Where does this idea come from that the Republicans are better for Israel?

[PlanetBev]

I just came back from lunch with my cousin and brother. My cousin is a financial planner and my brother is a mortgage broker. My brother voted for Obama last time and seems to be confused as to what to do this time. I had a gut feeling my cousin would be for Romney, and sure enough, he can't stand Obama and thinks he's bad for Israel.

I can't seem to get specifics on this. Why are the Republicans better? What have they done for Israel that the Democrats haven't? I'm Jewish, but I'm an American first, and worry a lot more about what's going on in this country than what's going on in Israel.

Seriously, is there something I'm missing here?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. I dunno either

My guess would be is that right-wingers are jumping up and down- along with the Israeli right- chomping at the bit for starting a war against Iran and some people don't just don't feel that President Obama and Democrats in general are sufficiently enthusiastic about the idea (which they're not). Other than that, I have no clue.

[PDJane]

2. It's a few things.

They want a war with Iran, and they want everyone to forget they're on Palestinian land illegally. The other thing is, oddly enough, that both evangelical Christians and the aging cold-war types are in alignment with Israel's agenda and the current Israeli administration.

[veganlush]

3. remember the movie "back to the future"?

when things in the past started to change too much, the photo of Micheal Fox's character and that of his siblings started to fade meaning that their existence in the future was being jeopardized by things unfolding in the past that fox was interfering with.

Whacked out fundies that believe in the "rapture" cite the fact that in their interpretation of the bible with regard to the rapture and tribulation and all that malarkey, that in the unfolding of that scenario as they interpret it, Israel is whole at the future point of the rapture and that if Israel enters into some kind of two state solution now, it will be divided up into whatever they call the Jewish state and the other side, presumably "New Palestine" or something like that. No matter the names, a two state solution now changes what they think will exist in the future and the likelihood of the "rapture" will fade away.

It's always seemed paradoxical to me too, that the christian right would be so quick to defend jews when they really don't like jews when it comes down to it, at least on a fundie level. The "rapture" politics explains at least part of that, believe it or not.

[veganlush]

4. remember Hagee from the 2008 election?

"To give up more land for peace, Joel 3:2, says any nation that tries to get Israel to divide my land, I will bring it into judgement, I want those of you in the State Department and in Washington to hear this. If America does not stop pressuring Israel to give up land I believe that God will bring this nation into judgement because I believe what this book says. And if God brings this nation into judgement he will very likely release the terrorist that you've already let here through the ridiculous immigration policy that you refuse to stop and this nation is going to go through a blood bath that you have permitted because of what you have done."
Video

"We know this battle over Israel will occur, and I believe it will result in the Antichrist's stepping in to offer Israel and it's enemies a seven-year peace treaty. We also know the church will be taken away before the Antichrist is revealed. However, we cannot unequivocally say whether the church will be snatched up before or after Russia's attack upon Israel."
-John Hagee, Attack on America: New York, Jerusalem, and the Role of Terrorism in the Last Days (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001) p. 145

[LiberalFighter]

5. Which Republicans are Jewish??? Ask your brother.

These are all Jewish.

SENATE
Richard Blumenthal CT
Barbara Boxer CA
Ben Cardin MD
Dianne Feinstein CA
Al Franken MN
Herb Kohl WI
Frank Lautenberg NJ
Carl Levin MI
Joseph Lieberman CT
Bernie Sanders VT
Charles Schumer NY
Ron Wyden OR


HOUSE
Brad Sherman CA
Howard Berman CA
Adam Schiff CA
Henry Waxman CA
Bob Filner CA
Susan Davis CA
Jared Polis CO
Ted Deutch FL
Debbie Wasserman Schultz FL
Jan Schakowsky IL
John Yarmuth KY
Barney Frank MA
Sander Levin MI
Shelley Berkley NV
Steve Rothman NJ
Steve Israel NY
Gary Ackerman NY
Jerrold Nadler NY
Eliot Engel NY
Nita Lowey NY
Allyson Schwartz PA
David Cicilline RI
Steve Cohen TN
Eric Cantor VA



*[font color=white]There is only one Republican in the bunch. And he is worthless and crazy! (Cantor)[/font]*
To find out which ones are Republican highlight between the asterisks to see the answer.

Remind your brother/cousin that Obama is going to seek advice from those with the Jewish religion both in Congress and on his staff. And you are right that you are American first and that is your primary concern. As a former Lutheran I never had a primary concern about Germany. Any concern I have for other countries is that they treat their people right and don't threaten war against their neighbors. While it seems protestants are all for starting a war for no reason at all.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. I'm confused. What point are you trying to make?

[Behind the Aegis]

7. It comes from the Republicans and their right-wing base.

The right-wing and ultra-conservative support for Israel is based on a mythological fantasy of the rapture. Neither has been the "bestest" friend to Israel or the "worst." Israel is a client state, and a puppet-state, at worst. Though, to many bigots on both sides of the aisle, it's the other way around, which is fucking laughable.

Here are some facts for you: Most Jews are more concerned with the economy, health care, and education. In recent surveys, "Israel," doesn't rank in the top ten, in others, it is at #9 or #10. Most Jews, almost 2/3, vote democrat. There are very few Jews, read a minuscule amount, which place Israel above concerns here at home. Every election cycle, Israel is used, or attempted to be used as, a wedge issue. It never is, but it is fodder for the right, and fodder for the left.

[dsteve01]

8. Isreal gets a lot more aid funding

when Republicans are in congress. However, most of that aid just goes into the military and the people of Israel never actually feel the impact in their quality of life.

Just more cash for the paramilitary to bulldoze Palestinian houses.