Chicagoland Pro-Israel Political Update
Calling balls and strikes for the pro-Israel community since 2006
May 10, 2020
177 days till Election Day
If you remember nothing else, remember this:
- Trump vetoed a resolution that clarifying that he is unauthorized to take military action against Iran. We know now that Qassam Soleimani did not pose and "imminent threat" and that Trump broke the law. Thanks to Republican opposition, the Senate failed to override the veto.
- Trump is doing more for BDS than any BDS leader. By green lighting Israel's annexation of parts of the West Bank, Trump is helping to isolate Israel and pushing Israel toward a one-state solution instead of the two-state solution that Israel needs to remain both Jewish and democratic.
- Trump is not pro-Israel and he is not a friend of the Jewish community.
Read to the end for fun stuff and upcoming events. I love when you tell me about mistakes--consider it a quid pro quo.
You're welcome to read for free, but if you'd like to help defray the cost of the newsletter, please
click here and fill in the amount of your choice
. You don't need a PayPal account; the link will allow you to use a credit card. Or you can Venmo
@Steven-Sheffey
(last four 9479).
Friends,
Everyone should sleep well tonight knowing that the president who failed to keep Americans safe from the pandemic and spends his days ranting and raving about how unfairly he is treated
vetoed a war powers resolution that would have curbed his ability to direct military action against Iran without congressional authorization. On Thursday, the
Senate failed to override the veto.
Trump's
veto statement called the legislation "insulting" and contains an exclamation point, exactly the demeanor we expect from the President of the United States.
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) pointed out that "the President and his allies falsely claimed that attacking Iran was necessary to stop an imminent threat. When that house of cards fell apart, he chose to claim Congress authorized war with Iran 18 years ago, when it authorized the use of force against Saddam Hussain. It’s nonsense. If the President believes a war with Iran is in America's interest, he should make his case to Congress and the American people... Whether Congress overrides this veto or not, the President has no congressional authorization to attack Iran in the future.”
The war powers resolution was prompted by Trump's illegal assassination of Qassam Soleimani.
We now know
he was not an "imminent threat" and that Trump blew through "a legally established deadline to provide the public with legal and factual explanations for attacking Iran and other efforts to reinterpret his authority to use military force."
Rebecca Ingber explained why Soleimani’s “horrible past," as Trump put it, cannot justify the strike and why it matters, contrary to
Trump's assertion, whether Soleimani posed an imminent threat (and what that term means).
Colin Kahl went through the administration's shifting rationales for the strike, noting that "the legality of the strike is separate from whether one views the strike as moral (which it might have been) or strategic (which I am doubtful about)."
Trump is doing what BDS failed to do. The global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement seeks to delegitimize Israel and replace Israel with one non-Jewish state in what is now Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. The pro-Israel community opposes BDS because we believe that the Jewish people need and deserve a state. We reject the one-state solution and support a two-state solution, with independent states of Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security, because only such an arrangement can ensure the long-term viability of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and allow the Palestinians to live in peace and dignity. The current unwillingness of either side to move toward such a solution does not obviate the need for such a solution.
The best response to BDS is not
possibly unconstitutional legislation of questionable impact. A two-state solution, with two independent states recognizing the legitimacy of the other, would knock the legs out from under the BDS movement while simultaneously ensuring Israel's survival as a Jewish, democratic state.
The Trump administration
claims that it will only approve Israeli annexation if Israel agrees to Trump's peace plan, but
Michael Koplow and
Evan Gottesman point out that Trump's plan is not a plan for a two-state solution. As Gottesman recaps, "the Trump plan permits Israeli annexation of all Jewish settlements and broad swaths of the West Bank, leaving behind a Palestinian entity with highly circumscribed autonomy, a fractured territory, and no control over its own borders – in other words, a formalized one-state outcome."
Ami Ayalon, a former commander in chief of the Israeli Navy and former director of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, said last year that "Continuing the occupation is the single greatest threat to Israel’s safety, and to our existence as a democracy...Don’t listen to those who hysterically charge that it is 'anti-Israel' for American leaders to oppose the occupation or warn against annexation. Today, it is among the most pro-Israel things the United States can do."
Gilead Sher and Daniel Cohen explained that unilateral annexation would lead Israel to an unprecedented crisis of delegitimization, enhanced demonization and isolation. If you speak out against annexation, that's what you are speaking out against.
If you understand
Marty Lederman's analysis of the arguments for and against the legality of the settlements, you'll understand that pro-Israel advocates lose credibility by arguing that settlements don't violate international law.
Commanders for Israel’s Security, a non-partisan movement comprising over 300 retired IDF generals and their Mossad, Shin Bet and police equivalents, noted the "unacceptable precedents" set by Trump's so-called peace plan and warned of the danger to Israel posed by unilateral annexation of
any West Bank territory.
Michael Koplow explained that even unilateral Israeli annexation only of settlement blocs certain to become part of Israel under an eventual two-state solution could result in disastrous security and diplomatic consequences for Israel.
Upcoming Zoom Events--All Free, but RSVPs are required:
I guess this is a good problem to have: This list is now so large that while many people are local, even more live outside the Chicago area and have no interest in local news. If you want to be on a list that will receive infrequent newsletters about local issues and events, reply to this email and I'll add you.
Donations are welcome (because this costs money to send)
. If you'd like to chip in,
click here and fill in the amount of your choice
. You don't need a PayPal account; the link will allow you to use a credit card. If you'd rather send a check, please reply and I'll send you mailing information (please do NOT send checks to the P.O. Box). Venmo to @Steven-Sheffey (last four 9479) is fine too.
You’re reading this. So are other influentials. If you want the right people to know about your candidate, cause, or event, reply to this email to discuss your ad.
The Fine Print
: This newsletter usually runs on Sunday mornings. 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. © 2020 Steve Sheffey. All rights reserved.