DEMOCRATS INCREASINGLY TURNING BACKS ON ISRAEL

Democrats Increasingly Turn Their Backs on Israel by Matthew Brooks (Republican Jewish Coalition)

"We are seeing a disturbing trend in the Democratic Party today, one that the American Jewish community needs to take note of," said Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks. "Democrats are increasingly turning their backs on Israel, and have done so even in the midst of Israel's efforts to stop Hezbollah from bombing Israeli cities."

Brooks pointed to increasing evidence of a deep shift in the Democratic Party's relationship with Israel and the Jewish community:

In an August 15th interview with Der Spiegel magazine, Democratic Party elder statesman and former President Jimmy Carter called Israel's actions against the Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon "unjustified":

• "I don't think that Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon. What happened is that Israel is holding almost 10,000 prisoners, so when the militants in Lebanon or in Gaza take one or two soldiers, Israel looks upon this as a justification for an attack on the civilian population of Lebanon and Gaza. I do not think that's justified, no."

  In the same interview, Carter said, "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."

Recent polling has shown a sharp disparity between Republicans' and Democrats' support for Israel. The Democrats have become the party of neutrality:

• A NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in late July showed that there is 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).

This is not an isolated instance.

• In a poll by the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg at the very end of July, when asked whether the US should be more neutral in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah or whether the US 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:

• Seven Democratic members of the US House of Representatives voted, in the heat of Israel's battle against Hezbollah, against a resolution passed on July 18 which expressed support for Israel's right of self defense, called for the return of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers, condemned Iran and Syria for their support of terrorism, and condemned Hamas and Hezbollah for using civilians as shields. Those seven House members (and the committees or subcommittees they would likely chair in a Democrat-controlled House are: Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, (Armed Services Committee's Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee), John Conyers of Michigan (Judiciary Committee), John Dingell of Michigan (Energy and Commerce Committee), Carolyn Kilpatrick of Michigan,Jim McDermott of Washington, Nick Rahall of West Virginia (Resources Committee), "Pete" Stark of California (Ways and Means Committee's Health Subcommittee). In addition, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi removed her name as a co-sponsor of this important resolution.

• Democratic voters in Connecticut threw Senator Joe Lieberman out of the Democratic Party, effectively silencing one of the leading voices for Israel in their party.

• Instead, Democrats let stand remarks like those of Democratic Party activist Cindy Sheehan, who declared last year that America and Israel were to blame for terrorism, saying, "You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism." (Dallas, 8/5/2005)

• Congressman John Dingell from Detroit made a shocking statement in late July when he told a local television interviewer on WDIV on July 30th, "I don't take sides for or against Hezbollah or for or against Israel." While he condemned Hezbollah for its "violence", he could draw no moral distinction between Hezbollah's random attacks on Israeli civilians and Israel's targeted self defense response.

Matt Brooks said, "Increasingly, the pro-Israel voices in the Democratic Party – Joe Lieberman, Harry Truman and Scoop Jackson – have been replaced by Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, Al Sharpton and Jimmy Carter. As President Carter's remarks in Der Spiegel highlighted, what was once the left wing of the Democratic Party is becoming its mainstream. The anti-Israel sentiment which was once the mark of the leftist fringe now appears in major Democratic forums. American Jews, who for decades supported the Democratic Party, need to take a fresh, objective look at the Democratic Party today and decide if it's the party for them."