![]() On the one hand, their sympathy for Israel has surged to new heights this century. Yet a paradox has emerged in the way they relate to Israel. ![]() Many Americans do not just sympathize with Israel, they identify with Israel. On a deeper level, Israelis generally do not understand - and therefore underestimate - the importance of shared democratic values to Americans. These views dilute the impact of Netanyahu's decision to speak before Congress despite the president's opposition. Perhaps most surprising is their changing calculus on the Iranian nuclear issue many are beginning to think about how an Israeli attack without American support might affect the bilateral relationship. Now, however, they are more evenly divided depending on partisan affiliations, and they disapprove of the president's wider Middle East policies by large margins. In the past, a majority of Israelis viewed President Obama's approach to their country favorably. Today, the same trend is occurring more openly. In the 1990s, the Likud Party government tried to work with Republicans in Congress to block unfavorable policies by the Clinton administration, yet much of this was below the public's radar. Recent studies by BESA and other organizations reinforce the notion that the Israeli public is concerned about the U.S.-Israel relationship, especially in light of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's upcoming speech before Congress. The following is a rapporteur's summary of their remarks. Abrams is a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and former deputy national security advisor in the George W. Rynhold is a senior researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA), director of the Argov Center for the Study of Israel and the Jewish People, and author of the just-released book The Arab-Israel Conflict in American Political Culture (Cambridge University Press). ![]() ![]() On February 23, Jonathan Rynhold and Elliott Abrams addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. ![]()
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