With regard to Bush and his team, there is a feeling—maybe more with regard to the secretary of state than the president himself—that there are other considerations involved, whether it is to get Arab support for American interests in Iraq, or if it is for their own personal and historic record once they are out of office.
FP: Will the ongoing violence in Gaza overshadow the visit?
ZS: It could, but I don’t think so. The Israeli government and many Israelis believe Israel is holding back from military action because of the visit and because of the Annapolis process. Everyday, rockets and mortar shells are raining down. How long are we, the people living here, going to pay the price? I don’t want to speak for the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, but I think they would say they are angry and basically it’s the fault of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. So in my view, it’s not going to be an obstacle to the Bush visit.
FP: Tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated in recent days following a near clash between Iranian ships and the U.S. Navy in the Strait of Hormuz. How is this story playing in Tel Aviv?
ZS: It’s not making a big impact. Funnily enough, Israelis seem to be more interested—because we are all avid politicos—in New Hampshire, which gets a lot more exposure in the press than the thing in the Arab Gulf.
FP: So Israelis are paying close attention to the U.S. elections? Who are they favoring?
ZS: They’re following them very, very closely. It’s almost unbelievable. It’s as if elections are being held in Israel, both on TV, the radio, and the written press. It’s because of the closeness of the relationship. Most Israelis are sophisticated and understand that the relationship between Israel and the United States is a basic strategic asset and a political fact. People remember in the not-too-distant past when there were Israeli governments that had confrontations with American administrations. The public didn’t like that and voted them out of office. People are definitely interested in—to put it a bit crudely—who is better for Israel. On that count, I think the general opinion is that most Israelis prefer the Republican candidates, followed by Hillary Clinton. People just don’t know Barack Obama. They’ve seen some statements from him they may be a bit worried about. All the things that are being said in the primaries really don’t count that much. But Israelis are fascinated.
Zalman Shoval is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States. He is currently president of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce.
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