James Zogby: Bush's Election Ploy Gives Sharon More Leeway

The AIPAC audience cheered wildly: 24 standing ovations, by one count, and enthusiastic cheers of “four more years.” That, after all, was what the Bush appearance and speech was all about.

The GOP reelection strategy is counting on receiving about one-third of the Jewish vote — which they have identified, rightly or wrongly, as solely driven by strong support for Israeli policy. (In fact, polls show that a significant majority of American Jews reject a hard-line view and favor a more evenhanded US policy.)

In the Republican calculation, this would double their 2000 tally, shifting a few hundred thousand voters from the Democratic candidate. More than that, however, is the GOP strategist’s view that if a policy plays well with hard-line pro-Israel American Jews, then it is certain to please the core Republican voter groups of Christian right-wingers. With that group now representing about one quarter of US voters, they, more than the AIPAC audience, were the real target of Bush’s strong support for Sharon.

It is important to note that the intellectual underpinnings for the White House’s effort have been provided by the neo-conservative movement. They are responsible for the president’s overall Middle East message. In this view, failed US policy and Israel’s behavior bear no responsibility for terror or instability. Rather the blame falls solely on the Arab’s shoulders.

Therefore, the neo-cons project that the cornerstones of US policy should be: support for Israel as the US’ only democratic ally in the war on terror and insistence that the Palestinians, in particular, and Arabs, in general, reform as the prerequisite to any forward movement toward peace (as Netanyahu would say “only democracies can make peace.”).....

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