Who's Winning the Mideast PR War?

Within the American Jewish community, there are groups that publicly oppose the support that organizations like AIPAC provide the Israeli government.

Earlier this year, Rabbi Michael Lerner started the Tikkun Community to provide a voice for liberal Jews and non-Jews. "We decided there needs to be an alternative to AIPAC because AIPAC believes all policy in the U.S. should be in accordance with the Israeli government's, regardless of its errors," he says.

But Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, dismisses groups such as Tikkun as a "fringe of a fringe" with "no significant constituency as an organization."

Hoenlein says his umbrella organization represents groups from across the ideological spectrum, and seeks to "coordinate issues concerning the Jewish community in the national and international arena."

On the international front, Hoenlein says that while the organization does not comment on the details of Israel's military operations, it supports Israel's right to defend itself. "After the spate of bombings, the attacks by homicide bombers, the terrorist attacks, Israel has a duty to protect its citizens," he says. "There's no country in the world that would tolerate it."

And AIPAC spokesman Josh Block says his group represents "the mainstream opinion" of the Jewish community in America. "We stand in complete solidarity with Israel and with providing strong, unshakeable support of the continuing bonds between the United States and Israel."

Vote Banks or Bank Accounts

While there is no debate about the strength of the mainstream Israeli lobby in Washington, there are varying opinions about whether the lobby draws its strength from vote banks or merely bank accounts.

A 2001 study conducted by the City University of New York found that while there were 2.8 million Americans who described themselves as Jewish, there were an additional 2.4 million Americans who said they had "a Jewish background." The 2001 CUNY study estimated that Muslims account for 1.1 million adults in the United States, or 1.8 million people overall.

But in an article published in the British magazine, Prospect, U.S. scholar Michael Lind argued that the Israeli lobby in the United States "is not primarily a traditional ethnic voter machine; it is an ethnic donor machine."

While Weiss is careful not to comment on whether the Jewish lobby in the United States exerts more political influence than the community's size, he says U.S. Jewish groups base their lobbying on economic interests.

"What I can say is that pro-Israel givers, like business interests, will give to any members of Congress that will act in its interests, regardless of geography," he says.

Keeping a Low Profile

In many circles, the political play of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian special interest groups is seen as a match between what Zogby calls "New York politics," with its large Jewish vote, and "Michigan politics," where districts such as Dearborn are home to large Arab-American populations.

But while President Bush actively courted the American Muslim vote during his 2000 campaign, many experts say cases of racial profiling after Sept. 11 and Bush's perceived pro-Israeli stand have led many American Muslims to question their endorsement of Bush.