Another factor is christian zionists. Jerry Falwell threatened to start a new party if the Chimp didn't toe the line regarding Israel.
The christian zionists believe that Christ cannot return until Israel expands its control of middle eastern lands ... thus they are fervently against a pullout in Gaza or the West Bank, and believe it is essential for Israel to maintain control over all of Jerusalem:
Since 11 September support among Americans for Israel has grown massively as many now see the Middle East conflict as the frontline in the US "War on Terror".
Joining well-established Jewish lobby groups in America is a new and powerful phenomenon - Christian Zionism.
There are an estimated 40 million Christian Conservatives in America and they may be in a position to wield unprecedented influence in support of Israel.
At the Cornerstone Church in Texas 5,000 Christian worshippers cheer in support of Israel. "Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish state. Not since Camp David but since King David," says their leader, Pastor John Hagee.
Many high profile Israeli politicians have addressed this congregation, among them former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Cornerstone Church is by no means unique in America. Republican activist Gary Bauer says there is growing support for Israel from Christian Conservatives.
New allies
This new movement is forging an alliance with American Jewish organisations. They rely on grass-roots activists, encouraged by boosters like Nachum Segal.
He hosts America's biggest Jewish radio show - JM in the AM - Jewish Moments in the Morning. Mr Segal constantly urges his listeners to work in support of Israel.
The best-known pro-Israel lobby group is Aipac, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee. It is rated as one of the top five lobbying groups in Washington.
"Aipac has a lot of influence on foreign policy," says JJ Goldberg, editor of the Jewish newspaper The Forward. "They work hard to ensure that America endorses pretty much Israel's view of the world and the Middle East."
Aipac says its main role is providing information and denies that it puts pressure on politicians to support Israel.
By contrast, pro-Palestinian lobbyists say they face an uphill battle to make their voice heard. Khalid Turaani of American Muslims for Jerusalem says the pro-Israel lobby are better funded, better organised and much better established.
Influencing American policy?
Some left of centre activists like MJ Rosenberg of the Israeli Policy Forum are worried about the new alliance between hawkish Jewish groups and Christian conservatives. They fear it may constrain President George W Bush's ability to mediate fairly between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
"It's more than damaging," he says. "It's frightening."
But Congressman Robert Wexler ridicules suggestions that Israel's supporters control American policy in the Middle East. Instead, he says, America supports Israel because they share fundamental values.
"Americans are just solid, rock-solid with the people of Israel," says Congressman Wexler. "It is a democratic nation and a freedom-loving people and a very decent people and they deserve to have a free and secure state."
news.bbc.co.uk
For Christian Zionists, the modern state of Israel is the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham and the center of His action from now to the Second Coming of Christ and final battle of Armageddon, when the Antichrist will be defeated. But before this can occur, they say, biblical prophecy foretells the return of Jews from other countries; Israel's possession of all the land between the Euphrates and Nile rivers; and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple where a Muslim site, Dome of the Rock, now stands.
These beliefs lead to positions that critics say are uncompromising and ignore the fact that most Israelis want peace. "Pressuring the US government away from peace negotiations and toward an annexationist policy, that has a direct negative impact on the potential for change in the Middle East," says Gershom Gorenberg, a senior editor at The Jerusalem Report newsmagazine.
Two former chief rabbis of Israel, Avraham Shapira and Mordechai Eliahu, recently approved a ruling urging followers not to accept money from the groups, warning that their ultimate intent is conversion of Jews. (Christian Zionists believe that during the Last Days Jews must either accept Jesus as the Messiah or perish.)
Other Christians in the Holy Land oppose what they consider a false interpretation of Christianity that is heightening tensions here. "Christian Zionism transforms faith into a political ideology, and one that needs an enemy," says the Rev. Rafik Khoury, of the Catholic Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem.
But Christian Zionists argue that Christians' role is to back Israel wholeheartedly and conform to God's message in Genesis: "I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curses thee" (Gen. 12:3).
To this end, Christian groups have sponsored the migration of thousands of Jews from Russia, Ethiopia, and other countries. They've funneled resources into social programs for Israeli communities, and they encourage churches in the US to support Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.
"We stand for the right that all the land that God gave under the Abrahamic covenant 4,000 years ago is Israel's ... and He will regulate the affairs of how Israel comes into the allotment which is hers forever," says the Rev. Malcolm Hedding, director of International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), the largest of the Zionist groups with branches in 55 countries. Biblical Zionism rejects any effort to read the Scriptures spiritually or allegorically, Mr. Hedding says. "There is no such thing as a Palestinian," he adds.
Christian Zionism's roots
Christian Zionism is a more recent term for a 19th-century theology that began in England, called premillennial dispensationalism. It divides history into eras (dispensations) based on a complex interpretation of biblical texts in books such as Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation. Most other Christian groups view these prophecies as predictions fulfilled long ago or as visions with a purely symbolic or spiritual meaning. But premillennialists insist they will occur on earth in the future.
Israel's creation in 1948 and the Six-Day War of 1967 - in which Israel captured all of Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza - galvanized premillennialists to believe the Last Days had begun. Mr. Lindsey's book, the nonfiction bestseller of the 1970s, popularized premillennialist teachings for millions of Americans and put Israel right at the center, says Donald Wagner, professor of religion and Middle East studies at North Park University in Chicago. Lindsey started a consultant business, Dr. Wagner says, which involved sessions with the Pentagon, CIA, Israeli generals, and the US Congress.
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