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Friends,

We are returning to normal. Last week, another Black youth was shot by a police officer, this time with his hands raised and empty. On Friday, another mass shooting--eight killed in Indianapolis. This is all about politics.

One party, the Republican Party, is blocking gun reform legislation. One party, the Republican Party, broke the norms of our republic and installed a Supreme Court that will use a misreading of the Second Amendment to block tough gun reform for decades. One party, the Republican Party, denies science and celebrates the maskless morons who continue to exacerbate the Covid crisis. One party, the Republican Party, blocks legislation to fight climate change (darn science again) and relies outdated economic theories to prevent economic relief. One party, the Republican Party, celebrates and elects leaders who inflame racial prejudice and embolden white supremacy.

As David Frum wrote following a previous gun tragedy, "Like ancient villagers, Americans accept periodic plagues [of gun violence] as a visitation from the gods, about which nothing can or should be done. The only permitted response is 'thoughts and prayers'--certainly never rational action to reduce casualties in future. Even to open the discussion as to whether something might not be done violates the taboos of decency: How dare you politicize this completely unpredictable and uncontrollable event! It is as if gun violence were inscrutable to the mind of man, utterly beyond human control.

 

"The fact that such things do not happen anywhere else with anything approaching the same frequency--that too is the work of some ineffable mystery. Who can say why such things happen so seldom in Canada and Australia and Britain and Germany and France, and so often in the United States? Who would be rude enough even to wonder?"

Then again, in a nation where 74 million Americans voted to reelect Donald Trump, is it really any wonder?

We celebrated Israel's 73rd Independence Day last week. The rebirth of a Jewish state of Israel after 2,000 years of exile is a modern miracle, and we should be proud of Israel's achievements against tremendous odds.

Yet instead of loving the Israel that is, some pro-Israel groups seem infatuated with an Israel that never was, except perhaps on the pages of Leon Uris's Exodus. They want Israel portrayed as fantasy rather than reality and are doing more harm than they realize--as Chemi Shalev wrote, "One of the main reasons for the growing disillusionment of American Jews, especially the younger generation, is the unbearable discrepancy between the idyllic Israel they were sold and their realization of reality on the ground."

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak--the most decorated soldier in Israel's history--wrote in his memoir that as long as the occupation is an interim arrangement with the ultimate goal of a political resolution of the conflict with the Palestinians, treating Jewish settlers differently from Palestinians in the West Bank, legally and politically, is defensible. "But under a one-state vision, it will become harder and harder to rebut comparisons made with the old South Africa."

Former prime ministers Ehud Olmert, and Yitzhak Rabin (who compared settlements to cancer) have also warned that Israel risks becoming an apartheid state (their words) if it does not achieve a two-state solution. Today, pro-Israel means supporting Israel's safety and security as a Jewish, democratic state, which means speaking out for the values shared by the U.S. and Israel--even in the breach by either party, and continuing to support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.

Pro-Israel advocacy is more effective if it is based on a mature understanding and love for the real Israel, wonders, flaws, and all, respect for all inhabitants of the land, Jewish and Arab, and an understanding that pro-Israel does not mean pro-Bibi.

Do you know any Republican Jews? If you do, tell then enough is enough and share this article with them. Too long to read? At least read this:

"If the distinct parallels between Trumpism and Nazism didn’t bother Republican Jews before Jan. 6, and if the obvious parallels between QAnon conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic myths like the blood libel and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion didn’t trouble them, there’s really no reason to expect them to come around now. And if they don’t, the majority of Jews cannot remain silent in their outrage and alarm at the danger to our country posed by Republicans’ embrace of extremist violence, autocracy and racism...

"If American Jews of the left and right share a fierce devotion to Israel, only one side seems to care at the moment about the values Israel was created to defend...If Republican Jews don’t have the sense to feel ashamed of what they helped bring about in the Trump era, then the progressive majority of American Jews should have no hesitation about creating that shame for them...That isn’t 'cancel culture.' It’s morality, coupled with the realpolitik necessary to defend ourselves against a blind, amoral betrayer run amok in our own house." 

A majority of Senate Democrats signed a letter supporting return to the JCPOA. Their letter notes that Trump's failed "maximum pressure" strategy brought Iran closer to the capacity to develop nuclear weapons and urges a “compliance for compliance” approach as a starting point to reset U.S. relations with Iran. "Should Iran be willing to return to compliance with the limitations set by the JCPOA, the United States should be willing to rejoin the deal and provide the sanctions relief required under the agreement." At that point, we can address Iran's other malign activities and extend certain nuclear limitations in the JCPOA.

Max Boot, who opposed the Iran Deal in 2015, writes that 'in hindsight, it’s obvious that the JCPOA was the most effective blow yet struck against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. It reduced Iran’s uranium stockpile by 98 percent and established 24/7 monitoring of its key nuclear facilities."

Boot calls Trump's decision to leave the JCPOA the "worst U.S. foreign policy blunder since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq," noting that Iran has since then met none of the 12 demands Secretary of State Pompeo laid out in 2018, that Trump's sanction have not diminished by "one iota" Iran's support for murderous proxies, and that Iran has rapidly increased uranium production.

We know what the world is like with and without the Iran Deal. It is better with the Iran Deal. Yet opponents of a clean reentry into the deal--as a first step toward addressing the other problems left unaddressed by Trump--are raising the same debunked objections, as if they've been asleep since 2015. Sanctions for the sake of sanctions don't work. They hurt Iran's economy, but they goad Iran into increasing, not ceasing, its nefarious activities.

The prospect of sanctions relief can incent Iran to make concessions--that's what "compliance for compliance" is--but if we insist on a a one-and-done deal that ends Iran's nuclear program, ends its human rights violations, ends its other malign activities, turns its spears into pruning hooks, and gives everyone chocolate ice cream on demand, Iran will have nuclear weapons long before negotiations are over, and even the strongest sanctions won't slow Iran down.

Last week's newsletter.

ICYMI. Antony Blinken’s Yom HaShoah speech was remarkable — it acknowledged U.S. complicity.

Tweet of the Week. Vaccine sommelier.

Twitter Thread of the Week. Rex Huppke on Adam Toledo.

Video Clip of the Week. Mick Jagger and Dave Grohl with the best song yet to come out of the pandemic.

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The Fine Print: This newsletter usually runs on Sunday mornings. If you receive it as an ICYMI on Wednesday it's because you didn't open the one sent on Sunday. Unless stated otherwise, my views do not necessarily reflect the views of any candidates or organizations that I support or am associated with. I reserve the right to change my mind as I learn more. Intelligent, well-informed people may disagree with me; read opposing views and decide for yourself. A link to an article doesn't mean that I agree with everything its author has ever said or that I even agree with everything in the article; it means that the article supports or elaborates on the point I was making. I take pride in accurately reporting the facts on which I base my opinions. Tell me if you spot any inaccuracies, typos, or other mistakes so that I can correct them in the next newsletter (and give you credit if you want it). Advertisements reflect the views of the advertisers, not necessarily of me, and advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their advertisements. I read, value, and encourage replies to my newsletters, but I don't always have time to acknowledge replies or to engage in one-on-one discussion. Don't expect a reply if your message is uncivil or if it's clear from your message that you haven't read the newsletter or clicked on the relevant links. © 2021 Steve Sheffey. All rights reserved.