Stephen Harper has always been very careful not to offend the political base that underpins his party.

And whether he did it to his political benefit or not, the Prime Minister shored up that foundation last week when he forcefully took the part of Israel in the recent violence in the Middle East.

For anyone who has cared to notice, the position of the leadership of Canada's small-c conservatives on the Middle East has been anything but soft over the past decade or so.

Mr. Harper's controversial remarks on a transatlantic flight that Israel had taken a "measured" response in the current crisis underlines this evolution in policy, and proves to anyone who was still wondering that the traditional public show of Canadian neutrality in the region is a thing of the past.

Since Stockwell Day took over the Canadian Alliance in 2000, leaders of the small-c conservatives in Canada have taken a strong public position in favour of Israel.

In part, Mr. Day was reflecting the views of right-wing Christians.

Conservatives who want to see Canada repair its relationship with the United States will also be pleased with where Mr. Harper's Middle East policy is going, as will those who believe that the only strong democracy fighting terrorism in the region should be vigorously defended.

"It's a marriage of principle and politics," said one Ottawa expert, who asked not to be identified by name.

Lloyd Mackey, editor emeritus of the Christian Current and a leading journalist in Canada on the relationship between Christianity and politics, says the right-wing Christians who make up a significant portion of Mr. Harper's movement like the stand.

"The evangelical Christian viewpoint, which was adopted by a fair number of Social Crediters and Reformers, has always tended to be quite pro-Israel," said Mr. Mackey, also the author of a recent Harper biography, The Pilgrimage of Stephen Harper .

"To that extent, there is an element in there, in some ways, that Harper's first statement on this would have reflected an attempt to nuance the viewpoint that was present in a lot of Reformers that Israel needs to protect itself against its enemies."

But many senior members and leaders of the party -- including his parliamentary secretary, Jason Kenney, and Mr. Day, now Public Security Minister -- are in favour of such a policy. They are not individuals that Mr. Harper can easily afford to offend.

"Very clearly, some important Reformers have wanted to take that kind of a line and take it very firmly and very openly," added Steve Patten, a political scientist with the University of Alberta.

Secondly, conservative Canadians who support the war on terrorism will be heartened by the fact that Mr. Harper continues to back Israel against those groups that oppose its right to exist.

Although a more nuanced position might be to suggest that Israel react with more restraint, Mr. Harper almost certainly believes that the more easily understood message is to back the country that reflects the mores of Canadian society.

By doing so, he probably appeals to a portion of the lower-income mainstream that voted for his party earlier this year, say his supporters.

Of course, whether the pro-Israel position is useful in Mr. Harper's efforts to win votes is a more open question.

The Tories have had problems in this area in the past. Witness the firestorm that engulfed then prime minister Joe Clark when he tried to move the Canadian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem almost 30 years ago.

One senior Tory believes that Mr. Harper has made a bad calculation.

There are not, for example, enough votes among Canadians of Jewish background to make up for those other voters who are upset with the idea that Canada has given up some of its independence by hewing to the U.S. line.

But to believe that Mr. Harper didn't say what he meant is to ignore several years of evolving conservative ideology.

"I don't think it's positive growth material," said the source. ". . . But this isn't necessarily winning politics. It's sound policy."

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