George H.W. Bush vs. Israel | Jewish Press |

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Although some argue Bush's foreign policy was a complex mix of support and opposition to Israel's foreign policy, a strong case can be made that the Bush administration was the most hostile to Israel in American history - until Barack Obama indisputably seized the presidential anti-Israel crown.

Perhaps most tellingly, upon his death last month as the oldest ex-president in American history, Bush was hailed by the Palestinian leadership as "the only U.S. president to have the guts to stand up to Israel."

Bush's term in office was marked by four years of relentlessly intense pressure on the Jewish state. He complained about "the power of the Jewish lobby," infamously characterizing himself as "one lonely guy standing up to something like 1,000 [Jewish] lobbyists on the Hill," and condemned AIPAC (the America-Israel Political Action Committee) and he invoked charges of "dual loyalty" against American Jews.

He also harshly criticized Israel's defensive efforts to quell the "First Intifada;" failed to veto nine anti-Israel UN resolutions in the Security Council; vociferously opposed Israeli "settlements," which he called "an obstacle to peace;" essentially forced Israel to refrain from defending itself by retaliating against Saddam Hussein's SCUD missile attacks; and later stated that "East Jerusalem" was not a sovereign part of Israel.

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Bush ultimately paid the price for his anti-Israel policies when he was defeated by Bill Clinton in his bid for reelection, in no small part due to Jewish anger; he went from 35 percent of the Jewish vote in 1988 to 11 percent in 1992, and Jewish financial support for his campaign all but evaporated. (Bush himself later attributed his defeat to "the Jewish Lobby.")

20 Years of Failed Middle-East Peace Policy | Jul 12, 2012 |