_israel today Magazine_ (http://www.israeltoday.co.il/) Israel policies bringing down Obama, Democrats Wednesday, October 13, 2010 | Ryan Jones Polls show that a growing number of Americans support Israel in its conflict with the Arabs and wider Muslim world, and will vote for political candidates based on their stance regarding the Jewish state. A poll commissioned by the Emergency Committee for Israel this month showed that 53 percent of Americans are more likely to vote for a candidate they perceive as being “pro-Israel.” Amazingly, 54 percent said that even if they agreed with a candidate on important domestic issues, they could not vote for him or her if the candidate were “anti-Israel.” It is an interesting phenomenon that the elections of a nation with such pressing domestic issues can be so heavily influenced by the foreign policy positions regarding a state so small as Israel. And that does not bode well for Democrats heading into November’s congressional mid-term election. While most congressional Democrats are outspoken proponents of the Jewish state, their overall appeal is closely tied to their man in the White House, US President Barack Obama. And most Americans do not approve of his handling of Israel and the Middle East conflict. A poll conducted by McLaughlin & Associates this month showed that a 44 percent plurality of Americans do not like the way Obama has handled US relations with Israel. That had a lot to do with the fact that Obama is adopting the Arab policy of focusing the entire peace process on the presence of Jews in Judea and Samaria - the so-called “West Bank.” Just 12 percent of Americans felt that is the root cause for the conflict, while a strong 57.2 percent majority said Arab terrorism and rejection of Israel is to blame for the situation. A 43 percent plurality said that Obama’s policies are actually harming Israel’s security, and a 52 percent majority said that he is less friendly toward Israel than his predecessors. It was the overriding dedication to Israel that would cause Americans to turn on their own elected officials that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced back in the Spring of this year when t_ensions were so high_ (http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=20797) between his office and the Obama Administration. At the time, Netanyahu insisted that US-Israel relations transcended governments, and were instead based on shared values and a deep affinity between the two peoples -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
