The United States maintains an unprecedented "special relationship" with the state of Israel and remains the most significant external arbiter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Using process tracing and historical analysis, this study examines the Zionist origins of U.S. support for Israel, the bipartisan and increasingly unconditional nature of that support, the contrasting Western European approaches to Israel and the Palestinians, the competing moral and strategic arguments for and against robust U.S.-Israeli relations, the impact of the Israel lobby, and the future of U.S.-Israeli relations in light of contemporary U.S. strategic interests. This study concludes that the United States should: 1) employ the strategy of offshore balancing to best secure its interests in the Middle East; 2) maintain a strong, but conditional alliance with Israel contingent upon progress towards peace with the Palestinians; and 3) reduce the influence of the Israel lobby on U.S. electoral politics and foreign policy.