Posted by SHMUEL ROSNER
The Jerusalem Post
Rosner readers should know by now that Republicans and Democrats don't share the the same views when it comes to Israel. But here's another writer discovering that support for Israel runs on party line. Or as the article claims: "the old political consensus that brought Republicans and Democrats together in support of the Middle East's
only flourishing democracy is breaking down".
Look at the disparity that emerges when those results are sorted by party affiliation. While support for Israel vs. the Palestinians has climbed to a stratospheric 85 percent among Republicans, the comparable figure for Democrats is an anemic 48 percent. (It was 60 percent for independents.) And behind Israel's "Top 5" favorability rating lies a gaping partisan rift: 80 percent of Republicans - but just 53 percent of Democrats - have positive feelings about the world's only Jewish country.
Similarly, it is true that 333 US House members, a hefty bipartisan majority, endorsed the robustly pro-Israel Hoyer-Cantor letter to Clinton. But there were only seven Republicans who declined to sign the letter, compared with 91 Democrats - more than a third of the entire Democratic caucus. (Six Massachusetts Democrats were among the non-signers: John Olver, Richard Neal, John Tierney, Ed Markey, Michael Capuano, and Bill Delahunt.)
From Zogby International, meanwhile, comes still more proof of the widening gulf between the major parties on the subject of Israel. In a poll commissioned by the Arab American Institute last month, respondents were asked whether Obama should "steer a middle course" in the Middle East - code for not clearly supporting Israel. "There is a strong divide on this question," Zogby reported, "with 73 percent of Democrats agreeing that the President should steer a middle course while only 24 percent of Republicans hold the same opinion."
1 | Colin Beck, Surrey, B.C., Canada, Monday Apr 12, 2010
FAILED NATIONS CONFUSE NEEDS WITH WANTS. Within the next 15 years there will be at least 200 million Muslims who are going to be almost entirely dependent on Israeli ingenuity for their survival. Yet there is a significant number of people within the Muslim communities who perceive WMD'S as a NEED, and bread and water for their poor and needy only as a WANT. It's cheaper to deal with a delusion today then to have to pay for it on the 40 year plan tomorrow
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2 | Alan, Monday Apr 12, 2010
Hey Rosner censor - why were my posts deleted? Could it be that the truth hurts for the Hitlerite fringe?? That the only good Democrat is one voted OUT OF OFFICE?
3 | Richard - Tel Aviv, Monday Apr 12, 2010
I suppose that's not really a suprise when the leader of the democratic party is pushing an anti-israel line. I wonder how liberal democratic Jews are going to respond. To read more about this see http://anothermudpit.blogspot.com/2010/04/whats-american-jew-to-do.html
4 | Hurt Locker, Monday Apr 12, 2010
The headline made me think this post was about how the American Jewish community is split on Israel, with old-guard partisan Democrats refusing to acknowledge that Obama and their party are really bad for Israel and Jews. Party over people is driving religious Jews away. Then again, religious Jews may be the only Jews left after the majority follow Obama over the cliff.
5 | Haym, Jerusalem, Monday Apr 12, 2010
And the obvious conclusion - either American Jews change their course, bring their activism and their money into the GOP and reestablish much needed moderate conservative wing, or they continue to blindly support a party which grows insistently European on Israel. That's American Jewish choice right now.
