While things may not look bright for Israel these days, U.S. policy toward the Jewish state has never been more favorable, according to Steven Spiegel, a leading authority on global conflict and American foreign policy.
“Believe it or not, President Bush is Israel’s most supportive president in U.S history,” said Spiegel, chairman of the University of California’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. He addressed 225 pro-Israel leaders at a conference on key issues and strategies at Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame.
The Israel Summer Institute included 25 workshops on a cross section of local and world issues as they relate to Israel. Spiegel, who lives in Los Angeles, was the keynote speaker at the event, as well as a workshop leader. He brought with him a career of counseling presidents and congressional leaders as well as hobnobbing with top world leaders.
If one were to take a good long look at the U.S. presidential administrations over the past 60 years, he said, one would find a history of irresolute sentiment and wishy-washy political attitudes regarding Israel.
According to Spiegel, George W. Bush’s stance toward Israel beats out those of every president since Harry S. Truman.
Even though the Truman administration was the first in the country’s history to recognize the Jewish state, and Clinton’s efforts to protect Israel led to near-success at Camp David, Israel did not see the kind of U.S. support in the 20th century that it has seen in recent months, he said.
The definitive turning point: Sept. 11.
“There is an outpouring of support now for Israel in America,” he said. “The victims of the largest suicide bombing in history will not support a country of suicide bombers. The Bush administration has stated it will only get involved in negotiating with the Palestinians when [Yasser] Arafat goes away, and this is a revolution in U.S. policy.”
Still, Spiegel’s assertions last weekend, some contend, fly in the face of the recent wave of citywide divestment campaigns, an upsurge in pro-Palestinian rallies and anti-Zionist sentiment across the country. From a policy standpoint, though, Spiegel underscored the importance of retrospect.
“Before, our country’s relationship with Israel was tepid. Presidents may have accepted Israel, but they were also ambivalent about it.
“But as of today, the U.S. and Israel are closer than ever before.”
While U.S. support for Israel has been stronger than that offered by any other country, the fight to maintain it has been an uphill one.
“We know from recent meetings with members of our own congressional delegation that it would be a mistake to take American support for Israel for granted,” said Rabbi Doug Kahn, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, which co-sponsored last weekend’s event with the Israel Center of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation.
Adding that U.S. support for Israel has clearly increased during the past 11 months, Kahn said certain steps must be taken to ensure that things continue to move in a forward direction.
“Congress and the administration have both been very supportive. At the same time, daily activism is required to re-enforce the importance of the American-Israel relationship in the minds of public officials,” he said.
Spiegel agreed, saying that there has never been a better climate to promote U.S.-Israel relations.
“There is no one in this administration that is not Israel friendly,” he said. “There has never been a better time for U.S. Jews to make clear that we have to do more for Israel.”