Are Israeli politicians increasingly beholden to conservative Americans who lavish them with financial support and political pressure?
By Gregory Levey .. Aug. 21, 2008
Left, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in August 2008; right, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July 2008.
American voters are not alone in soon facing a crucial leadership decision. In Israel, corruption allegations are sweeping Prime Minister Ehud Olmert out of office, and next month the incumbent Kadima Party will hold a primary, with a general election likely to follow close behind. With closed-door negotiations under way with the Palestinian Authority, and tensions rising with Iran, the new Israeli government will be stepping in at a sensitive time, and its decisions will have serious repercussions for the country's future.
Israeli citizens, then, may be facing a crucial election. But they aren't the only ones determining who will lead them next.
Much ink has been spilled about the deep influence of Israel lobbyists in U.S. politics, but largely overlooked is that the relationship is a two-way street -- with American influence reaching into Jerusalem. In fact, the Israeli political world is increasingly weighed down by American dollars and pressure, particularly from conservative American Jews, Evangelical groups and other hawkish political operatives. That comes to the rising dismay of some in Israel, and is potentially dangerous for both countries in terms of swaying politicians' actions and decisions.
One of the major causes of Olmert's downfall was his relationship with Morris Talansky, an American businessman. Talanksy claims that over the last 15 years, he has repeatedly given Olmert envelopes filled with cash, totaling over $150,000. There have been no concrete indications that Talansky received anything in return or influenced Israeli policy, and he has stated that his financial support for Olmert was based on Olmert's past hard-line positions and Talansky's desire to help support them. Even if there was no personal benefit to Talansky, though, the scandal has raised questions about the role of American money in Israeli politics.
In general elections, direct foreign donations are prohibited. But in primaries, candidates rely heavily on American funds. According to the Washington Post, in the 2007 Likud primary, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- a hard-liner beloved by American conservatives -- received about 75 percent, or approximately $400,000 of his more than half-million dollar campaign war chest, from American contributors. (The scope of campaign funds is much smaller in Israel than in the U.S.) Israeli donors contributed only 5 percent. Although Netanyahu provides the starkest example of Israeli politicians relying on American supporters, he is not alone. Labor Party leader Ehud Barak, for example, received approximately $200,000 of his primary funds in 2007 from U.S. backers, about a third of his total haul.
This year, Shaul Mofaz -- a top contender to lead Kadima next -- is also actively seeking financial support from abroad, according to David Kimche, a member of the advisory council at the Israel Policy Forum. Mofaz has also hired George Birnbaum, the Israeli partner of Arthur Finkelstein, a high-powered American campaign strategist and former advisor to Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon.
Kimche, who served as director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and deputy director of the Mossad, recently told me that he believes these donations do not come without a price. "I wouldn't say there are strings attached directly," he said, "but I certainly believe strings are attached indirectly. People who receive the envelopes are beholden to those who give the envelopes."
To be sure, Israeli politics is by no means an extension of the American political scene. With its many parties and its parliamentary model, the Israeli electoral system is almost hyper-democratic, one in which politics is far more of a blood sport than American politics ever could be. It is constantly rolling with the tides of public opinion in a way that often makes it difficult to govern at all without the fear of quickly losing office. In the end, it is the Israeli electorate, of course, that will have the biggest say in who will lead it. Still, Israelis clearly aren't alone in making that decision.
In the past few months, Haaretz, Israel's paper of record, has run a series of articles expressing misgivings about outside influence. In one of them, political scientist Shlomo Avineri wrote, "The voting public has the right -- the sovereign right -- to guarantee that rich foreigners, however well-meaning, whether from New York, London, Los Angeles or Melbourne, will not be partners in our democratic process because of their money."
The involvement of foreigners in Israel's democracy, however, does not end with fundraising -- some are getting involved on more substantive levels, including active lobbying. As I wrote about in Salon in December, a coalition of American organizations formed last fall to oppose any division of Jerusalem, even if such an agreement to share control of the city with the Palestinians is called for by the democratically elected Israeli government. At the time, one of the coalition's supporters, American casino magnate and multibillionaire Sheldon Adelson said, "If someone is going to jump off a bridge, it is incumbent upon their friends to dissuade them."
Adelson, reportedly the third richest person in the United States and a big-time donor to the Republican Party, has gone further in entangling himself in Israeli politics. A hawkish and enthusiastic supporter of Netanyahu's, and an opponent of Ehud Olmert, Adelson has used his energy and considerable pocketbook to try to ensure that Netanyahu is elected. Among his endeavors, he launched a daily newspaper called Israel Hayom, which quickly has become the second most widely read paper in the country. As a free paper, it is not a moneymaking venture; instead, it is widely regarded as a vehicle for attacking Olmert's administration with the aim of propelling Netanyahu into office.
If the paper is seen as contributing to Netanyahu's successful reelection, it is natural to assume that Netanyahu would take into account the political desires of his wealthy overseas benefactor -- even if they do not align with those of the Israeli electorate.
"Bibi is beholden to those people who are helping him," David Kimche told me, referring to Netanyahu by his popular nickname. "He will think twice about endangering the support he's getting from Adelson."
