Israel–United States relations

Since the 1960s, the United States has been a strong supporter of Israel. It has played a key role in the promotion of good relations between Israel and its neighbouring Arab states—notably Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt—while holding off hostility from countries such as Syria and Iran. Relations with Israel are an important factor in the U.S. government's overall foreign policy in the Middle East, and the U.S. Congress has placed considerable importance on the maintenance of a supportive relationship.

Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid: up to February 2022, the US had provided Israel US$150 billion (non-inflation-adjusted) in assistance. In 1999, the US government signed a commitment to provide Israel with at least US$2.7 billion in military aid annually for ten years; in 2009 it was raised to $3 billion; and in 2019 raised to a minimum of US$3.8 billion. Since 1972, the US has also extended loan guarantees to Israel to assist with housing shortages, absorption of new Jewish immigrants and economic recovery. Moreover, the United States is Israel's largest trading partner; two-way trade totaled nearly $50 billion by 2023.

In addition to financial and military aid, the US provides large-scale political support, having used its United Nations Security Council veto power 42 times against resolutions condemning Israel, out of 83 times in which its veto has been used. Between 1991-2011, out of the 24 vetoes invoked by the US, 15 were used to protect Israel. As of 2021, the United States remains the only permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to have recognized the Golan Heights as non-occupied Israeli sovereign territory, recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and moved its embassy there from Tel Aviv in 2018. Israel is designated by the United States as a major non-NATO ally, the only country in the Middle East other than Egypt to have this designation.

Bilateral relations have evolved from an initial American policy of sympathy and support for the creation of a Jewish homeland in 1948, to a partnership that links a small but powerful state with a superpower attempting to balance influence against competing interests in the region, namely Russia and its allies. Some analysts maintain that Israel is a particularly strategic ally for the United States, and that relations with the former strengthen the latter's influence in the Middle East. They argue the military foothold offered by Israel justifies the expense of American military aid, referring to Israel as "America's aircraft carrier in the Middle East".