Relationship dossier
Israel
United States
Relationship assessment
A close strategic partnership centered on defense cooperation, alongside recurring policy disagreements
Israel toward United States
+75Israel cooperates extensively with the United States on defense and intelligence and treats the U.S. partnership as central to its security and diplomacy. Israeli government policies, particularly concerning Palestinians and settlement activity, have at times differed from U.S. preferences.
United States toward Israel
+70The United States provides Israel with substantial military assistance and defense cooperation, and has repeatedly supported Israel diplomatically, including at the United Nations. U.S. administrations have also criticized some Israeli policies, including settlement activity and aspects of military operations.
Overall relationship
+75The relationship is anchored by enduring security cooperation, U.S. military assistance and close diplomatic engagement. Disagreements over Palestinian issues, settlements and regional policy create recurring friction, but have not displaced the strategic partnership.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Israel and the United States maintain a close strategic partnership, including extensive defense and intelligence cooperation and long-term U.S. military assistance. The relationship also features recurring disagreements, including over Israeli-Palestinian policy and settlement activity, and differences over regional diplomacy. These disputes have not displaced the durable security partnership.
Areas of tension
- Israeli settlement activity and U.S. opposition to settlement expansion
- Differences over Palestinian statehood and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process
- Disagreements over Israeli military operations and their humanitarian consequences
- Differences over approaches to Iran and regional diplomacy
Key developments
The United States and Israel signed a ten-year memorandum of understanding providing for $38 billion in U.S. military assistance for fiscal years 2019–2028.
Israel and the United States signed a free trade agreement, establishing a bilateral framework for reducing trade barriers.
Major uncertainties
- The extent and practical effects of intelligence and defense cooperation are not fully public.
- The future scope of U.S. military assistance and the handling of policy disagreements remain subject to government decisions.