Democrats go European -back away from Israel
Israelis would like to believe that American support for the Jewish state is strong, bipartisan, and will ever remain thus. Contrary to that happy scenario, Israel definitely has a dog in next week’s American midterm elections.
Deep ambivalence toward Israel has infected the Democratic Party. A Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll comparing voter attitudes on the war in Lebanon and toward Israel shows Republicans to be far more supportive of Israel than Democrats: 54% of Democrats advocate that the United States adopt a more neutral - i.e., less pro-Israel - stance to the Middle East, as opposed to only 29% of Republicans. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans felt the Israeli bombing in Lebanon was fully justified, as opposed to only 29% of Democrats. A recent Zogby poll showed that almost exactly the same number of Americans believe that an “Israel lobby” influenced America’s entry into the deeply unpopular war in Iraq.
Those who hold this view are found overwhelmingly in the Democratic Party. Key Democratic constituencies are deeply ambivalent about Israel. African Americans are three to four times as likely to hold anti-Semitic views as whites, and that may be reflected in the votes of the Congressional Black Caucus on Israel-related issues. CONTINUE
What Jonathon Rosenblum raises as a recent revelation, is not new at all.
There has been general support for Israel within both the Democratic and Republican parties and indeed some very strong pro-Israel supporters on both sides of the aisle.
Measuring the Democrat party’s support for Israel however by the words and deeds of two recent past Presidents, Carter and Clinton and some Democratic Presidential wannabees, like Kerry, Clinton, Dean etc., that support is highly suspect.
Consider the various failed Israel - Palestinian agreements that Carter and Clinton pressured Israel into. At the time it was relatively easy to predict with a high degree of probability that those accords would fail and leave the Palestinians strengthened and Israel that much more weakened.
Carter while President was suspected of being a closet anti-Semite. Since his presidency, Carter has come out of the closet and proven himself an anti-Semite, by his own words. His denials of that fact are as weak and unconvincing as his words and deeds as President of the U.S.
Clinton’s brilliance and charisma, does not change the fact that part of his brilliance was to credibly say what people wanted to hear. He could even make each opposing party believe that they had the President’s support.
The only way to measure where Clinton really stood on any issue was to look to see what he did. In that regard, he, like Carter pressed Israel to concede that which ought not to have been conceded.
Due only to the terrorist Arafat’s refusing to let go of his dream for the destruction of Israel, did the Barak deal fall apart and so Israel was saved from itself.
The John Kerrys as before are railing even louder about how Bush and his administration have distanced America from her traditional allies and are more out of step than ever with those allies.
The Democrats much want closer ties with America’s traditional allies in Europe. Of course the Democrats again offer no game plan, but one can discern that they see the obligation is on America to work towards closer ties as opposed to Europeans working towards closer ties with America.
The Democrats either don’t realize or do not want to admit that America’s traditional allies in Europe are anti-American, moreso from their politics of jealousy and resentment of the U.S. then morally based reason to criticise the U.S.
Secondly, the EU is under the hammer of Arab oil. Europeans fear that if they do not try to keep Arabs happy, by joining them in their stand against Israel or at least not get in their way of their anti-Israel stand, they will get through another day without the Arabs letting their hammer fall.
Thirdly, the European almost complete aversion to and abandonment of war to solve differences which incidentally did not succeed in avoiding WWII is again in full bloom. European foreign policies as regards the Middle East are all borne of submission, fear and appeasement and those policies have yielded at best weak and intermittent support for Israel, if not outright support for Israel’s enemies.
There is every indication that the Democrats, in order to foster better relationships with its traditional allies, will seek to give those allies reason to think that they have gained influence, power and prestige on the world stage by humbling America to relinquish some of theirs. Secondly, the Democrats will likely seek to bring America’s foreign policies as regards the Middle East and Israel, more in line with European foreign policies.
The Bush administration is trying to close the cuts from which America’s prestige and influence are increasingly bleeding out on the world stage and the Middle East in particular.
One of those remedial Bush policies is to try to resurrect his and America’s lost prestige by trying to resurrect the moribund Road map to an Israel-Palestinian peace agreement. C. Rice, the mouthpiece for this effort necessarily must speak of Abbas and his people as worthy partners with Israel in the pursuit of peace. To speak truths that Abbas and his party are just the other side of the same coin as Haniyeh and his Hamas party just does not fit into the fiction Rice on behalf of Bush is trying to promote.
That Olmert is going along with this nonsense is either because America has means to pressure Olmert and Israel to believe in fairy tales or Olmert is so blinded by his own biases and overwhelming desire for peace, that he has lost perespective and has failed to see that peace at all costs is not peace at all, but a prelude to disaster for Israel.
The Bush adminstation is reeling from blow after blow as regards Iraq and its declining power and influence in the Middle East and the world stage. What efforts it is making to regain its balance and some of what it has lost does not auger well for Israel.
With the Democrats in power, it is very likely that the Democrats will suck up to the Euorpeans by bringing American foreign policy more in line with the cowardly European appeasement attitudes and polices.
That would mean American support for Israel would be in word perhaps, but far less in deed.
As bad as things seem to be getting as regards America’s wavering or lessening support for Israel with the Republican party, things likely will get worse for Israel with the Democrats in power.
With the prospects for American Democratic power rising, the outlook for Israel is looking more bleak.
Comment by Bill Narvey
— November 5, 2006 @ 10:30 am
Once again the rank and file doesn’t neccesarily reflect on the actual representatives views on Israel as shown by the congressional voting record.
But once again I am amused at being constantly told how bad the Dems are for Israel when we look at Israel’s situation since Bush has been president. How exactly has Bush been good for Israel?
Comment by Laura
— November 5, 2006 @ 1:20 pm
Laura,
I am neither Republican nor Democrat and being a Canadian I have no axe to grind with either.
I noted my observations as to the direction and the lengths I think the Democratic party will go to gain more support from America’s traditional U.S. allies. I do not think that is a good sign for American support for Israel.
You know from my many comments regarding the Bush policies in the Middle East and as regards the Israel - Palestinian conflict, most notably expressed by C. Rice, that I have serious concerns with Bush’s American foreign policy as it impacts on Israel.
My sense of things over the last 15 or 20 years however from various statements and positions taken by Democrats and indeed the policies and actions or inactions of the Carter and Clinton administrations that the Democrats’ committment to Israel is somewhat inherently weaker at the grass roots and party level than that of Republicans and the Bush view of things.
I gather you are a Democrat Laura. You seem to be reacting to my comment and the more critical comments of Democrats by others somewhat defensively.
Comments critical of Democrats as regards the strength of their support for Israel are no laughing matter.
Rather than be amused and retort that Bush is not the friend of Israel others make him out to be, convince me and convince others that the Democrats hold more promise of support for Israel than Republicans.
Alternatively is it your view that it is a toss up between Democrats and Republicans who will support Israel more or be more ready to pull the rug out from under Israel in order to advance American interests?
If such is the case there is no good news for Israel from either the Republican or Democratic camp.
Your quick quips and clever comebacks do not an argument make. I know you can do better to make your points so I invite you to do so.
Comment by Bill Narvey
— November 5, 2006 @ 4:05 pm