The Political and Economic Effect of the American Response to 9/11 on Israel

Abstract

The impact of 9/11 was significant to global politics because of the United States’ response to the attack and subsequent wars in the Middle East. As a state with a “special relationship” with the United States, Israel was positioned to be uniquely affected by the change in the US’ behavior in the region. The goal of this thesis was to look for changes that occurred after 2001 in the political and economic spheres of Israel compared to the twenty years prior to 2001. The restriction to 1980 was made to insulate the study from the rapid growth that occurs after the foundation of a new state. Some of the results were that the office of the president moved from left wing control to right wing, the number of political parties represented in the legislature decreased, and the economy continued to steadily grow despite the upheaval in the region. US-Israeli relations were also more strained in the post-2001 era than before due to criticism of Israeli aggression.