RAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 20 — Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, will appear in South Florida with Gov. Jeb Bush on Sept. 9 — the day before Mr. Bush's would-be challengers meet in the Democratic primary — at a pro-Israel rally where international affairs will share a stage with domestic political concerns.
Israeli consular officials in Miami said today that Mr. Sharon's appearance had nothing to do with the re-election campaign of President Bush's brother. But Florida Democratic leaders denounced the appearance as the latest instance of what they described as White House intervention on behalf of Governor Bush's campaign. They argued that the visit would help the governor this November and enhance the prime minister's standing with the White House at a time when the administration is torn by conflicting demands from Israeli and Arab leaders.
Mr. Sharon's visit to Florida will be his first to any American city other than Washington and New York since his election as prime minister in February 2001. He will fly directly from Israel to Miami, stay there a day, then spend three days in Los Angeles before heading home in time for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.
Miami and Los Angeles were both chosen because of their large Jewish populations, said Israeli officials, who added that as in Miami, the prime minister would be addressing Jewish groups in Los Angeles, but that they did not know whether he would be meeting with public officials there as well. The dates were chosen to fall in the week between the two Jewish High Holy Days, when there is a surge of attendance at American synagogues and many American Jews turn their attention to Israel.
"It may be bad timing in terms of national politics, but it's very good timing in terms of the Jewish High Holy Days and meeting the Jewish community, where they are assembled because of the Holy Days," said Miki Arbel, the Israeli consul general in Miami, clearly mindful that visits to retirees from their children swell the area's Jewish population around Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
Israeli officials said Mr. Sharon was visiting Florida in response to an invitation from the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, an organizer of the pro-Israel rally that he and the governor are to attend. Officials of the federation did not return numerous telephone calls seeking comment over the last two days.
The visit comes at a time of great flux in the Middle East, at a time of uncertainty over the administration's Middle East policy, and in a state that was at the fulcrum of the presidential selection process in 2000 and may well be so again in 2004.
The tetchiness of Florida's Democratic leaders over Mr. Sharon's appearance reflects their concern at the Republican effort to realign the Jewish vote in a crucial state that was once solidly Democratic. Several Democrats questioned why Mr. Sharon, whose aides say he is overwhelmed with invitations from Jewish leaders across the nation, would decide to accept one from Florida, particularly in the midst a political campaign involving the president's brother.
The Florida Democratic chairman, Bob Poe, described the visit as "absolutely improper" and a "shameless attempt at politics by the White House." He said Mr. Sharon's visit would be a huge news event that would obscure the last day of campaigning by the Democratic candidates for governor: former Attorney General Janet Reno, State Senator Daryl Jones and Bill McBride, a Tampa lawyer.
"It is happening because Jeb Bush has a brother who is president and they are trying to shore him up," Mr. Poe said. "There's been more stuff that has happened in Florida to help Jeb Bush, and this is just one more thing, right before the election. Fortunately, I think people are going to see right through this."
Ms. Reno's campaign manager, Mo Elleithee, said: "We've always known that we're up not only against the governor but also against the White House and that the White House will throw every resource it has into this race. That's because the governor's becoming increasingly more vulnerable by the day, and the White House is, I think, a little nervous."
The White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer, said here near the Bush ranch, where the president is vacationing, that the administration had played no role in Mr. Sharon's visit. "The White House was not involved," Mr. Fleischer said.
Todd Harris, a spokesman for Governor Bush, said that the organizers of the rally had contacted both the governor and the prime minister and that the governor's office had had nothing to do with arranging it. Mr. Harris said that the event had originally been scheduled for early summer but that it had been postponed because Mr. Sharon had delayed his visit, a result of a terrorist attack in Israel.
The state Republican chairman, Al Cardenas, laughed when told of Mr. Poe's remarks. "Talk about whining," he said. "It's irresponsible to be making wide-eyed statements like that without knowing the facts."
Mr. Cardenas disputed any suggestion that Mr. Sharon's visit would be a decisive factor in the mind of a Jewish voter. "Jewish American voters aren't going to say, `Jeez, Sharon came in, I'm going to vote for Jeb Bush,' " he said. But he acknowledged, "It does help them make up their mind."
To be sure, Mr. Sharon's visit has at least the potential to help Mr. Bush win a second term. Florida has a large Jewish population — 5 percent of the voters in the 2000 presidential election were Jewish, according to exit polls — and most of it is concentrated in the Miami area. Further, Mr. Sharon is arriving at a time when American Jews' concern about Israel is particularly heightened.
But an outcome helpful to Mr. Bush is far from certain. Mr. Sharon remains unpopular among some American Jews, because of his hard-line stands.
Beyond that, the Democrats' complaints notwithstanding, why would the White House seek help from Mr. Sharon that might not be needed? Some Democrats conceded today that the governor, whom they once viewed as vulnerable, now seemed to be in good shape heading into the fall campaign.
Another Democrat, Representative Peter Deutsch, who has a South Florida district, said he doubted any domestic political calculation behind Mr. Sharon's visit, because, he said, it would be viewed as heavy-handed. "If the White House were doing it, I think it would be a dumb political judgment," he said. "It would backfire."
Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, said his government was taking pains to ensure that it did not interfere with American politics. "We're going to do everything we can," he said, "to correct that impression."
Mr. Regev said Mr. Sharon might, for example, try to meet with the Democratic candidates as well. Aides to both Ms. Reno and Mr. McBride said they had not heard from the Israelis.
