Haaretz
Elul 19, 5765
WASHINGTON - Five Knesset members were in
America two weeks ago: Yuri Stern, Yair Peretz, Eliezer Sandberg, Gilad
Erdan and Gila Gamliel - not close friends. They came, they flew south,
they met preachers and believers from large Christian congregations, and
went back. There were good conversations, they say. It's no surprise - the
two sides agree on everything: The disengagement is problematic, the
administration must not be allowed to pressure Israel, the Palestinians
must be told to dismantle the terror organizations before Israel continues
to speak to them. And they also talk about a new initiative: tens of
thousands of signatures on a petition to transfer the U.S. embassy to
Jerusalem. It won't help, it won't harm.
Meanwhile, the ties
between the Jewish state and its supporters are strengthening. Whoever
doubts the importance of this connection should look at the Harris Poll
that came out a week ago. Every year, the survey examines the popularity
of various countries in American citizens' eyes. The good news is that
there has been no significant change. Perhaps that's why there's been no
excitement. Nonetheless, isn't it nice to see that America still likes
us?
Britain is the most popular country, with 74 percent of
respondents seeing it as an ally and another 18 percent classifying it as
friendly. In effect, almost every American likes its big sister. Next come
Canada and Australia, which 48 percent of respondents and 44 percent,
respectively, consider allies and an additional 37 percent and 36 percent
consider friendly.
And then - surprise. Little Israel - not
Anglophone, far away, foreign and strange - ranks a respectable fourth
place, and with no major gap between it and its predecessor on the list.
Forty-one percent of respondents consider Israel an ally, 31 percent
consider it friendly, and only 6 percent see it as unfriendly or as an
enemy. And the most astounding part is that these were basically the same
results as last year, and two years ago.
In addition, U.S.
President George W. Bush appeared before an audience of Jewish supporters
of Israel twice in one week: last week, during the festivities marking 350
years of Jewish settlement in America, and yesterday, during a conference
of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Twice he spoke about Israel with
warmth and friendliness.
Our two countries have a lot in common,
said Bush: They're both communities of immigrants who fled from religious
persecution, they're both democratic, and both were created out of a basic
belief that there is an omnipotent God who watches human deeds and takes
all living beings into account. It's an arguable description, but it led
Bush to a conclusion that Israel will certainly be happy to adopt: These
ties have made us into natural allies, and they will never be broken, he
said.
The Harris Poll shows that the public - not just on the
conservative side of the political map - agrees with Bush. Israeli
pollster Prof. Camil Fuchs has pointed out another noteworthy statistic: A
relatively low 9 percent of respondents said they were not sure or didn't
want to share their opinion about Israel. This means that most Americans
have formulated an opinion about Israel, for the good. In contrast, when
it comes to countries like Brazil, Greece and Norway, a relatively large
percentage simply don't know what to say.
The countries that
appeared in the poll were selected by the interviewers. Arab countries,
for instance, don't show up on the survey, and in their absence China
makes the bottom of the chart. That's another reason for the conflict
between Israel's Defense Ministry and the Pentagon over selling security
material to China. And who else is particularly unpopular? Pakistan.
Here's a possible explanation for the sudden thawing of ties between that
country and Israel.
This is a study that sits comfortably. There
are others whose results aren't so optimistic, like the extensive research
conducted a few months ago by Dr. Frank Luntz from the Israel Project. He
found worrying phenomena when he ran focus groups of students at respected
institutions. Almost all the students interviewed said they had become
distanced from the Israeli position and moved closer to the Palestinian
one in the last few years. Luntz concluded that unless there is quick and
decisive action among the generation of future leaders, one can expect
less flattering Harris Polls to come. Some consider his research
"historic," while others see it as a reason to invest in pro-Israel public
relations, even though the situation appears to be stable.
In any
case, the Israeli-American romance is blooming. A Haaretz poll taken a few
months ago shows that Israel also loves America - and it is well known
that it's easier to love when you're loved. There are many explanations -
strategic, political, cultural, and even literary. America simply loves
stories of initiatives that succeeded against all odds, crazy
initiatives.
And so, on a Tel Aviv summer night, a group of
American students on a Taglit-birthright israel trip will go to a small
hall on Rothschild Street, where the establishment of the State of Israel
was declared, and the counselor will ask: Do you know what U.S. secretary
of state George Marshall, who opposed the declaration, said when he heard
that Ben-Gurion was about to make it? The old man has lost his
mind.