Jewish Interest Groups In The Post-cold War Israeli Policies

The United States is a country with religious traditions,in which the religion plays a very important role in politics and society. The principle of secularism only indicates the separation between the institutions of the state and religion, rather than between the politics and religion. Religious pluralism is the main social and cultural characteristics of the America, which provides a favorable condition for the free development of Judaism. With the self-protection awareness and the sense of national responsibility, Jews has the willingness and ability to participate in politics, and the separation of powers in regime makes it possible for Jewish religious interest groups to make influence in politics.There are many religious interest groups in America, which help the religious forces involved in politics. Jewish religious interest groups possess strong organizations, rich resources, strict mode of operation, solid beliefs and active participation enthusiasm on politics. They have various channels and means to make far-reaching impacts on the formulation of American foreign policy, especially on Middle East issues. Compared with other religious interest groups, the Jewish interest groups tend to take more direct ways to communicate with the decision makers, make use of media , and provide financial support to affect the election.On the Middle East issue, the Jewish interest groups has been a clear-cut proponent for Israel, who actively making use of their advantages to make effect on the decision-making agenda. The U.S also shows its preference of Israel. The profound reasons of religious culture can explain for this. The Christian and the Judaism has many similarities. The dialogue between the two has last long.The government of W. Bush adheres to the policy of clearly favoring Israel, The pressure from Jewish interest groups can not be discounted. They focus on the United States aid policy, the United States - the Arab countries– Israel relation, as well as the Iranian nuclear issue. In general, Jewish interest groups are consistent with the government in the Middle East policy, but the interests of the two can not completely coincide. The attitude of policy makers will be more rational, because the United States -Israel relation as well as the Middle East policy is only part of the global strategy.