Michael Freund served as Deputy Director of Communications and Policy Planning in the Prime Minister’s Office from 1996 to 1999. He can be reached at msfreund@netvision.net.il.
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It won't be easy for many American Jews to admit it, but George W. Bush is quickly shaping up to be one of the best friends Israel has had in the White House.

At first glance, that may seem like an exaggeration. After all, for a good part of last year, the Bush Administration, and especially the State Department, issued periodic condemnations of Israeli actions against Palestinian terror. There were times when it seemed that no matter what Israel did to defend itself, Washington was quick to denounce it.

But all that seems to have changed after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. After years of viewing the Middle East through the warped prism of moral relativism, in which both sides were said to be at fault, America quickly rediscovered that there are good guys and bad guys in this world, and they must be treated accordingly.

Thus, while his predecessor in the Oval Office spent eight years coddling Yasser Arafat and overlooking the Palestinian dictator's penchant for violence, President Bush has now adopted a tough new approach to the Gangster of Gaza, one that bodes well for Israel in its fight against terror.

For the first time, the U.S. is said to be considering adding one of Yasser Arafat's Fatah groups - the Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigade - to the list of outlawed terrorist organizations. Such a move would not only reinforce Israel's assertion that Arafat himself is involved in terror, but it would mark the first time in a decade that the U.S. would be officially designating a group that answers to Arafat as "terrorist", with all the political and legal ramifications that entails.

Recently, Israel has also begun to enjoy unprecedented American support for its counter-terror efforts. Asked last week about Israel's policy of confining Arafat to Ramallah, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, "The president understands the reason that Israel has taken the action that it takes, and it is up to Chairman Arafat to demonstrate the leadership to combat terrorism." Similarly, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher labeled it an act of "self-defense".

When was the last time that an American administration showed such understanding for Israel's actions?

Even more refreshing has been the public disapproval that the U.S. has begun to show for Arafat of late. President Bush over the weekend told reporters that he was "very disappointed" in Arafat and accused him of "enhancing terror." The White House has also invited Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to visit Washington, an invitation it has demonstrably refrained from issuing to Arafat, despite his pleading and cajoling.

Under the Clinton administration, such treatment of Arafat would have been unthinkable, if only because Clinton and his "peace team" were far too eager to overlook Arafat's involvement in terror lest it interfere with their efforts to keep the Oslo process going. Having served as midwives for the Oslo accords, Clinton and his advisers refused to countenance the possibility that they had been wrong - dead wrong - in their assessment of Arafat's strategic intentions.

The sea-change that has taken place in American policy should not be overlooked or ignored by Israel and its supporters. Yes, there are still several highly problematic issues, such as American support for the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the intolerable interference in Israel's internal affairs by U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer. But the momentum of support is clearly shifting in Israel's direction, and it would be an error to focus exclusively on what is wrong rather than working to cultivate what is right.

Perhaps the greatest irony in all this, however, is that it seems to have taken President Bush just a year to understand what Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has failed to grasp since 1993 - namely, that Yasser Arafat is neither trustworthy nor credible, and that he remains an unrepentant terrorist.

Hopefully, Washington's strong new stance toward Yasser Arafat will finally wake up a few of the quixotic officials in Israel's Foreign Ministry, who continue to delude themselves that Arafat is a partner for peace. But regardless of whether that occurs, the time has come for all of us to send a loud and clear message to the Oval Office: Thank you, President Bush! And keep up the pressure on Arafat and the PA - the Jewish people are behind you all the way.

Views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.

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