Elsewhere, the neoconservative media's demonizing of Yasser Arafat ("His behavior is increasingly reminiscent of Hitler in 1945," said National Review Online in one of its countless Arafat screeds), is producing only partial political success. Let's be clear: Americans don't like Arafat. According to recent polls, most doubt that the PLO president wants to achieve peace, and his minuscule approval rating in a CBS survey might actually be zero, since his 2 percent standing falls within the margin of error.

Yet at the same time, the vast majority, according to a Newsweek poll, don't believe Arafat controls the actions of the suicide bombers. The notion that the Palestinian leader could call off the bombings in an instant has been talking point No. 1 from the Israeli lobby and the conservative press for weeks, but they haven't convinced the public.

In poll after poll Americans continue to express steadfast support and sympathy for Israel's struggle for security. But if you venture beyond the generalities, cracks emerge -- cracks the conservative press has been unable to mend.

According to recent surveys:

  • Sixty percent think the U.S. should reduce economic aid to Israel if it does not withdraw military forces from Palestinian cities. (Time-CNN)
  • Despite howls of protest from conservatives, the vast majority of Americans (70 percent) are in favor of Powell's trip to the region. (Time-CNN)
  • Three-fifths say Israel should give back the lands it seized in the 1967 Middle East War if Arab countries would fully normalize relations. (MSNBC)
  • A majority of Americans don't think the Sharon government is willing to make concessions to make peace. (CBS)
  • More Americans support keeping quiet rather than criticizing Palestinians and their leader Yasser Arafat. (CBS)
  • Less than 50 percent think Israel's "actions in the current conflict" are "mostly justified." (CNN)

There's more. Asked about U.S. policy toward Israel, more Americans (39 percent) told CNN they think we should "apply strong pressure to Israel to stop military actions against the Palestinians," rather than "actively support Israel in what it's doing" (32 percent).

In other words, just 3 out of 10 Americans subscribe to the neo-con approach of supporting Israel unconditionally.

Perhaps most surprising is the fact that nearly 40 percent of Americans consider the violence committed by Israel against Palestinians to be terrorism, according to an ABC News poll. The Israeli lobby's pundits have for weeks argued relentlessly that Israel is merely fighting terrorism alongside Uncle Sam. Yet 4 out of 10 Americans think Israel is conducting terrorism in the West Bank.

Right before Israel's recent military incursion, GOP pollster Frank Luntz was asked about the generally split public opinion among Americans regarding who's to blame for the unrest between Israelis and Palestinians. He told MSNBC's Matthews, "It was never this close in the past." He noted that American opinion "absolutely should have" turned more pro-Israeli at this point, and the fact that it hasn't must "be alarming to Israeli interest in this country."

The reason? "The poor response by the Israeli public-opinion machine," said Luntz. "The inability of Israelis to explain what is really happening over there."

Fox News' Morton Kondracke says the same thing, suggesting Palestinians are "doing a much better job of stating their case than the Israelis."

But the notion that Palestinian spokesmen -- who often speak English with clipped, occasionally unintelligible accents and inevitably have to explain or defend repugnant suicide bombers -- are outflanking a cadre of well-groomed Israeli representatives on the American airwaves seems to be a stretch.

In fact, there's evidence that Americans are seeing through the rhetoric of pundits on both sides, and viewing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a long-running, nationalistic battle for land, with plenty of blame on both sides, and one in which both sides will have to compromise to reach peace.

And that realization may be precisely what the pro-Israel media lobby in America most dreads.

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