836 The J ournal of American History September 1999 My main objection, however, concerns Hanhimaki's inconsistent application of the analytical framework. He characterizes Fin- land and Sweden as neutrals and the other three states as semi-allies. If we were to accept this charactarization of Denmark and in par- ticular of Norway, the corollary must be to dub Finland semi-neutral. Otherwise the real differences between them become blurred. He never provides an adequate definition of semi- allied, nor does he take into account the close ties between Norway and the United States. These have been documented by Norwegian historians who have dubbed the relationship "the alliance within the alliance." As for consis- tency, while initially defining Sweden as neu- tral, he also describes it as a "latent" ally. Finally some methodological comments. The author relies quite heavily on embassy re- ports and other American archival materials to reconstruct Nordic policies and politics. Sec- ond, it is often not clear whether the author is presenting his own opinions or reporting views prevalent at the time, such as: "In short, European federalism represented a profound threat to the welfare state and to the homoge- neity of Scandinavian societies." Although Hanhimaki has written a useful and in parts impressive and illuminating book on the Nor- dic countries and the United States, it needs to be used with great care. Helge 0. Pharo Norwegian NobelInstitute Oslo, Norway The Israeli-American Connection: Its Roots in the Yishuv, 1914-1945. By Michael Brown. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1996. 396 pp. $39.95, ISBN 0-8143-2536-X.) Israel and the western Powers, 1952-1960. By Zach Levey. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997. xiv, 203 pp. $39.95, ISBN 0-8078-2368-6.) "Well, isn't that special," Dana Carvey's church lady might well have observed had she taken time out from Saturday Night Live to re- view the history of Israeli-American relations. Indeed, many scholars agree that by the mid- 1970s, common values and common enemies had propelled Washington and Tel Aviv to- ward an informal partnership in which top United States policy makers regarded Israel as a strategic asset in the Middle East. The two books under review demonstrate that the ori- gins of this "special relationship" predate the birth of the Jewish state and that over the years, the relationship has been shaped as much by Palestinian Jews and Israeli leaders as by State Department and White House officials. Michael Brown's The Israeli-American Con- nection traces the ambivalent relationship that developed between six prominent figures in the Yishuv (the Jewish community in Pales- tine) and American Jews from 1914 to 1945. Vladimir Jabotinsky, the leader of the Revi- sionist Zionist movement, came to the United States during World War I, recruited fifteen hundred volunteers for a Jewish legion that fought on the western front, and then had a falling-out with mainstream American Zion- ists such as Louis Brandeis after the armistice. Chaim Bialik, the Yishuvs poet laureate and a central figure in the revival of the Hebrew lan- guage, toured the United States during the 1920s hoping to make friendsand raisefunds for the Zionist cause but returned home with little more than memories of a strange land where babbitry reigned supreme. Bed Katznelson, a labor organizer and founder of the Histadrut (the Yishuv's central trade union), was likewise disappointed by the stingy and domineering attitudes he encountered among many Ameri- can Zionists during the 1930s. Brown'saccount of the careers of Henrietta Szold and Golda Meir, two Zionist pioneers with deep ties to the United States, suggests that greater familiarity only bred greater frus- tration. The Baltimore-born Szold was the founding mother of Hadassah, a women's or- ganization that raised funds to build hospitals in Palestine. Increasinglyconvinced that Amer- ican Jews were far too out of touch with con- ditions in the Holy Land, however, Szold em- igrated to Palestine after World War I and in short order became the Yishuv's informal sec- retary of health, education, and welfare. Golda Meir, born in Russia but raised in Mil- waukee, shared Szold's doubts about the de- pendability of American Zionists and emi- grated to Palestine in 1921. Nevertheless, Meir returned to the United States frequently during the following twenty years to raise funds and create a vibrant Zionist infrastruc-