What most critics of the U.S.-Israel relationship forget–Soros chief among them–is that Washington long favored a relationship skewed in favor of the Arab states for realist reasons: The Arab states had oil and outnumbered Israel. Despite this, successive administrations–even those disinclined to pursue alliance with Israel–found that Israel was a much more loyal friend. In other words, it was not some all-powerful lobby in Washington that drove the relationship (although AIPAC certainly supported it) but rather the behavior of Arab leaders. And that continues to be the case today. David Verbeeten has documented this well, here.