September 17, 2004/Tishri 2 5765, Vol. 57, No. 3
A different perspectiveNECHEMIA MEYERSI spoke to dozens of Jews during a recent visit to the United States and almost every one of them told me that they plan to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry in November. Some are motivated by their respect for the Massachusetts senator and his ideas, but most appear to be supporting Kerry because they fear or even hate incumbent Republican President George W. Bush. They characterize him as a small-minded creature of the Bible-bashing religious right and a reactionary; a few even charge that he and Attorney-General John Ashcroft are bringing fascism to the United States.All in all, so far as I could see, traditional Jewish support for the Democratic Party remains strong. This contrasts sharply with the attitude of most Israelis, who tend to favor Bush because they see him as a friend of the Jewish state, as a man who has backed Israel in both words and deeds during his term in office. Moreover, they believe a Republican government is more likely than a Democratic one to pursue a vigorous war against the terrorism that threatens Israel's existence. Understandably, other issues being debated in the current campaign - abortion, unemployment, gay marriage, health insurance and tax cuts - are of little interest to Israelis. In point of fact, Bush and Kerry are equally good friends of Israel, equally determined to help it in its quest for peace and security. But there are questions worth asking about those who support the two candidates. This quandary was very much in my mind when I was in New York during the Republican National Convention. A great many of the anti-Bush demonstrators I saw near Madison Square Garden, as well as in Times Square and Central Park, were carrying signs calling for the liberation of Palestine (together with the liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq). Not one, at least among the hundreds I observed, was holding aloft a sign supporting the struggle against terrorism or the integrity of the state of Israel. I'm quite sure that most of the demonstrators were not mainstream Democrats, among whom there are many devoted friends of the Jewish state. But even a minority of hostile voices can have an impact. In contrast, the many millions of Bush supporters from the religious right - whose cultural and political influence many Jews deplore - help to keep America on Israel's side to a greater extent than do American Jews. You can be sure that they were a majority of those who raised the roof when Bush described Israel as America's close friend in his speech at the Republican convention. Whatever Israelis may feel about the forthcoming American elections, they have no right to tell American Jews how to vote, and it would be futile to try. But it is to be hoped that our coreligionists in the United States will use their influence in both major parties to ensure that Israel continues to enjoy bipartisan support in Washington. Nechemia Meyers is a free-lance writer in Rehovot, Israel. |
