Coca-Cola, Black Panthers, and Phantom Jets: Israel in the American Orbit, 1967-1973

by Oz Frankel

In the late 1960s, Israel became more closely entwined with the United States not just as a strategic ally but also through its intensifying intimacy with American culture, society, and technology. Coca-Cola, Black Panthers, and Phantom Jets shows how transatlantic exchanges shaped national sentiments and private experiences in a time of great transition, forming a consumerist order, accentuating social cleavages, and transforming Jewish identities. Nevertheless, there remained lingering ambivalence about, and resistance to, American influences. Rather than growing profoundly "Americanized," Israelis forged unique paths into the American orbit. As supporters and immigrants, American Jews assumed an ambiguous role, expediting but also complicating the Israeli-American exchange. Taking an expansive view of Israeli–American encounters, historian Oz Frankel reveals their often unexpected consequences, including the ripple effects that the rise of Black Power had on both extremes of Israeli politics, the adoption of American technology that fed the budding Israeli military-industrial complex, the consumerist ideologies that ensnared even IDF soldiers and Palestinians in the newly occupied territories, and the cultural performances that lured Israelis to embrace previously shunned diasporic culture. What made the racial strife in the US and the tensions between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews in Israel commensurable? How did an American military jet emerge as a national fixation? Why was the US considered a paragon of both spectacular consumption and restrained, rational consumerism? In ten topical chapters, this book demonstrates that the American presence in Israel back then, as it is today, was multifaceted and contradictory.

392 pages, Paperback

Published July 23, 2024

Reviews

[Matthew]

I can't really give the book a fair review as Frankel wrote it with the assumption his audience would have a moderate understanding of 1950s-1970s Israeli and America culture, social structures, and politics. As I have precious little knowledge of Israel, I can't judge how significant Frankel's conclusions are.

That being said, I did enjoy the book quite a lot, even if I was, unfortunately, lost as to the significance and context of some of his narrative. Frankel explores the initial process of "Americanization" which occurs in Israel following the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. He argues that rather than this being a one sided process of cultural hegemony asserting itself on the last hold-out western state, Israel was an active participant in adopting, being shaped by, and shaping a variety of American cultural exports. Moreover, while this process is now strongly associated with the political right, he argues in the 1960s the process was driven by the progressive left. The 1960s became a period where American culture could be adopted and used to express dissatisfaction with Israeli society, while also serving as a warning used to reinforce the Israeli identity

Frankel is obviously an extremely well read historian, drawing on a diverse range of figures for his critical lens from Foucault to Anderson. He's also very clearly rejects the notion of intra-discipline divides drawing on cultural, social, political, and economic history with great gusto. Even military history gets explored, although only for a chapter (which is a weakness for a book about a period and process defined by war). Notably, as a book about cultural exchange between Jewish Israelis and a mostly white Northern United States, Arabs and Palestinians are not discussed as they were involved in their own separate cultural exchange.

Frankel is at his best when exploring very specific cultural exchanges with clearly defined borders. His coverage of the first American style election campaign, and the Israeli fascination with the Phantom fighter jet is among the strongest in the book. Here he is able to articulate with a great deal of evidence how these cultural products were adopted willingly by Israelis who faced frustration with their current system. Rather then adopt them wholesale, however, they are cleverly reworked to reflect local concerns and to fit into the existing culture. In the case of the jets this means effectively turning them into a separate vehicle and symbol of Israel itself, while for the election campaigns modifying the tactics to pursue a political system that could challenge the hegemony of the governing party.

Frankel is at his weakest when trying to tackle less discrete cultural exports. Feminism and standard of living, in particular, are handled ineloquently. Frankel simply fails to devote enough time to such broad concepts, or gather enough evidence, to offer any compelling insights, or even to link them effectively with American culture. A stronger focus on statistics, figures, and political debates may have proven more effective at making his point, instead of focusing on newspaper coverage and oral history.

Despite that I would recommend the book to anyone who has at least a basic understanding of Israel's social structure in the 1950s-1970s, as well as American culture during that period. If nothing else the stories are engaging, and the overall thesis provides a useful structure for considering cultural exchange with the United States.