To commemorate the new era of Democratic dominance in Washington, I collect my writings over the past two decades analyzing the trend of increasingly cool Democratic attitudes toward Israel, with updates as needed:
"Bush, Clinton, and the Jews: A Debate [with Martin Peretz]," Commentary, October 1992. Concludes that while Republicans are evolving toward a "long-term commitment" to Israel, Democrats are becoming opportunistic: "At this moment, to be sure, forces friendly to Israel can out-muscle the opposition. But watch out."
"The friendly Republicans." The Jerusalem Post, February 15, 2000. A first article devoted to this topic.
"Who Supports Israel[, Jews or Conservatives]?" New York Post, September 3, 2003. Establishes that conservatives support Israel more consistently than do Jews.
"Republicans and Democrats Look at the Arab-Israeli Conflict." DanielPipes.org, March 27, 2006. A long, statistic-filled weblog entry reviewing many poll results.
"Democrats, Republicans, and Israel." The New York Sun, May 23, 2006. Provides a big-picture review of the evolution of attitudes toward Israel on the left and right of American politics.
"The Democrats and Israel." FrontPageMagazine.com, January 20, 2009. A survey of select polls served up on the occasion of Barack Obama' s presidency.
"Romney vs. Obama vis-à-vis Israel." National Review Online, September 4, 2012. Contrasts the two main presidential candidates' views toward Israel and spells out their implications.
"How Church Attendance Affects American Attitudes toward Israel." National Review Online, August 5, 2014. Connects political and religious views based on 14 years of Gallup polls. One excerpt: "Political views matter more than religiosity: 'nonreligious Republicans are more likely to sympathize with Israelis than highly religious Democrats'."
And to remind, things were not always thus: Indeed, I wrote a research paper in 1984, a "Breaking All the Rules: The Middle East in U.S. Policy," that established the American bipartisanship toward the Arab-Israeli conflict and other issues; for a brief version of this argument, see the summary in the Wall Street Journal, "Mideast Isn't Seen in Left-Right Terms." (January 20, 2009)
Sep. 1, 2012 update: For a powerful reminder of how Zionist was the Left in the period 1945-50, see Ronald Radosh, "When the Radical American Left Loved Israel," in the Sept. 2012 issue of Commentary magazine.
