by Matthew Brooks - RJC
There are certain places one expects to find anti- Israel sentiments openly expressed, but a major U.S. political party is not one of them. Increasingly, though, we are seeing a radicalization in the Democratic Party and the anti-Israel sentiment which was once the mark of the leftist fringe now appears in major Democratic forums.
One example comes from former President Jimmy Carter, who sharply criticized Israel's actions against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. In an interview in Der Spiegel magazine (August 15, 2006), while the fighting in Lebanon was at its height, Carter said, "I don't think that Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon." He also told Der Spiegel, "I think I represent the vast majority of Democrats in this country. I think there is a substantial portion of American people that completely agree with me."
Sadly, Carter is not alone. Remarks like his are not the opinions of a few random politicians, but regrettably represent the views of the grassroots of the Democratic Party.
Recent polling has shown a sharp disparity between Republicans' and Democrats' support for Israel. A NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in late July also showed a strong gap between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to support for Israel. The poll showed that among Republicans, an overwhelming 84% say they sympathize more with Israel (1% sympathize more with Arab states); by comparison, just 43% of Democrats do so (12% sympathize more with Arab states).
Democrats can no longer claim to be strong supporters of Israel. In a poll by the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg at the very end of July, when asked whether the U.S. should be more neutral in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah or whether the U.S. should align itself with Israel, Democrats supported neutrality over alignment, 54% to 39%. However, by comparison, Republicans strongly supported alignment with the Jewish state 64% to 29%.
These poll results follow several recent political developments that should also worry Jewish Democrats.
There are certain places one expects to find anti- Israel sentiments openly expressed, but a major U.S. political party is not one of them. Increasingly, though, we are seeing a radicalization in the Democratic Party and the anti-Israel sentiment which was once the mark of the leftist fringe now appears in major Democratic forums.
One example comes from former President Jimmy Carter, who sharply criticized Israel's actions against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. In an interview in Der Spiegel magazine (August 15, 2006), while the fighting in Lebanon was at its height, Carter said, "I don't think that Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon." He also told Der Spiegel, "I think I represent the vast majority of Democrats in this country. I think there is a substantial portion of American people that completely agree with me."
Sadly, Carter is not alone. Remarks like his are not the opinions of a few random politicians, but regrettably represent the views of the grassroots of the Democratic Party.
Recent polling has shown a sharp disparity between Republicans' and Democrats' support for Israel. A NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in late July also showed a strong gap between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to support for Israel. The poll showed that among Republicans, an overwhelming 84% say they sympathize more with Israel (1% sympathize more with Arab states); by comparison, just 43% of Democrats do so (12% sympathize more with Arab states).
Democrats can no longer claim to be strong supporters of Israel. In a poll by the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg at the very end of July, when asked whether the U.S. should be more neutral in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah or whether the U.S. should align itself with Israel, Democrats supported neutrality over alignment, 54% to 39%. However, by comparison, Republicans strongly supported alignment with the Jewish state 64% to 29%.
These poll results follow several recent political developments that should also worry Jewish Democrats.
No comments:
Post a Comment