Could U.S.-Israel Ties Crumble Over Iran?

The strategic relationship between Israel and the United States could collapse amid their dispute over Iran.

In three simulations conducted in Israel and the United States, relations between the two countries declined rapidly amid a dispute over a response to Iran's nuclear weapons program. The simulations envisioned a diplomatic crisis as Washington sought to stop Israel from attacking Iran.

"The United States was unwilling to use military force or support Israeli military action even after other measures failed," a report on the three simulations said. "U.S.-Israeli relations deteriorated dramatically."

The report by the Washington Institute, titled "Serious Play: War Games Explore Options on Iran," reviewed the war games conducted by three leading Western strategic institutes.

In December 2009, Brookings Institution, Harvard University, and Israel's Institute for National Security Studies conducted separate simulations to analyze Iranian nuclear scenarios, with leading strategists playing the leadership of Iran, Israel and the United States.

"And three recent war games focused on the Iranian nuclear weapons issue suggest that the prospects for halting the regime's progress toward nuclear weapons are not good," the report, authored by defense fellow Jeffrey White, said. "The results, unfortunately, were uniformly negative." Both governments and militaries employ simulations to help form decisions and tactics. Usually, outside consultants draft the initial scenario and monitor the responses to ensure realism.