Today Shibley Telhami published a new survey that shows that Democrats put Israel way down the list of important U.S. allies. The pollster writes:
Fewer than 1% of Democrats identify Israel as first or second choice among the two top US allies, behind eight other countries.
The U.K., Canada, Germany, Mexico, France, Japan, China, and South Korea all rate higher among Democratic voters– as you can see in the survey.
Telhami says the poll is evidence of a “growing… gap between elected Democrats and their constituents.”
Yes: that’s the dirty secret. Democratic politicians routinely refer to Israel as among our greatest allies. “The United States has no better friend in the world than Israel,” President Obama said, and Joe Biden has used similar language. Nancy Pelosi says Israel’s establishment was the “greatest political achievement of the 20th century” and America is Israel’s “oldest ally,” and the Capitol will crumble and fall before the Congress stops supporting Israel.
The numbers are WAY higher among Republicans and Independents. 20 percent of Republicans make Israel their top ally as a first choice, second to the U.K. And 4.1 percent of Independents — behind four countries. Only .5 percent of Dems make Israel their top ally as a first choice– and it’s ninth on the list.
The poll adds to evidence that the Democratic Party rank and file have starkly different views of Israel than the Democratic politicians– who rely on the Israel lobby to get elected.
Last year Data for Progress reported that 72 percent of Democrats approve of legislation to protect Palestinian children and families living under military occupation– but only 13 percent of House Democrats support the legislation.
Three years ago Telhami published data showing that the Democratic Party is also out of step with Democratic voters on BDS, the boycott campaign targeting Israel. His 2019 polling showed that Democrats largely agree with the goals of BDS.
Among Democrats who had heard at least a little about the campaign, 77 percent agreed with the idea that BDS is “a legitimate, peaceful way of opposing Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories… [reflecting] the South African anti-apartheid movement” — while 19 percent agreed with the idea that it is an antisemitic movement, according to Telhami’s polling.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden and much of the Congress, too, have characterized BDS as an antisemitic campaign. And even liberal Zionist groups like J Street affirm this view. They’re not listening to the Democratic street.
As Telhami’s latest numbers show, Israel is just way more important to the Democratic establishment than it is to voters.
h/t Dave Reed and Michael Arria.
One hopes this will matter someday. To date, however, the Democratic “leaders” have demonstrated they don’t give a damn what the voters think. Money rules. Crime is cool.
The Democrat leadership have known this for years, They also know that the same 1% of those voters who put Israel at the top of their list sure do have a LOT of Benjamins and that money talks and bullshit walks when it comes to their political survival.
Any sensible American who can be honest, can look at the big picture and come to the same conclusion. Israel is a parasitic nation that feeds off us, sponges off us, demands from us, and interferes in our internal and foreign policies. It has spied on us (Pollard), tried to sabotage foreign policies (Iran nuclear deal), their spyware companies have spied on our officials (Pegasus), sold our weapons to China, refused to cooperate with our efforts to push for a peace deal with the Palestinians (even when offered fighter jets by Obama to attend peace talks), with the condition of freezing the building of settlements, which they rejected, and they have been on the fence reluctant to support us against Russia.
This is what enemies will do, not a so called ally, who has benefitted from our generosity, sends hundreds of lobbyists to beg for aid, and has been able to control our free speech by getting their lobbies shout “anti-semitism” every time some courageous American criticizes Israel, or brings into focus its crimes. They exert too much influence over us as a country, our media, our Congress, our White House, and there is not a damn thing we can do to rid ourself of this parasite. Our leaders/politicians are like puppets being jerked around by Israel, falling over themselves to please the zionists.
This poll tells the whole story, but even the Democrats in Congress will pretend they cannot see it.
yes, many tend to do that until..
they don’t.
matter someday. To date, however, the Democratic “leaders” have demonstrated they don’t give a damn