Florida voters in Israel look on in amazement

Preserving America's special relationship with the Jewish state has always been one of the core issues motivating Israel's approximately 40,000 American voters (mostly Jews from New York, California, Illinois and Florida) to bother with voting long-distance. This year, Joe Lieberman added spice to the drama as the first Orthodox Jew to run for vice president.

Franklin, the Democrats Abroad volunteer, believes the number of American voters in Israel may have swelled to "50,000 or 60,000 voters," even though Lieberman's presence on the Democratic ticket wasn't necessarily always perceived as favorable.

Inbar says she was "inspired [to vote] by Lieberman running as vice president. I thought it was a very brave move by Gore to choose Lieberman in spite of the damage he could have caused his candidacy." Kellner, on the contrary, voted for Gore despite his Jewish sidekick. "I'm sure he's a fine and observant fellow, but when Jews are in high places they tend to bend over backward to show that they're evenhanded, and Jews end up getting the short end of the stick."

Lieberman, who once ardently supported the idea of moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem -- thereby recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's legitimate capital and rejecting Palestinian claims to half the city -- has already toned down his discourse. "Now he's saying he's not sure it's the right time for it," points out Franklin.

Lieberman or no Lieberman, it was almost inevitable that Gore would win the day in Israel. In a country that depends heavily on American empathy, money and leadership, Americans here voted above all on the basis of the two presidential candidates' interest in foreign policy. "Bush has no knowledge of foreign relations," says Inbar. "I see how important having a good strong American president is for Israel. Americans in America don't realize how important a good American president is for the whole world. It could be a matter of life and death, literally.

"We need someone to keep [the Middle East] region from exploding," Inbar continues. "Just look in recent weeks at how Clinton has tried to keep a lid on the events." Inbar, who is a fan of President Clinton and a supporter of the peace process, hopes Gore will continue Clinton's course of action.

Kellner, by contrast, holds no great esteem for Clinton. "He focused on the peace prize and his view was flawed from the beginning. [Yasser] Arafat has shown that he is not interested in peace, he is only interested in destroying us. It's sad that within our lifetime, we had Hitler -- and now to be confronted with this ... The intifada, Muslims against us everywhere, the burning of synagogues." That said, Kellner doesn't see a compelling alternative in Gore's rival. "Bush has no understanding of what's going on in Israel."

That Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney, made a fortune from Arab oil is also seen as a liability.

"Gore is the lesser of two evils. We need leadership in the world," says Kellner. Like many American residents in Israel, Kellner and Inbar have dual citizenship and see these elections through the prism of Israeli realities. At a time when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is perceived as faltering and weak in the face of Palestinian aggression, Israelis feel a particularly strong need for a reliable helmsman in the United States. "We need leaders," sighs Kellner. "We need a Moses to come out of the desert."

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