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April 30, 2023
Key Takeaways:
- Only the Democratic Party supports military assistance to Israel and the two-state solution that is essential for Israel's future as a Jewish, democratic state. Tuesday's vote on a resolution that omitted support for a two-state resolution exemplified the political games Republicans play with Israel.
- Only in the Democratic Party is pandering to antisemites and white supremacists a disqualifying factor for higher office.
- Bipartisan support for Israel and opposition to antisemitism would be ideal. But the best way to achieve bipartisan support is not by papering over the differences between the parties but by withholding support from Republicans until they change their policies.
- Pursuant to a resolution introduced by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) in 2005, President Biden proclaimed May 2023 as Jewish American Heritage Month.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and our May 3 Zoom event with Adam Frisch, the Jewish Democrat running against Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
You're welcome to read for free, but if you want to chip in to help defray the cost of the newsletter, click here to pay by credit card or PayPal. Just fill in the amount of your choice. Or Venmo @Steven-Sheffey (if it asks, the last four phone digits are 9479).
Hi Steve,
For decades, bipartisan support for Israel has been a mantra of the pro-Israel community. But wishful thinking will not make it so. Some Democrats do all they can to draft resolutions and legislation that appeal to both parties, but as we saw last week, and as we will continue to see as long as Republicans control the House, Republicans will use Israel as a wedge issue for political gain.
Democrats and Republicans continue to support military assistance to Israel but Republicans no longer support a two-state solution, which was once bipartisan consensus.
On Tuesday, the House voted overwhelmingly in favor of H. Res. 311, a non-binding resolution honoring Israel on its 75th birthday. However, as Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, noted in a statement co-signed by other pro-Israel stalwarts, “Unlike previous resolutions honoring Israel’s birthday and achievements, this resolution, principally drafted by Republicans, broke the longstanding bipartisan tradition of acknowledging the importance of achieving a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. However, the strong bipartisan vote on H. Res. 311 was an important opportunity for the House to formally express our support for Israel as we have on similar occasions in the past."
Ron Kampeas reported that a Democratic senior staffer said that “We worked diligently with Foreign Affairs Committee Republican staff to find a way to maintain precedent and maintain two-state language when honoring Israel’s birthday which has been done for decades. Unfortunately, Republican leadership could not accept two-state language and we were forced to move ahead with a ‘happy birthday.’” I cannot recommend strongly enough that if you want to understand what happened, you read Kampeas's entire article.
Nevertheless, H. Res. 311 passed 401-19, with all but one Republican and 90% of Democrats voting in favor. But this gives Republicans a chance to shift the focus from the 90% of Democrats who voted for the resolution despite its deliberately drafted imperfections to the 10% who voted no because of its imperfections. Nicely done, Kevin McCarthy.
If we support Israel (I think you do, Steve, or else you wouldn't be reading this newsletter), should we be more concerned that if two-state language was included the percentage of Democrats supporting the resolution would have gone from 90% to close to 100% or should we be more concerned that if two-state language was included the percentage of Republicans supporting the resolution would have dropped to zero?
If you think Ron Kampeas's reporting is wrong or my analysis is wrong, send me a statement from any Republican member of Congress issued since Kevin McCarthy became Speaker indicating support for a two-state solution and I'll include it in next week's newsletter (but I will not pay you $5 million).
Democrats are better on Israel. Republicans will continue to play the games they played on Tuesday but they no longer support a two-state solution. Unless they return to what was and should be bipartisan consensus on this issue they cannot be considered fully pro-Israel even if they continue to join Democrats in supporting military aid to Israel pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Israel negotiated by the Obama-Biden administration.
Republicans love to feign outrage over the 10% or less of Democrats who are outside the mainstream on Israel. If votes in Congress were weighted based on Twitter followers or media hits, I might be worried too. But that’s not how it works. The votes in Congress prove the strength of Democratic support for Israel and opposition to antisemitism:
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In July 2019, the House passed H.R. 1837 with no opposition (that means no Democrats opposed it), which provided for enhanced cooperation between the U.S. and Israel, security assistance for Israel (including codification of the record $38 billion Memorandum of Understanding entered into between the U.S. and Israel during the Obama administration), and justice for United States victims of Palestinian terrorism.
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In July 2019, the House passed H.R. 1850 unanimously, which imposed sanctions with respect to foreign support for Palestinian terrorism.
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In July 2019, the House passed H. Res. 246, which condemned BDS and supported a two-state solution, with support from over 90% of House Democrats. More Democrats than Republicans voted for this resolution (the Democratic majority was large because moderate Democrats replaced Republicans in toss-up and Republican-leaning districts, not because a few left-leaning Democrats replaced other left-leaning Democrats).
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In December 2019, the House passed H. Res. 326, which reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to a two-state solution, our “ironclad” commitment to maintaining military assistance for Israel, and support for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians. The resolution is almost a definition of what it means to be pro-Israel. Yet Republicans overwhelmingly opposed it.
Congress does not constantly take votes on Israel and antisemitism, although some organizations seem to think so. The two key resolutions in 2019, H.R. Res. 246 and 326, were not introduced in subsequent sessions under Democratic control since Congress is now on the record. The Iron Dome emergency vote was a one-off vote. Aid to Israel, aside from the emergency Iron Dome bill discussed above, is generally part of a much larger package of must-pass legislation and passes overwhelmingly every year. Israel currently receives record levels of aid pursuant to President Obama’s Memorandum of Understanding with Israel, which requires, and receives, congressional appropriations every year.
