The Jewish Factor in US Politics

Abstract

In his UN speech of October 1971, United States Secretary of State William Rogers spoke of the relationship between an interim agreement on the Suez Canal and an over-all Middle East settlement, and voiced the necessity for allowing Egyptian personnel to cross the occupied east bank of the Suez Canal to operate the reopened wateway. To Israeli ears, the Rogers statement sounded suspiciously like the start of a major policy rift between Washington and Tel Aviv. One Israeli observer was quoted as saying: If and when begin to feel some real pressure from the US, then we'll start mobilizing the American Jewish community against Washington's Middle East policies.' From past experience, remarked a US official in Washington, we have learned to expect a pattern. First there is a request from Jewish leaders in the US for an appointment with the President or the Secretary of State. Then start getting bales of mail. This is accompanied by a spate of speeches in Congress. Then a few journalists will burst forth in full throat. 2 These statements contribute to the widespread belief that American policy towards the Middle East is shaped to an exceptional extent by the American Jewish community. For the most part, such beliefs underestimate the crucial role played in US policy-making by such American governmental agencies as the State Department, Pentagon, Central Intelligence Agency, and the White House National Security Council. But the influence of the American Jewish community cannot be dismissed as insignificant. The community has been highly successful in exerting its influence upon the political platforms of the major political parties, especially the Democrats; it has a powerful and active base in Congress for continuous pressure on behalf of Israel, and its views are