++I have been ranting that the American policy toward Israel must be bipartisan and not become partisan. If it did,ultimately Israel would lose and lose big.
++So Bibi comes to have a photo-op with President Obama in the oval office. He leaks to the Times of Israel that any peace plan for Syria must include Israeli national interest. He shows up at the Progressive think tank run by John Podesta, even J street admits meeting him for the first time. Bibi sort of commits to a two state solution but not for now. He is feted by AEI and given the Irving Kristol Award and talks about Jeane Kirkpatrick getting it right in Dictatorships and Double Standards about authoritarian regimes and suggests toppling Saddam and Qaddafi may be weren't the best ideas.
++Hillary Clinton says that visiting Israel within her first six months is a must.
++Why is Bibi acting this way? He hasn't changed his policies. He knows the Israel Nuclear Agency backs the Iran nuclear accord. After the Accord was signed,the Jewish National Fund commissioned Frank Luntz to survey American public opinion on American attitudes to Israel.
++Luntz came back and said Israel has to focus on repairing relations with the Democrats and it spent too much time cozying up with the Republicans. He argues that in its messaging that Israel should not use the term "zionism" and predicts the Disinvestment Movement is big trouble for Israel in the United States.
++He called his poll a disaster for Israel.
++76% of All Democrats believe Israel has too much influence on Washington politics. Only 20% of Republicans think so.
++Is Israel racist? 47% of Democrats agreed,32% disagreed. Only 13% of Republicans agreed,76% of Republicans disagreed.
++Is Israel seeking peace with its neighbors? 48% of Democrats agreed,21% didn't know and 31% said Israel did not want peace.
++88% of Republicans said yes Israel wants peace with its neighbors,7% didn't know, and only 5% said Israel did not want peace with its neighbors.
++If a candidate said,"Israel has the right to defend itself" would you vote for him/her? 76% of GOP said yes,18% of Democrats said yes. Only 7% of the Republicans said they would be less likely to vote for the candidate. 32% of Democrats said they were less likely to vote for that candidate.
++45% of Americans were less likely to criticize Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians. But that was 75% of the GOP and only 23% of Democrats.
++Should the United States support Israel or Palestine?
70% of Americans support Israel over Palestine.
88% GOP
51% Democrats "Yes",8% neutral,31% no.
18% of Democrats are for Palestine,
2% of GOP for Palestine.
++Overall,68% of Americans are for Israel, and only 10% for Palestine. 88% of the GOP is for Israel and only 4% for Palestine. 46% of Democrats are for Israel and 27% for Palestine.
++50% of Democrats are "hypersensitive" about their support for Israel, 18% of the GOP are.
++That's why the poll is a disaster for Israel. If, as Greenberg is write about Ascendent America being 63% leaning Democrat,the demographics of America are shifting away from support for Israel. Yes, Bibi and Ambassador Dermer's ham-fisted approach to undercutting President Obama has left some bad taste in people's mouths. OK,my mouth.The role of Sheldon Adelson in selecting and paying for a Christian Zionist to battle the divestment program on American campuses adds fuel to the fire. But the hard reality is that the party which helped create Israel under a Democratic President is shifting into a new territory which may define its support in local, domestic politics rather than in a broader,historical commitment.
++That may explain Hillary Clinton's statement that Israel and America's relationship goes far beyond the political. She wasn't pandering but knows the dark wound Bibi had made in our national support for Israel and wants to cauterize it before it becomes terminal.
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