The fact that the majority of such influence comes from the American political right is worrisome for the Israeli left and those who are sympathetic to the Israeli peace camp. Hawkish American supporters of Israel are quick both to open their wallets and to let their voices be heard, while more dovish ones tend to occupy themselves with a variety of different causes and don't often get as deeply enmeshed in the volatile Middle East.
"American Jews who hold the more conservative views toward Israel are also the ones who tend to be most actively engaged with Israel," Jeremy Ben-Ami, executive director of J-Street, a new, dovish Israel lobbying group, told the Washington Post recently. "Liberal American Jews tend not to single out Israel as the focus of their philanthropy."
What this means is that to the extent that Israeli politics is being affected by Americans, that influence is coming mostly from those who lean toward right-wing policies.
When I brought this up with Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz's chief U.S. correspondent, who follows Israeli-Diaspora relations closely, he told me that, despite ambivalence about American influence on Israeli politics, he does not expect its role in the electoral process to dissipate. "Israelis who lose in the elections do not like the fact that foreigners support the winning side," he said. "But I don't think this will become an issue to the extent that it will make politicians more reluctant to get such support."
In the end, Rosner added, winning power seems to trump all other concerns. "In opinion polls one can clearly see that the Israelis who do not want American meddling are those who do not benefit from it."
Sep 10, 2006 On the eve of the fifth anniversary of 9/11, ex-U.S. Congressman identifies the reasons for the attack and criticizes his country's involvement in Israel.
Paul Findley, a former Republican U.S. Congressman came to speak at an event held by the Canadian Islamic Congress in Toronto on Sept. 9, and what he said was something not so commonly heard among Americans-especially not Republicans.
Findley spoke about the entire plight in the world and identified America to be suffering from two strong and powerful fears that have taken hold of the country and have been driving its foreign and domestic policy. He said the fear of Israel and the fear of Islam has shaped America's decisions at home and abroad. He said, these fears are responsible for the crippling of freedom of speech, the current crisis of terrorism and the wars in the Middle East.
"We are afraid as a nation. Imagine the superpower of the world being afraid, but we are. We are afraid of Israel, we are afraid of Islam," he said, during an interview.
The strong Israeli lobby in the U.S. he said, controls and manipulates, not only the government, but also the common people of America. He said the reason for this control is underlined in the "kiss of death" label of anti-Semitism.
"Since I am a child I was told that there is not a stain worse then being called anti-Semitic and most of America is like that. We have to get over that because the pro-Israel group has re-defined anti-Semitism as any criticism of Israel, which is not true," he said.
He said America is complicit in the "sustained criminal conduct" of Israel by providing it with all the military equipment, and also by handing it unconditional political support, without which, Findley said, Israel would not be able to continue its criminal activities against the Palestinians.
"Bush ignores history and common sense by ravishing the sword as the principle instrument of presidential policy," he said.
Findley said the U.S. is to be blamed for injustice in Lebanon, by "openly and flagrantly helping Israel cause massacre and massive destruction."
He said the U.S. brings injustice in Palestine by helping Israel make "wreckage of the duly elected Hamas government," and identified Bush as the one, who aims to show himself as the pioneer of democracy, as the one who himself shows contempt for the institutions of democracy and human dignity.
"Bush promotes injustice in Israel, by continuing to pledge unconditional aid, while Israel destroys and humiliates the Palestinian people," he said.
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Findley said if the U.S. really wants to find a solution to terrorism, it must understand its origins and put an end to its blatant and biased support for Israel.
"Our government inevitably must identify clearly the pernicious influence of Israel on foreign policy and must do a study of the motivation of the terrorists. But not one person in public office seems brave enough to take this step, not one," he said.
Findley said America's unconditional support for Israel is the reason for terorrism, a fact his country needs to come to terms with.
"Our heavy bias favouring Israel has led America into one awful mess after another. Step-by-step, this bias has fueled the fury that exploded on 9/11."
Findley, has also written a book, published just a month before 9/11, titled Silent No More, which he said, aims to " dispel the stereotypes about Islam."
He said the bias towards Islam run deep in America, and it was strong even before the 9/11 attacks, which was the reason why he decided to write his book. He also identified the fact that Bush is just another predecessor of biased American foreign policy, but this trend had begun decades ago during the time of President Lyndon Johnson.
Findley said a majority of Americans believe that Muslims are radicals, who abuse women, who oppose the American system of government, who condone terrorism, who worship a strange, vengeful deity. While he said this fear was unwarranted, Findley also said this bias was stronger today than it was ever before.
During his speech, he cited a study conducted by Cornell University in New York, which found that 44 per cent of Americans believe Muslims to be radicals and believe in the need to curtail their civil liberties.
"If nearly half of American people are afraid of Muslims, there is no wonder that our politicians are easy prey for Israel's lobby, as it declares Israel is surrounded by millions of terrorist Muslims in the Middle East," he explained.
But Findley said the solution to this whole mess is for Muslims to speak out and explain their religion, reach out to other communities, get involved in politics, and correct false images in the media and public whenever they appear. Also, he said, for peace to come to the world, foreign policy must take a shift.
"Much of the world now believes that Israel and the U.S. are terrorist states. The American people can never feel secure until we end our pro-Israel bias in foreign policy. Israelis can never feel secure, until Palestinians feel secure in their own independent Palestine. Those facts should be self-evident but they are not and we have to work together to achieve them."
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