Michael Piper and Final Judgment

[Mark Stapleton]

Israel was a pissant country with a rag tag military surrounded by angry disorganised Arabs. Kennedy's concern was to limit the influence of the Soviets in the region and keep Israel there for western interests. Ultimately he was on Israel's side regardless. No need to kill friends and make un-necessary difficulties for yourself.

That's the point. As far as Ben-Gurion and his inner circle were concerned, preventing Israel from acquiring the nuclear deterrent was not the act of a friend. By the time he resigned in June 1963, Ben-Gurion didn't consider JFK a friend of Israel. He refused to read JFK's final letter to him which arrived the day he resigned.

LBJ was their friend. He showed it during the Suez crisis and he would reinforce it again when Israel attacked the USS Liberty.

And though you describe Israel as a pissant country, they still had very powerful friends and sympathisers in the US, media owners and business leaders included. They didn't like Kennedy either.