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Obama and the Jacksonian Zionists

(American Interest) Walter Russell Mead - With Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scheduled to address AIPAC's annual meeting next weekend in Washington, the stage is set for high drama. The Obama administration's ability to put pressure on its most important Middle Eastern ally ultimately depends on the reaction of American gentile supporters of Israel to administration policy. The administration may be in danger of overestimating its support in a drawn out debate. Overall public support for Israel in the U.S. has been rising for most of the last generation. Just as Israel was seen as America's most reliable and important Middle Eastern ally during the Cold War, it now looked like a country whose survival depended on the defeat of America's enemies in the war on terror. That today Israel is engaged in a confrontation with Iran, a country which poll after poll shows that Americans think of as their most dangerous adversary, only deepens this bond. Warts and all, Israel was democratic, not Muslim, anti-Soviet and pro-American. It was everything an ally should be, and strong too. For Jacksonian America, Israel was one of the few signs of light in a dark world and it has kept this status to the present day. In much of American opinion, when somebody attacks you, especially in an underhanded terrorist way, you have a natural right to defend yourself using every weapon and every tactic that comes to hand. This is the way most Americans think about war. Such people are not necessarily indifferent to Palestinian rights, and they may not feel that every Israeli action is well judged, but they strongly believe that as long as Palestinians engage in terrorism, Israel has an unlimited and absolute right of self-defense. It can and should do anything and everything it can to stop the attacks. This view may be right or it may be wrong, but its cultural hold on a substantial section of the American people is a fact. It is one of the strongest and most persistent elements in the national character. It is unlikely to change anytime soon. For many Jacksonians, Israel is a litmus test. The more clearly you support Israel, the more you look like a reliable American patriot. This may be the ultimate reason why so many American politicians instinctively shy away from taking any positions that can even remotely be seen as anti-Israel. Being pro-Israel is a sign of being pro-American to a very large sector of American public opinion. Jacksonians don't want a long and bitter fight with a country they support as America's most important ally in the most dangerous region in the world. President Obama needs to stand tall and settle quick. He cannot afford a humiliating climb down in the face of Israeli pressure, but it is unlikely that either Congress or Jacksonian America will back him in a long and divisive struggle. But whatever happens in the Washington policy wars, one thing should be clear. This is not a battle between "the Jews" and the rest of the U.S. over our policy in the Middle East. It is a battle between opposing conceptions of America's interests in the Middle East, and gentiles and Jews can be found on both sides.
2010-03-17 09:28:44
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