most forward leaning, 
surmising from President Bush's remarks and comments from 
Alternate Prime Minister Olmert that the U.S. and Israel are 
on the verge of unveiling a formal defense pact.  In his 
February 8 piece entitled, "The Umbrella and Its 
Circumstances," Ben characterized President Bush's remarks as 
"a milestone in the relationship between Washington and 
Jerusalem," and "a change in the (Bush) administration's 
policy."  Ben speculated that the details of the so-called 
"defense umbrella" remain to be hammered out, and suggested 
that, in the meantime, they serve as "an expression of 
support for the U.S. administration('s) favorite candidate 
(in the March national elections), Olmert." 
 
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NO FORMAL SECURITY GUARANTEES EXIST 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Post is not aware of any treaty or formal agreement 
between the U.S. and Israel that commits one country to the 
defense of the other.  In June 1993, then Secretary of State 
Warren Christopher declared that the U.S. would consider 
offering Israel unspecified "security guarantees" -- 
including the placement of U.S. troops between Israeli and 
Syrian lines -- were Israel to withdraw from the Golan 
Heights, which it has never done.  The closest form of a 
security guarantee to post's knowledge is the Aide Memoire 
presented in 1957 by then Secretary of State John Foster 
Dulles to Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban promising that the 
U.S. would: 
 
(A) "use its best efforts to help assure" that a UN Emergency 
Force (UNEF), placed in Gaza, would prevent Gaza from serving 
as a source of armed infiltration of Israel; and 
 
(B) "secure general recognition" of Israel's right to free 
passage through the Straits of Tiran. 
 
Subsequently, Egypt forced UNEF to vacate Gaza and the Sinai, 
and itself moved against the Straits of Tiran. 
 
¶4. (C) While the U.S. and Israel have shared an informal 
understanding that the U.S. would assist Israel in time of 
need, the Israelis have always implied that the only 
assistance they would request from the U.S. would be moral 
and material support (including defense materiel and 
logistics).  The Israelis have traditionally asserted that 
they will defend themselves and will not ask U.S. soldiers to 
fight and possibly die on their behalf.  Related to this is a 
long-standing principle that Israel reserves the right to 
defend itself, and in doing so, will act in its own 
interests.  It follows that some Israelis would likely view a 
formal security arrangement skeptically as they would feel 
that it ties their hands by denying them the ability to act 
on their own initiative.  The history of Israel acting on its 
own -- even against the stated concerns of the U.S. -- is 
full of examples, the two most vivid ones being Israel's 1956 
takeover of the Suez with French and British support, and the 
Israeli airstrike against Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 
¶1981.  Most recently, in April 2004, Prime Minister Sharon 
wrote in a letter to President Bush that, "Israel must 
preserve its capability to protect itself and deter its 
enemies, and we thus retain our right to defend ourselves 
against terrorism and to take actions against terrorist 
organizations." 
 
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U.S. SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL IS CONSIDERABLE 
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¶5. (U) Formal documents and activities testify to an 
unusually close political-military relationship and serve to 
bolster the U.S. and Israel's capabilities to defend each 
other's interests.  In an April 2004 letter to Prime Minister 
Sharon, President Bush wrote, "The United States reiterates 
its steadfast commitment to Israel's security, including 
secure, defensible borders, and to preserve and strengthen 
Israel's capability to deter and defend itself, by itself, 
against any threat or possible combination of threats.  The 
United States is strongly committed to Israel's security and 
well-being as a Jewish state."  Other examples include: 
 
(A) Joint exercises and maneuvers, and the significant, 
annual commitment of U.S. military assistance to Israel 
designed to maintain Israel's "Qualitative Military Edge" 
over potential adversaries.  The current level of annual U.S. 
military assistance to Israel totals almost USD 2.4 billion. 
 
(B) In late 1990, the U.S. deployed Patriot missiles in 
Israel to intercept anticipated Iraqi SCUD missile launches 
during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. 
 
(C) In September 1989, then Israeli Defense Minister Rabin 
and Secretary of Defense Cheney signed an agreement that 
makes it possible for Israel to lease U.S. military equipment. 
 
(D) In March 1988, then Israeli Prime Minister Shamir signed 
an agreement designating Israel as "a major non-NATO ally of 
the U.S." 
 
(E) In May 1986, Israel and the U.S. signed a classified 
agreement on Israel's participation in Strategic Defense 
Initiative research, which included the Arrow missile project 
(an anti-missile system that the U.S. has been funding and 
helping Israel to develop for more than a decade). 
 
(F) In November 1983, Israel and the U.S. signed an agreement 
initiating annual meetings of the Joint Political-Military 
Group (JPMG) and Joint Security Assistance Planning (JSAP) 
program.  The JPMG and JSAP serve to coordinate the U.S. and 
Israel's security policy and ensure that U.S. military 
assistance to Israel is in keeping with our shared goals in 
the political-military sphere. 
 
(G) In November 1982, then Secretary of Defense Weinberger 
and Defense Minister Ariel Sharon signed a Memorandum of 
Understanding establishing a framework for continued 
consultation and cooperation to enhance the national security 
of both countries. 
 
(H) The United States has supported the Multinational Force 
and Observers (MFO), positioned between Egypt and Israel, 
since that peacekeeping operation's creation in August 1981. 
 
(I) President Nixon's decision to rush military supplies to 
Israel during the height of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. 
 
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GOI OFFICIALS ASSERT ISRAEL WILL DEFEND ITSELF 
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¶6. (C) Perhaps in response to the media reaction, some GOI 
officials have felt it necessary to clarify Israel's view on 
the President's statement and the issue of a U.S. defense 
commitment.  In a February 8 meeting with the Ambassador 
(septel), Israeli MOD Director General Jacob Toren in an 
unsolicited observation said that "Israel intends to fight 
for itself.  We do not ask U.S. troops to fight for us.  This 
was true even in the dark days of the Yom Kippur War."  In a 
meeting with the Ambassador on February 8 (septel), Likud 
Member of the Knesset and former Deputy Defense Minister Zeev 
Boim remarked that President Bush's declaration to provide a 
defensive umbrella to Israel if it were attacked "shows how 
close we are," but left the issue at that.  Alternate PM 
Olmert told the Ambassador February 9 he "respected" the 
President's statement. 
 
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MOST ISRAELIS BELIEVE THE U.S. WOULD HELP IN A CRISIS 
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¶7. (U) To the best of post's knowledge, no Israeli leader has 
voiced any expectation, or desire for, the U.S. to dispatch 
troops to defend Israel in the event of an attack.  Public 
awareness exists on both sides of the Atlantic, however, that 
Israel is not an expendable ally, and the average Israeli 
probably believes that the U.S. would not let Israel be 
defeated in the event it were attacked.  It is probably less 
clear how they would wish the U.S. to assist Israel, although 
the U.S. has sent emergency shipments of military aid to 
Israel in the past (1967 and 1973), has deployed defensive 
weapons in Israel (1991), and maintains significant amounts 
and varieties of prepositioned materiel in Israel that could 
be devoted to Israel's defense.  Average Israelis at a 
minimum probably believe the U.S. would support Israel in at 
least two ways -- by defending Israel's right to defend 
itself in the court of international opinion, and by 
providing maximum logistical and equipment support. 
 
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JONES