61% of American voters support a ceasefire in Gaza, while only 14% of lawmakers in Congress support it. Is the Jewish lobby supporting Israel still as powerful and influential as it was before?

No.. This is what is revealed in a report by the American website Responsible Statecraft that sheds light on the growing division within the corridors of American politics, and how some explain this division.

From the first moment of the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, Joe Biden declared his absolute support for Israel, and promoted its misleading narrative regarding the war in Gaza. The American President’s complete adoption of the Israeli narrative reached the point of questioning the numbers of martyrs from the barbaric bombing of the Gaza Strip. But with the passage of time, the tone of the American discourse towards the Israeli aggression began to change noticeably, without changing the level of military and logistical support, which indicates that the disagreement between the two allies is not related to the declared goals of the aggression, but rather to the method of implementing them, most likely. But in any case, and through the development of events, the differences between Tel Aviv and Washington escalated and emerged from closed rooms into the open.

Supporting Israel is the “path of least resistance”

A senior Democratic lawmaker recently said that it is easier to support Israeli government policy, in many cases at the expense of Palestinians, because pro-Israel lobbyists have a relatively more influential presence on Capitol Hill.

Lawmaker Jim Himes (D-Conn), the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a meeting with constituents on October 23 that “the Palestinians have very legitimate claims” and “have been subjected to brutal injustice.” But he added that pro-Israel groups — including J Street and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — automatically make many members of Congress pro-Israel simply because it is “the path of least resistance.”

Although polls show that most Americans consider themselves supportive of Israel, their support is by no means unconditional when it comes to how the Israelis wage what they claim is a “war against Hamas in Gaza.”

More than two months after the Israeli army’s aggression, supported by the United States and the West, on the Gaza Strip with the aim of eliminating Hamas, it is still unable to liberate the prisoners or achieve any form of military victory to cover up its ongoing defeat since Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” on July 7. October.

“Al-Aqsa Flood” is the name given by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” to its comprehensive military operation against the occupation army, which has imposed a stifling siege on the Gaza Strip for 17 years. At exactly six o'clock in the morning local time in Palestine that day, Hamas launched a Palestinian invasion of the cover settlements adjacent to the besieged Gaza Strip, where fighters from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades stormed the towns adjacent to the Strip, after they penetrated the iron wall and crushed the Gaza Division of the occupation army, in There was air cover from thousands of rockets fired from Gaza towards Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the cities of the south.

Amid the state of panic and shock that gripped the Israelis, the spread of video clips and pictures of tanks and armored vehicles belonging to the occupation army, either burned or under the control of Palestinian resistance, the capture of dozens of occupation army soldiers and settlers, and complete Palestinian control over settlements, the occupying state declared that it was “in a state of war.” For the first time since the October War of 1973, it is an acknowledgment that the Palestinian resistance attack is a military attack.

61% of voters want a ceasefire

A recent study of potential American voters found that 61% support the call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where weeks of intense bombing by Israeli occupation forces have caused nearly 19,000 people to live, the overwhelming majority of whom are children and women, in addition to widespread destruction that has caused It affected most of the Gaza Strip. But despite this broad support, only 14% of members of the US House of Representatives declared their public support for the ceasefire.

But pro-Israel groups make significant campaign contributions, frequently visit members of Congress, and lobby for support for Israeli government activities, say critics who spoke to Responsible Statecraft.

Rep. Himes held a virtual meeting to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with constituents on October 23, led by the Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. According to a recording of the event obtained by Responsible Statecraft, when asked about his tendency to begin his statements with support for Israel, Himes gave several answers, one of which addressed the near-constant presence of pro-Israel lobbyists.

“In this office I receive six to eight visits a week from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is a somewhat pro-Israel right-wing group, and J Street, which is a pro-Israel left-wing group,” Himes said. “I have not received any visits from a Palestinian group, although I do receive Visits over 15 years.

“Again, I'm not criticizing anyone, I'm just stating the facts as they appear. So I think the path of least resistance for a tremendous number of members of Congress is to reflect the way you care about it. And the reason I want to talk more about that is because, as “You know, the Palestinians have very legitimate demands, and at times they have been subjected to brutal injustice, and yet there is no one to tell their story.”

Himes pointed to the influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in explaining lopsided support for Israel in Congress: “The committee has been doing this for sixty years. They come and they sit in offices, and they say, you know, ‘Here are three things we would really like you to consider doing, would you? You're going to do it?" And I'm not saying the committee is good or bad, I'm just saying that I know what's effective in presenting it to members of Congress, and frankly what breaks my heart is that there's no Palestinian group that comes along and says: Let's tell you what our aspirations are, let's tell you some stories. "Let us tell you what the settlers are doing outside Ramallah."

The influence of the Jewish lobby declined

“I'm curious to know what he means by 'path of least resistance,'" Lara Friedman, president of the Middle East Peace Foundation, told Reponsible Statecraft. "Does he mean that this is the path that rewards me in terms of campaign support, or on the other hand, how do I avoid the consequences?" Another potential negative like someone giving massive support to my primary opponent?”

Rep. Himes did not receive much financial support from pro-Israel groups. However, last year saw the largest campaign spending by pro-Israel donors of any congressional session in the past 30 years.

Amid this wave of money, the largest contributor to Himes' campaign committee in 2022 was the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and the group has recently clashed publicly with several critics in Congress, ranging from Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) to Rep. Thomas Massie (Republican from Kentucky).

Next year, groups affiliated with the committee are expected to spend more than $100 million on primaries in an attempt to oust Democratic lawmakers they see as not sufficiently supportive of Israel or vocal about Palestinian rights.

The impact of campaign spending is well known among Congressional insiders. “Any member of Congress knows that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is indirectly tied to large sums of campaign spending if you agree with them, and large sums of money against you if you don't agree with them,” said former Rep. Brian Byrd (D-Wash.). He added: "When key votes are cast, the question on the House floor, alarmingly, is often not what is the right thing to do for the United States of America? But how will this committee achieve that goal?"

During the October 23 meeting, Rep. Himes explained his reasons for not supporting calls for a permanent ceasefire. “Unless someone can convince me that there is an alternative mechanism to bring those who committed this grave crime against Israel...to justice, I will not do it,” Haymes said, referring to the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Haymes said: “My theme was twofold, which is that we will support Israel in the face of this disgusting attack, and secondly, that we need to ensure that the Israeli response is moderate, that they adhere to the laws of armed conflict, and that Israel abandons its rhetoric of leveling Gaza to the ground and the siege, and that "Everything is being done right from a human point of view."

Himes, who served eight terms in Congress, attended Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint session of Congress in 2015, where he criticized President Obama's diplomacy with Iran and received a standing ovation. But Himes had harsh words for the controversial leader during the founding meeting on October 23.

“This problem will not end until there is a two-state solution,” he said. “It is very unfortunate that the current Israeli prime minister is doing almost everything in his power to make that impossible. Of course, this is part of the reason why anger has risen to the levels it was before the Hamas attacks in October 7.”

More than two months later, members of Congress have increasingly expressed concern about Israel's bombing of Gaza, and President Biden has called Israel's bombing campaign "indiscriminate," positions that appear to have become more acceptable weeks after the call in which Himes referred to pro-Israel positions as "indiscriminate." Path of least resistance.”

The conclusion here is that the American Jewish lobby supporting Israel is still able to influence the positions of many members of Congress, but it has become clear that this influence is no longer as strong as it was before.

Source: Arabic Post