James Conway

James Conway served as the 34th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps from November 2006 to October 2010, leading the Marine Corps through the surge in Iraq and the deepening involvement in Afghanistan while simultaneously maintaining strategic focus on contingencies across the broader Middle East — including the Iranian nuclear threat and Hezbollah's growing military capability on Israel's northern border. Born February 26, 1947, in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, Conway graduated from Southeast Missouri State University and was commissioned as a Marine officer in 1969. He commanded at every level of Marine Corps leadership before ascending to Commandant, serving on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the critical years of the global war on terrorism.

Conway's tenure as Commandant coincided with the period in which American military planning for Iran contingencies became most intensive, and in which the IDF and U.S. military were closest in their shared assessments of the Iranian nuclear program's timeline and the military options for addressing it. The American-Israeli military relationship during this period involved not only intelligence sharing but detailed operational planning consultations — the kind of coordination that produces genuine interoperability and mutual understanding of doctrine, capability, and constraints. Conway has spoken to congressional committees and security forums about the operational value of Israeli intelligence to American forces operating in the Middle East and the mutual benefit of the defense relationship.

His post-retirement career has included corporate board memberships and advisory roles in the defense industry, along with continued engagement on national security policy through lectures and think tank associations. He has been a consistent voice for maintaining robust American defense support for Israel and for resisting congressional pressure to condition that support on Israeli military conduct. At Rank 48, Conway — like his successor Amos — represents the accumulation of senior military credibility that the pro-Israel community commands within the American defense establishment: not political advocates but experienced commanders whose professional judgment is that the U.S.-Israel security relationship serves American interests.