As the clock continues to count down at the UN and various parties shuttle back and forth trying to squeeze gains and concessions, one interested party refuses to be left in the dust. US Republicans are making sure their voice is heard
NEW YORK – A Republican Congressman from Illinois introduced to the US House of Representatives on Monday a resolution supporting Israel’s annexation of the West Bank should the Palestinians proceed with the stated goal of seeking statehood status at the international assembly this week. The potential legislation already has the support of 30 members of Congress, who apparently think that the Obama administration’s threat of cutting-off funding to the Palestinian Authority is not enough of a deterrent.
Riding on the wave of such support among American Jews — and realizing that a trying-to-govern yet hoping-to-be-reelected President Obama is stuck between a rock and a hard-spot, Republican Presidential hopeful Rick Perry is seizing the opportunity to court Jewish and pro-Israel voters here in New York, blocks away from the United Nations. On Tuesday morning local time, Perry (the current governor of Texas) will address such an audience at a New York hotel. Among those expected to be in the crowd are Likud lawmakers from the Israeli Knesset who are accompanying the Israeli prime minister this week. No doubt Perry’s comments will strike a positive tone and will ring like music to their ears. The Likudniks are expected to ask Perry to support the Illinois congressman’s initiative.
Beneath the surface lies the complexity of US politics. One of the greatest criticisms of the presidential election system is that winning the nomination, winning the election, and then actually governing the country require one person to be eventually three different people. To secure the Republican nomination, Perry must stand out among the Republican base, whose most active players are to the political right of the majority of its voters. He already does that (though it’s unclear how long that will last). To win the election, Perry must convince centrists and ideally some frustrated democrats to vote for him. Jewish Americans have a tradition of voting with the left, except on two issues — the economy and Israel. Last week, a by-election for the seat of now-disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner saw his 9th District, with a large Jewish population, vote-in a Republican for this first time in decades. The move to the right, some argue, is a direct response to the Obama administration’s handling of the economy and of Israel.
20 years ago, those who swung that way called themselves “Reagan Democrats,” unwilling to let go of their party affiliation but happy to support the man they voted into the White House. Now, they proudly identify as Republican Jews. And why shouldn’t they? One of them (and just one of them) – Eric Cantor – is not only serving in the House of Representatives, but holds the title of House Majority Leader.
Perry is playing both roles right now, namely because he can, but he may find it difficult to play the third. Should he one day be known as President Perry, he will have to change his tone and like others before him shift towards the center. One may recall that a Democratic Presidential hopeful (then-Senator) Barack Obama told gatherers at the 2008 AIPAC policy conference in Washington, just months before the US election that put him into office and just days before solidifying his win over Hillary Clinton in the democratic primary, that Jerusalem will remain the undivided capital of Israel. (He later retracted.)
Obama did what he had to do to win. He knew his audience, and Perry knows his.
