Kerry offers hope for an Israel made more dangerous by Bush

[seventhson]

Kerry offers hope for an Israel made more dangerous by Bush

>By Dahlia Scheindlin

(For Distribution per the author - Private Emaoil, no link)

>

>TEL AVIV, Sept. 29 (JTA) - Many American Jews and Israeli Americans

>seem impressed by George W. Bush's putative support for Israel. As an

>Israeli, I implore responsible Jewish voters who care about Israel: Look

>at his record over his rhetoric, and you'll see the dangers of his

>leadership for this country. Luckily, John Kerry's record offers hope

>for Israel.

>

>I made aliyah from New York and have lived in Israel for nine years,

>through two intifadas and at least two Iraq scares, masks and all. But I

>have never been more frightened for Israel's safety, than under George

>W. Bush. I have never despaired more of advancing peace, as during

>George W. Bush's term.

>

>It is difficult to recall a president who was less engaged in solving

>the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Whether we liked or disliked Bush Sr.

>and his secretary of state, James Baker's disciplinarian approach, they

>were involved. Whether one agrees or disagrees with him, President

>Clinton was passionately committed.

>

>During the worst four years in Israel's history, George W. Bush has done

>a resounding nothing.

>

>In his first National Security Council meeting, he decided to disengage

>from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and his disinterest shows: The

>road map was presented and then forgotten. Bush opposed Israel's

>security fence throughout 2003, threatening Israel's loan guarantees,

>and then suddenly supported it - coincidentally at the start of the

>election year.

>

>The same goes for unilateral separation. Prior to 2004, Bush refused to

>call Arafat a terrorist and insisted he remain the negotiating partner;

>a former political officer at the Israeli Embassy in Washington noted

>ruefully that Bush is the reason Arafat is still around.

>

>Some hailed the president's "promises" to Ariel Sharon in April as a

>victory - yet Bush all but reneged, including regarding the

>Palestinian right of return, two weeks later. Just last week at the U.N.

>General Assembly, Bush called for a settlement freeze. Which is the real

>Bush policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

>

>With the second intifada, many here felt that only strong American

>involvement would help reach a negotiated end to the misery. To date,

>George W. Bush hasn't even visited Israel. His policy is an irrelevant

>mess of contradictions that leaves Israel in despair.

>

>But Bush's actions in Iraq leave the country in danger. Suicide bombings

>and now beheadings are tearing Iraq and other countries apart - a

>horror we hoped no one else would ever know. Iraq is out of control, Bin

>Laden is free and al-Qaeda is growing. That makes Israel, and being

>Israeli, more dangerous.

>

>His lack of action in Iran is beyond dangerous - it is outrageous.

>America has known about secret nuclear facilities for more than two

>years, and now everyone knows about Iran's capacity to produce nuclear

>weapons. But Iraq has cost vital American credibility in Europe and the

>Arab world, and America is far weaker in facing the escalating threat.

>Iran is a hornet's nest of hatred, by some accounts it is the new

>Afghanistan, putting Israel directly in the line of fire.

>

>Isolation and resentment of America spills over onto Israel. Conspiracy

>theories affect business, social and cultural relations. When Mikos

>Theodorakis, the legendary Greek composer, railed on the

>Israeli-American control over the world, he sounded only partly anti-

>Semitic. In part, he was just expressing beliefs that are tragically

>prevalent in once-benign neighboring countries.

>

>A generation of moderate Muslims is turning radical, learning to hate

>America - and with it, Israel - because of the mangled Iraq war

>effort. Who is the closer target for their rage, America or Israel?

>Al-Qaeda is threatening Israelis around the world, and the Mombasa

>incident, the terrorist attack at a Kenya hotel frequented by Israelis,

>shows its capabilities.

>

>In Israel, the world's resentment, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and

>Islamic extremism are bad enough. Under Bush, these problems have gotten

>worse and he shows little commitment to addressing them. I'm not even

>sure he understands them.

>

>John Kerry understands. He has supported Israel in every vote for 20

>years; that's way before the electoral campaign started. Kerry

>understood how to fight terrorism long before Bush was ignoring

>intelligence reports on imminent attacks in the United States.

>

>While Bush Sr. was selling missiles to Saudi Arabia (how is that good

>for Israel?), Kerry was one of the first to write a Senate report

>investigating Saudi businesses for funding terrorist organizations. Bush

>Sr. met members of the Bin Laden family, and the figures incriminated in

>Kerry's 1992 report helped fund George W.'s electoral campaign.

>

>Kerry has a 12-year, highly analytic approach targeted at the sources of

>terrorism. Bush has a four-year record of being passive on intelligence,

>coddling Saudis, making the wrong connection between Iraq, weapons of

>mass destruction and 9/11, and talking tough while Iran and North Korea

>fester.

>

>Despite his rhetoric, the administration has cut State Department

>counter-terrorism programs by an average of 20 percent every year since

>9/11. Kerry is unburdened by the Republicans' chronic dual loyalty to

>Arab oil barons alongside America's security, which led them to defeat a

>bill banning oil companies from doing business with terrorist states -

>this past June.

>

>When the election dust settles, Bush will no longer need to buy Jewish

>votes - so there is no guarantee that actions he eventually does take

>would favor Israel. And after four years of Bush's leadership, Israel is

>a more dangerous place, a more hated place and a more hopeless place.

>

>How can we reject a candidate who understands, with unwavering support,

>what Israel needs?

>

>Dahlia Scheindlin is an international political consultant and public

>opinion analyst based in Tel Aviv.