Abstract:
Highlighting the need for a more nuanced and multidimensional approach to understanding the relationship between America and Israel, the current article suggests constructivist international relations as a theoretical framework that has the capacity to explain such complexity through the concept of collective identity. According to Alexander Wendt’s version of constructivism, in a Kantian culture of anarchy, states can become friends rather than rivals or enemies, meaning that the security and interests of the Self and Other become identical. In such a situation, a collective identity is formed between the two entities, leading to a friendship that involves not only governments but also the societies, and includes cultural and psychological dimensions as well as geopolitical ones. The current article argues that non-governmental entities such as the academia can play a significant role in constructing such a collective identity. Pro-Israel scholars actively promote a collective identity by producing output that clearly define Israel and America as the Self, and Arabs/Muslims/Palestinians as the Other or the dangerous common enemy. To remain more focused, Holocaust and anti-Semitism are selected as specific fields of study through which formation of the Self/Other dichotomy in academic discourse is studied. A critical discourse analysis of texts authored by Alvin H. Rosenfeld, Andrea Markovits and Josef Joffe will be carried out to demonstrate the themes through which this binary is established. The identification of these themes, and the overall endeavor of pro-Israel scholars to construct American identity in a pro-Israel manner, is necessary for understanding the ideational basis of American relations with Israel.
Machine summary:
"Table 1 - Main themes identified in the Holocaust and anti-Semitism discourse concerning US-Israel relations Number Theme The place of the words America and Israel/Jews or Anti-Americanism 1 and Anti-Semitism in sentences and the choice of words 2 Common traits between America and Israel/Jews 3 America and Israel/Jews as Powerful – Power-phobia 4 Exclusive victimhood 5 Distinction with Europe AS and anti-Americanism as defining feature of a common European 6 identity 7 The link between Muslim/Arab AS and European AS The irrationality of anti-Americanism and AS; Hatred of essence 8 rather than behavior 9 Central role of 9/11 The importance and danger of AS, denial of or lack of appropriate 10 attention to this issue The place of the words ‘America’ and ‘Israel’ or ‘AA and AS’ in sentences and the choice of words In the selected texts, the words America and Israel/Jews(5), or AA and AS/AI are constantly placed together in one sentence, to convey a sense of similarity.
For instance, the two words are separated with conjunctions such as and and or (all bolding added by author to highlight words that convey the named theme): "Another flag is the selective demonization of American or Israeli leaders" (Joffe 2005, 4); and, "When it comes to anti-Zionism and hostility toward Israel, we have long been dealing with a new, legitimated form of anti-Semitism that is coded and, rather than being stuck with the stigma of Jew- baiting, conveys moral nobility, a sense of moral superiority toward the alleged perpetrators de jour, America and Israel" (Markovits 2007b, 167)."