I read a great article in this mornings Washington Post – written by Jeremy Ben-Ami: the man responsible for, and in charge of J-Street (which I am obsessed with, these days, more writing on them, later).
The article, which shares the same title as this post, attempts, successfully if you were asking me, to debunk some of the accepted norms in American Politics and society regarding who is, and is not, pro-Israel. I really am quite pleased that something like this has been written – finally – in a major publication. Though I’m sure many, if not all of these points and conclusions have been brought to the table before today in another venue, this is the first time I’m catching wind of them. So, hooray!
The first issue, or myth, is that of single-Issue American voters who support Political candidates solely based on that candidates Israel platform – usually voting Red/Right because of the GOP candidate’s perceived strength in Israel platform (Evangelical vote?). It’s something I’ve wondered about and struggled with for quite some time. I’ve never understood, as much as I do support Israel, how a voter could pick a candidate based on Israel alone. After reading this paragraph I was reminded of an experience I had nearly four years ago in which I found myself campaigning in Baltimore (a Jew-epicenter, and consequently Israel-support beacon, for those of you out of the loop) for then Presidential candidate Kerry. My kipa, outing me as the Jew I am, compelled a complete stranger to approach, and lecture me for not supporting the candidate (Bush) who was (in his eyes, and in retrospect, he was so wrong!) most pro-Israel. Whatever perception of the political arena I had as a sixteen year old, allowed me to remind this kind stranger that his argument was horse shit, and that voting based on one issue was, well, dumb.
Ben-Ami is, in a paragraph or so, able to break apart the one-Issue-voter much better than I could or can. Most Jewish voters, he explains, do indeed vote for a candidate based on a full assortment of issues, leading to some 80% of Jews voting for Kerry in 2004, according to exit polls.
Other issues which Ben-Ami discusses range from being harsh on Palestinians in order to seem supportive of Israel; the true deceptive motivations of Christian Zionists such as John Hagee; the notion that to discuss peace with your enemy is to appear weak; and my favorite, that Dubya has been Israel’s best friend for the last eight years.
So many of these misconceptions sway many American in the wrong directions come voting time. I’m really glad The Post put this out. Please do take the time to read it.
On another note, I also suggest this brief Q&A with troubled Prime Minister Olmert, also published in today’s Post. Shavua Tov.
