A significant factor in U.S. support for Israel after World War II was which historical experience?

A significant factor in U.S. support for Israel after World War II was which historical experience?

• A. The American Revolution
• B. The horror of the Holocaust
• C. The Great Depression
• D. The Civil War

Answer: (B)

The essential idea here is how moral outrage over the Holocaust shaped American attitudes toward Jews and the creation of a Jewish homeland. After World War II, the world learned in horrifying detail about Nazi atrocities against Jews. That realization moved many Americans to support measures that would help Jewish survivors find safety and self-determination, which translated into political backing for a Jewish state and for U.S. actions toward recognizing Israel in 1948 and supporting the United Nations plan to partition Palestine. The other events are not connected to this postwar shift in opinion: the American Revolution happened long before and doesn’t explain postwar foreign policy; the Great Depression was an economic crisis with domestic focus rather than a humanitarian motive for a Jewish state; the Civil War is an even earlier conflict with no direct link to postwar Middle East policy.

The essential idea here is how moral outrage over the Holocaust shaped American attitudes toward Jews and the creation of a Jewish homeland. After World War II, the world learned in horrifying detail about Nazi atrocities against Jews. That realization moved many Americans to support measures that would help Jewish survivors find safety and self-determination, which translated into political backing for a Jewish state and for U.S. actions toward recognizing Israel in 1948 and supporting the United Nations plan to partition Palestine. The other events are not connected to this postwar shift in opinion: the American Revolution happened long before and doesn’t explain postwar foreign policy; the Great Depression was an economic crisis with domestic focus rather than a humanitarian motive for a Jewish state; the Civil War is an even earlier conflict with no direct link to postwar Middle East policy.