If your Republican friends think this list is cherry-picked, ask them to name one — just one — piece of anti-Israel legislation passed or even called for a vote under Democratic control of the House or Senate. They won’t be able to name any because there aren’t any. Ask them to name one — just one — piece of pro-Israel legislation that did not pass with overwhelming Democratic support. They won’t be able to name any because there aren’t any.
Republicans will play political games, as they did on Tuesday in Congress, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did in Israel on Thursday, and as they've done before, and it's up to us to call them out every time rather than play along.
But what about the handful of out of patternDemocrats in Congress? I don’t think it’s lowering the bar to say that 96% of Democrats voting for emergency funding for Iron Dome or that 90% voting for a non-binding Israel Happy Birthday resolution last week is pretty good. I will concede that it wasn’t unanimous. The Republican votes weren't unanimous either, and it took six months for the Iron Dome funding to reach Biden’s desk because a Senate Republican, Rand Paul, blocked it. If you are concerned about the Squad, you should be apoplectic about Rand Paul — he has more power than all of them combined.
Democrats are better than Republicans on antisemitism. Comparing antisemitism in the Democratic and Republican parties is like comparing snowfall in Jerusalem and Chicago. Yes, it’s true: Both cities have snow. But c'mon. If you’re concerned about snow, you should be more concerned about Chicago than Jerusalem. You can't dismiss three feet of snow in Chicago by saying, "well, what about those flurries in Jerusalem last winter." The GOP is buried in antisemitism and refuses to dig itself out.
The equivalent of Donald Trump in the Democratic Party in terms of power and influence is Joe Biden, not a few rank-and-file members of Congress. The equivalent of Kevin McCarthy on the Democratic side is Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who led a congressional delegation to Israel for Yom HaZikaron and Yom Haatmaut last week and who, unlike McCarthy (see below) has not used antisemitism to win elections.
Leading Republicans are guilty not only of silence on Trump's antisemitism but of their own antisemitic rhetoric.
- Republicans reelected Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), an election denier, as their House Leader. In 2018, McCarthy posted and then deleted an antisemitic tweet about Jewish money in politics following outcry from the Jewish community. He not only never apologized, but he doubled down by refusing to admit it was antisemitic. His Republican colleagues responded not by censuring him, asking him to resign, or stripping him of committee assignments, but by electing him Leader. (Republicans seem to have a thing for this antisemitic trope--in that same election cycle, at least six Republicans ran ads featuring Jews clutching cash.)
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Republicans elected Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) House Majority Leader. Scalise is an election denier who blamed “radical, Soros-backed elements of the Democratic Party” for violence against Republicans in 2018 and described himself as “David Duke without the baggage.”
- On the Senate side, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refuses to directly condemn Replacement Theory. Adam Serwer explains how this racist theory entered the Republican mainstream, which helps explain Trump's characterization of marchers carrying tiki torches chanting "Jews will not replace us" as "very fine people."
No equivalents exist on the Democratic side of the aisle. The sooner we stop pretending that this is a "both sides" problem, the sooner we can start taking the fight against antisemitism seriously. That doesn't mean we ignore antisemitism from the left. It means that we adopt a zero-tolerance stance toward antisemitic rhetoric from our leaders even if that means condemning the leadership of only one party and applauding the leadership of the other party for working, as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff does, with Jewish organizations to fight antisemitism.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. Pursuant to a resolution introduced by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) in 2005, May is Jewish American Heritage Month. Read President Biden's proclamation.
Corrections. I'm entitled to my own opinions but not to my own facts, so I appreciate it when readers bring errors to my attention. No one brought any substantive mistakes to my attention last week, but last week's newsletter was not perfect: In the bullet points, I misspelled "Daniel" and "Danie." Thanks to the alert readers who brought this typo to my attention.
In Case You Missed It:
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Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: "Israel is a deeply imperfect state. But given the choice of a sovereign and imperfect Israel or the moral purity of exiled victimhood, I would choose the former over the latter any day, and so should you. To deny your own people the same rights you would fight for on behalf of others is an act of self-abnegation. We didn’t choose to live during this era of history in which a sovereign state of Israel exists, but we should be grateful that we do."
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David Brooks: "The contest between Biden and Trumpism is less Democrat versus Republican or liberal versus conservative than it is between an essentially moral vision and an essentially amoral one, a contest between decency and its opposite." Which side of the contest are you on?
Tweets of the Week. Halie Soifer and DJOP.
Twitter Thread of the Week. Dan Shapiro.
Audio Clip of the Week. Twenty years ago yesterday, Cubs manager Lee Elia delivered one of the great speeches in sports history (this was from the golden age before the Cubs played night games at home).
Video Clips of the Week. Joe Biden launches his campaign for President: Let's Finish the Job and Biden's first re-election ad.
Upcoming Event. Please join hosts Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania, Politics with Dana and Steve, Dana Gordon, Steve Sheffey, and Howard & Jill Zipin for a virtual Meet and Greet with the Jewish Democrat running against Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO): Adam Frisch--and special guest Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) this Wednesday, May 3 at 5:30 pm ET. No cost to attend but to get the Zoom link you must RSVP. Boebert is a national embarrassment. She beat Adam by only 546 votes in 2022, the closest congressional election in the country. With your help, we can get rid of her in 2024.
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