From the US perspective, the Middle East’s value lies in its location (connecting three continents), bordering the USSR (later, Russia), and its oil reservoir. However, US interests and relations in the region were usually self-contradictory because of the regional conflicts among Arab nations and between the Arab nations and the non-Arabs: Israel, Turkey, and Iran. The US had usually preferred the latter countries. But long-term US engagement commonly backfires, therefore the US may prefer strengthening its regional allies and rely on them to secure its interests rather than act directly. This could be an attractive strategy in turbulent times both in the Middle East and in the US itself, particularly as the US identifies other regions as increasingly contentious and wishes to redeploy its troops accordingly. Several milestones have changed the US policy concerning the region and have affected Israel’s standing: the effect of the 1967 war, the Israel-Egypt peace, the Iranian Revolution, the end of the Cold War, 9/11, the Iraq War, the Arab Spring, and the growing influence of Iran in the region. While Israel benefits from the US presence in the Middle East, it may benefit also from a US partial withdrawal by gaining higher degrees of freedom to act with additional armament. However, the key unknown factor in such a scenario is US political backing for Israel. The research is based on scholarly studies on US Middle East policy, particularly with a geopolitical focus, and on archival material from the US and Israel.