The Right's New Crusade

By Romesh Ratnesar

For all the contradictory winds that have buffeted President Bush during the current Middle East crisis, one thing has remained constant: supporting Israel is smart politics. The pro-Israel lobby, headed by the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), remains one of the most powerful in Washington. The Jewish community is as united as it has ever been in its support of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's hard-line policies. Polls show that most Americans agree. Half say they sympathize with Israel in the conflict, and only 14% back the Palestinians. Two-thirds say Sharon was justified in sending tanks into Palestinian areas in retaliation for suicide bombings. It is no surprise that Senators, including the leaders of both parties, were lining up to co-sponsor a resolution introduced last week that endorses the Israeli government's actions as "necessary steps to provide security to its people." It took an urgent appeal by the White House late last week to persuade House majority whip Tom DeLay to delay a vote on an even stronger House version.

Yet Bush has never had it easy with Jewish voters: 80% of them voted against him in 2000, and some--mindful of the U.S.'s occasional clashes with the Israeli government during the older Bush's presidency--remain skeptical about the depth of W.'s commitment to Israel. Much of the pressure on Bush to throw his full support behind Sharon is coming from elsewhere. Today the most influential lobbying on behalf of Israel is being done by a group not usually seen as an ally of the largely Democratic Jewish community: Evangelical Christians.

Evangelicals have long supported the existence of the Jewish state. Fundamentalists believe that Israel is a covenant land promised to the Jews by God. "It doesn't belong to a group called the Palestinians," Pat Robertson said last month. To Evangelicals, the attacks on Israel by Palestinian suicide bombers are an important test in the global fight against Islamist terrorism, a campaign fiercely backed by the Christian right. So Israel is now the hottest political button for American Evangelicals. "You hear about it in the churches, on talk radio," says Ralph Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition. "In the past 30 days, I have seen this move to the top of public-policy concerns."

The White House is getting the message. At a meeting on April 10, sources tell TIME, Senate minority leader Trent Lott informed Bush that Republicans were under increasing pressure from the religious right to back Sharon. The next day, as Secretary of State Colin Powell headed to the Middle East, a group of Evangelical leaders led by the Rev. Jerry Falwell and former presidential candidate Gary Bauer sent Bush a letter demanding that the Administration "end pressure" on Sharon to withdraw from the West Bank. After Falwell adjured his followers to do the same, the White House was flooded with calls and e-mails. The next day, sources say, senior presidential aides phoned Falwell to reassure him that Bush stood behind Sharon.

Together with Jewish neoconservatives, the Christian right has attacked the Administration for making even tepid criticisms of Israel's military offensive, warning Bush against ceding the "moral clarity" of the war on terrorism. "We're concerned there's a duplicitous interpretation of the Bush doctrine--one for America and one for Israel," says Texas pastor John Hagee, who broadcasts his message on more than 230 TV and radio stations nationwide. Robertson told CNN that Bush's Evangelical support is "wavering a little bit" and that Bush made "a big mistake" by allowing Powell to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Falwell claims that for Christian conservatives, Israel's security and abortion are the two issues "that surpass all human alliances and friendships"--even with a President they helped elect. The Administration can't afford to ignore that kind of talk. Bush aides keep "a very tight finger on the pulse" of Evangelicals, says a White House adviser. "They know it's their meat and potatoes."

That has always been a problem for Republicans seeking to woo Jewish voters and financial support. Opposition to many pet causes of the Christian right, such as school prayer, has kept most Jews firmly in the Democratic camp. But that may be changing. At the AIPAC convention last week, one of the most enthusiastically received speakers was DeLay, the born-again Christian who has lately positioned himself as the most ardent Zionist in Congress. At the grass roots, Jews say they feel a growing solidarity with Fundamentalist Christians about Israel. "I listen to Rush Limbaugh now," says Moira Klein, 72, a liberal Jewish retiree who lives in Boca Raton, Fla., "and I like what I hear." Republicans hope that they will be hearing more from Jewish voters like her in November.

--By Romesh Ratnesar. Reported by Karen Tumulty and Michael Weisskopf/Washington and Broward Liston/Palm Beach

With reporting by Karen Tumulty and Michael Weisskopf/Washington and Broward Liston/Palm Beach