Harper's support for Israel: Political, philosophical or both?

In 2010, while addressing an anti-Semitism conference in Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper launched into a full-throttle defence of Israel, sayingthat whatever the political cost, hewould take a stand against those who would single outthe Jewish statefor condemnation.

And mostsupporters and critics of his agree that he has been true to his word. Whether Harper's unwavering support of Israel is part of a cynical political strategy to gain votes among the Jewish community, or part of a deeply held conviction, he has ignored criticismthat Canada has abandoned its role as an honest broker in theMiddle East.

"I think this is one of those happy incidences in politics where personal principlecollides with or intersects with political self-interest, "said communications consultant Gerry Nicholls, who worked with Harperat theNational Citizens Coalition, a conservative think-tank.

Harper's strong support of Israel was revealed againrecently, when Canada found itself among only a handful of countries voting against the Palestinian bid for observer state status in the UN.

And the Harper government seemed to be alone in the world community in its reluctance to publicly condemn Israel's announcement to build housing units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, even though it's at odds with Canada's position on settlementsin the occupied territories.

Long-held conviction

Nicholls said he and Harperwould discussIsrael from time to time during their stint at National Citizens Coalition,and that Harper was always very sympathetic to Israel.

"In our conversations, he'd say 'Gerry, I'm very pro-Israel.' And this isnot something he needed to say for votes, this is not something he needed tosay for cynical political advancement, because he was just saying it to me," Nichollssaid.

"He was always saying that Canada needs to do more to support Israel, they're an important ally. SoI think it's just a matter of his own personal beliefs."

But Nichollssaid that Harper'sposition on Israel also helpshim out politically, by mobilizing his base, particularly those among the Christian right whotend tobestrongly pro-Israel.

However, Nicholls rejected the idea that Harper'ssupport for Israel stems from any personal religious conviction.

"He looks at Israel not in terms of their religion. He doesn't look at them as being Jews. He looks at them as being people who uphold Western values."

Jewish voter support increasing

Support forConservatives, who have targeted Jewish ridings,hasalso increasedamong Jewish voters, who have traditionally parked their votes with the Liberal Party. According to an Ipsos Reid exit pollfor the last election, 52 per cent of Jewish voters supported the Tories.

And a recent Nanos poll suggests that while half of Canadians prefer the government favour neither side, 19 per cent said the government should support Israel and only six per centsaid it should favour the Palestinians.

Lawrence Martin, Globe and Mail columnist and author of the book Harperland: The Politics of Control, agreed thatHarper's stance on Israel is driven by both political benefit and genuine conviction.

"He is a longtime supporter of Israel, sees it as a perennially threatened beacon of democracy and freedom in a region of violence and chaos. Hehas never had much kinship with the Arab world," Martin said via email.

But Harper's policy toward Israel, Martin said,has also been a major political success for him and "has won him strong support from a very important community and it has allowed him to cast himself as a principled leader."

Diplomatic shift toward Israel

Nowhere is this support more evident than at the United Nations.Harold Waller, a political science professor at McGill University, who specializes in Jewish political studies, said that while previous Canadian governments were supportive of Israel, Canada was somewhat mushy when it came to UN resolutions critical of Israel, and often abstained.

While there was a shift at the UNunder the Paul Martin government to be more supportive of Israel, it increased under the Harper government.

"I think Harper's backing of Israel is unprecedented for any Canadian prime minister. He's much more a staunch supporter of Israel than any of his predecessors," Waller said.

In 2006,during the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, when many nations criticizedIsrael for using disproportionate force, Harper saidthe Israeli response had been "measured."

The prime minister was also reportedly the lone holdout of the final communiqu from the G8 meeting in France last year dealing with Israel,and was able to remove areferenceabout Israel's pre-1967 borders.

As well, Canadabecame the first country to announce it wouldreview aid to the Palestinians following the parliamentaryelections in 2006 that saw Hamas come to power. It also become the first country to announce it would not takepart in theUN anti-racism conferencesof 2009 and 2011, accusing those conferencesofbeing forums to criticize Israel.

In 2010 then foreign affairs minister Lawrence Cannon raised some eyebrows when hecondemned Israel's announcementto build 1,600 apartments in east Jerusalem,sayingthat"we feel that this is contrary to international law and therefore condemn it. We're very concerned with what is taking place."

Hisoffice quickly followed up, denyingthe governmentwas escalating its language or changing its positionon Israel, but also did not repeatCannon's language that Israel's building plans were "contrary to international law."

And with Israel's announcement last week that it would build 3,000 more housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank,government officialsagain seemedreluctant to specifically condemn the actions, onlysayingthat "unilateral action by either side is not helpful."

Nicholls, who has been critical of Harper in the past, accusing the prime minister of compromising some of his conservative principles, praised Harper's consistencyon theissue of Israel, saying it's one of the few cases "where Stephen Harper NCC president is in perfect synch with Stephen Harper, prime minister of Canada."

"NCC president Stephen Harper would be saying the same thing and you don't often get that. I think most often NCC Stephen Harper would be raging at Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but this is one thing they'd both agree on."