Oh, there is a fair amount of pandering going on here. But the degree to which the US simply embraced Sharon's posistion suggests there is more to it then that.
Sharon's plan is considered radical even in Isreal and the American Jewish population is more to the left then Isreal in general. If his only goal was pandering for Jewish vote he would have been better served taking a more moderate posistion.
Either Bush's religion or the neo-con cable behind the Iraqi war influenced his posistion to be further to the right.
Jay