COMMENTARY
Jews and Power
By AARON DAVID MILLER
If he were a Gentile, he would be accused of “anti-Semitism” for saying what every knowledgeable person knows, namely, that Jews wield an inordinate amount of power and influence over public affairs in America, particularly as it relates to the state of Israel and strategic Jewish interests in the world. But because the writer of the following article happens to be a Jew, he need fear no such accusation, as he describes for other members of his community the contemporary reality of Jewish power. Let’s listen to him.
Domestic politics, as Bill Clinton’s national security advisor,
Anthony Lake, told me when I interviewed him for my book,
is like sex to the Victorians: It’s on everybody’s mind, but nobody
wants to talk about it. It’s about time that we start talking about it,
particularly when it involves Israel, the pro-Israeli community in
America and Arab-Israeli diplomacy. Furthering American national
interests in the Middle East depends on it. But this conversation
must be honest and clear.
Sadly, that’s not happening. Too many defenders of Israel pretend
that Jewish political power has little to do with official American
support for Israel (even while many know it does), and too many
of Israel’s detractors believe that support for Israel in the United
States results almost entirely from political lobbying.
The fact is that America’s support for Israel mixes almost seamlessly,
driven by shared values and the well-organized efforts of 5.3 million
American Jews (and millions of their fellow non-Jewish citizens,
particularly evangelical Christians) to create a strong and sustainable
American-Israeli bond. After watching and participating in Middle
East policy for almost 30 years, I suspect that value affinity — the
critical importance of supporting like-minded nations abroad (which
is in the broadest conception of America’s national interest) — is the
core foundation on which that relationship rests or why it survives
over time.
Christian evangelicals join with Jewish Lobby
But American Jews shouldn’t kid themselves or willfully mask their
own influence. Jews have a powerful voice in shaping America’s
Middle East policy. They’re also not alone in making the case for
Israel.
Today, five advocates push for a close American-Israeli bond: first,
a well-organized and affluent Jewish community for which Israel
has become a survival issue; second, an effective Congressional lobby
(the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) that skillfully guards
and sustains a pro-Israeli tilt among a sizable number of passionately
pro-Israeli legislators and a majority for whom Israeli issues are not
a priority but who don’t need the headache of swimming upstream
against a well-organized lobby; third, millions of evangelical
Christians who support Israel not just for theological reasons but
because of, particularly in the wake of September 11, shared values;
fourth, the Arabs themselves (Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah and even
non-Arab Iran) whose extremism just makes Israel look better and
more sympathetic, and fifth, a Jewish lobby of one — the personal
impact that Israeli prime ministers can have on American presidents.
Idea of Israel embedded in American culture
Together, these advocates create a pro-Israeli case so compelling that
the idea and reality of Israel has worked itself deep into American
culture, politics and foreign policy. Many American Jews refuse to
accept it, but the real debate between Israel’s supporters and detractors
in America is all but over.
And the pro-Israeli community has won big-time. Bill Clinton was the
most pro-Israeli Democratic president ever; George W. Bush, the most
pro-Israeli Republican president ever. Regardless of whether Hillary
Clinton, Barack Obama or John McCain wins in November, the
American-Israeli relationship will remain strong and vibrant.
That the pro-Israeli community has won, however, doesn’t necessarily
mean a victory for America or even Israel. America’s special relationship
with Israel is critically important to our values, our interests and our
capacity to drive Arab-Israeli diplomacy. We get ourselves into trouble
when we allow that special relationship to go exclusive; when we don’t
expect reciprocity from the Israelis, we don’t speak out against Israeli
actions that undermine our interests or acquiesce in bad Israeli ideas.
‘System is set up to be lobbied’
We can (and should) blame Yasser Arafat all day long for his failure
to negotiate at the July 2000 Camp David Summit. But that poorly
prepared and managed meeting never should have taken place the way
it did. Bill Clinton and those of us advising him — myself included —
wouldn’t push back against a courageous yet reckless Ehud Barak who
wanted a conflict-ending agreement he couldn’t pay for, and who used
America’s credibility without much regard for the costs of failure.
In a democracy, Jews and their non-Jewish allies have a powerful voice
on America’s Middle East policies, but they should not and do not
have a veto. That lobbies lobby isn’t the point. Of course they do. It’s
democracy in America, and the system is set up to be lobbied. Instead,
the question is, “Do presidents lead?” When they do, articulating a
sensible strategy in the service of a compelling national interest, lobbies
follow, sometimes nosily.
The challenge for the next president is to ensure that the special
relationship with Israel, so vital to our role in Arab-Israeli peacemaking,
doesn’t become the tail that wags the dog, and that actions taken on
Israel’s behalf also make sense for America.
May 8, 2008
The Jewish Daily Forward
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Aaron David Miller, who served at the State Department as an adviser
to six secretaries of state, is a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars and author of the recently published
“The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli
Peace” (Bantam).
http://www.forward.com/articles/13323/
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