Haaretz
Chishvan 3, 5765
In 10 countries worldwide, including Israel, the
results of a public opinion poll commissioned by leading newspapers in
advance of the American presidential election were published on Friday.
The results were surprising in their one-sidedness: In nine countries,
public opinion about President George Bush was negative, generally by a
large majority; only one country, Israel, liked Bush - again by a large
majority. Both aspects of this phenomenon are interesting: the negative
attitude toward Bush, and Israel's bucking of the international
trend.
Bush arouses opposition both because of his style - which is
perceived as stammering, blunt, provincial and power-driven, whereas other
American politicians (Bill Clinton, John Kerry) have been able to exude
personal charm - and because of his foreign and defense policy. At the
center of this policy stands America's global supremacy, which dwarfs
Washington's traditional allies and substitutes preemptive strikes for
readiness to respond to attacks. Support for the Bush administration after
the September 11, 2001 terror attacks survived the military operation
against Al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan, but dissolved when Bush
insisted on moving the center of his war on terror to Iraq, based on
assumptions of which some have proven false.
This is the approach
of various countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America. The circumstances
vary from country to country, but overall, one can identify in all of them
a mixture of interests, inclinations, prejudices and transparent media
slant.
A completely different mixture was created in Israel.
Israelis loved Clinton, even though many opposed the Oslo process that he
led, while others were angry at him for wasting precious years because of
personal caprices (the Monica Lewinsky affair). Like Clinton, and despite
certain relatively minor differences in their policies, his successor
radiates friendliness toward Israel. He supports Israel's struggle against
Palestinian terror and holds Yasser Arafat responsible, whether passively
or actively; at the same time, he presents a vision of an agreement with a
moderate and democratic Palestinian state. To other countries, Iraq may
look like an unnecessary entanglement. To Israel, it means the removal of
a serious threat that was actualized in 1991, that could include chemical
and biological weapons and that was liable to be renewed once the
sanctions regime weakened. Without Iraq as an enemy, there is no eastern
front, and Israel has a better chance of reconciling with all its Arab
neighbors and of isolating its other dangerous enemy, the Iran of the
Islamic fanatics.
Israel's gratitude to President Bush does not
contradict the traditional affinity of a large majority of American Jews
for the Democratic Party. Moreover, it is likely that after January 20,
2005, when the next president - whether a second-term Bush or a first-term
Kerry - is sworn in, there will be a fundamental continuity in American
policy toward the Middle East. Nevertheless, it must be hoped, for
Israel's sake as well, that the next American administration will succeed
in drawing its allies closer and healing the rift that has emerged in the
international democratic camp.