Efforts to secure part of the Democratic Party's Florida base may cost
Sen. John Kerry support from a smaller, but possibly vital, constituency:
Arab-Americans.
In a recent interview with The Palm Beach Post, Kerry reiterated
his support for the Jewish state, including its right to built a security
barrier through the occupied West Bank territory and its ability to buy
advanced weapons, such as "bunker-busting" bombs.
Israel used such a bomb two years ago to assassinate a terrorist leader
in the Gaza Strip, but the explosion also killed 15 civilians, including
children.
Kerry also said that, although he would encourage movement toward a
peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians, he would not do so "at the
expense of Israel's right to defend herself."
"Israel has to negotiate Israel's security, not the United States,"
Kerry said.
Kerry's position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appears virtually
identical to that of President George W. Bush, whom Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon has called Israel's strongest supporter ever in the White
House.
Republicans, who have been working to eat into the estimated 80 percent
support that Jewish voters in Florida gave to the Democratic ticket in
2000, said it is too late to be shoring up votes from those who
traditionally have supported the Democratic Party.
"Me-too leadership is not what the Jewish community is looking for,"
said state Rep. Adam Hasner, a Delray Beach Republican and Florida
chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign's Jewish Outreach Coalition.
Kerry's position supporting Israel in its construction of a barrier —
the 480-mile project includes trenches, barbed wire and concrete walls —
goes against the international community, which has condemned it. The
position also is a change from what Kerry told Arab-Americans at a
conference last October, when he called the project a "barrier to
peace."
"It certainly was a bit of a slap in the face to us," said James Zogby,
president of the Washington, D.C.-based Arab American Institute. "It was
embarrassing."
Taleb Salhab, head of the Florida Arab American Leadership Council and
a Democratic activist in Orange County, conceded that Kerry's stronger
pro-Israel line would make it tougher to persuade Arab-American voters to
support him.
Still, he said Arab-Americans interested in seeing Palestinians getting
their own state and bringing peace to the region would be better off with
Kerry than with Bush, who Salhab said had essentially given Sharon carte
blanche to do whatever he wanted.
During Bush's three years in office, "more Palestinians and Israelis
have died than in any other three-year period in the last 30 years,"
Salhab said.
There are about 500,000 Jewish voters in Florida and about 120,000
Arab-American voters.
Michael Lebovitz, Jewish Outreach coordinator for the Bush-Cheney
campaign, said Kerry's changing position on the issue would help Bush win
more than the 19 percent of the Jewish vote he received nationally in
2000.
"The president has been steadfast in his support for Israel and helping
Israel remain safe and secure," Lebovitz said. "I contrast that with Sen.
Kerry, who, depending on the audience he's talking to, says different
things."
Zogby said he believes Kerry took some bad advice when he shifted his
position. He said Jewish voters tend to be fairly liberal on social issues
and the vast majority of them would have supported Kerry even with his
original stance.
"At the end of the of the day, I don't think they gained five votes,
but I think they lost many more than that," Zogby said.
He said he continues to support Kerry because he believes Bush has been
uncritically supportive of Israel and unengaged in the conflict there.
Kerry, who spoke to The Post Wednesday after meeting with about
65 Jewish community leaders from Palm Beach and Broward counties, also
said he would be better for Israel's security by fixing the "mess" in
Iraq.
"I think President Bush has drawn terrorists to the region who weren't
there previously," he said of the war in Iraq. Kerry also criticized
Bush's close ties to Saudi Arabia's ruling family and promoted an energy
policy focusing on alternative and renewable fuel sources.
"His sweetheart relationship with the Saudis... has not improved
Israel's security," Kerry said. "That energy policy will really make
Israel more secure, by letting us hold the Arab countries more
accountable."
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