These events helped ensure that support for Zionism, and later for Israel, would become a permanent part of American political culture. Every subsequent Republican and Democratic convention has adopted a plank supporting Israel. To do less became politically unthinkable.
The bipartisan support for Israel on Capitol Hill two weeks ago thus represented the continuation of a deeply rooted tradition in the politics of American foreign policy. The seeds sown by the father in 1944 were reaped by the son nearly seven decades later.
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Dr. Rafael Medoff is director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies in Washington and the historical consultant on a forthcoming documentary on Benzion Netanyahu.
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