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August 3, 2025
Key Developments and What We're Discussing Today:
- Today, August 3, marks 667 days since October 7, 2023. The Hamas-led attack on Simchat Torah resulted in 1,182 fatalities (including 44 Americans) and over 4,000 wounded. 251 hostages (210 alive, 41 dead bodies) were taken during a day of brutal savagery and sexual violence. It was the largest single massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, with more than one in every 10,000 Israelis killed, and the third overall deadliest terrorist attack in the world to date.
- The 50 remaining hostages, 27 known to be dead, 20 thought to be alive, and three of unknown status, include the bodies of two Americans: Omer Neutra and Itay Chen. It is beyond outrageous that after all this time, they are still enduring torture and starvation in tunnels with no outside contact. It is beyond outrageous that no hostages have been released since June. Releasing the hostages is clearly not a priority for Trump and Netanyahu, but it's a top priority for us.
- Don't conflate pro-Israel with pro-Netanyahu. Supporting Israel's safety and security and ensuring its future as a Jewish, democratic state requires us to oppose Netanyahu's disastrous policies.
- Democrats did not vote to cut all aid to Israel or stop all military sales to Israel on Wednesday. Those votes were anti-Netanyahu, not anti-Israel: The resolutions were narrowly tailored, had no chance of passing, and the Democrats who supported them voted to send Netanyahu a message that thus far has not been received but must be received for Israel's sake.
- The record shows that the Democrats who supported these resolutions have more consistently supported aid to Israel than the Republicans who opposed them. Anyone disappointed in the Democrats who supported these resolutions should instead be disappointed in the Netanyahu policies that necessitated these votes.
- The Netanyahu government has refused to make a direct, simple offer: Hamas releases all the hostages and the war ends, despite overwhelming support from the Israeli public and the hostage families for such an offer, and Netanyahu could and should be doing much more to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
- Last week, Arab and Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey, signed a declaration condemning for the first time Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, calling for a two-state solution, and calling on Hamas to release all the hostages it is holding, disarm, and end its rule of Gaza. But Netanyahu won't take "yes" for an answer because his government wants one state from the river to the sea.
- Today is Tisha B'Av, which commemorates many tragic days in the Jewish calendar, including the destruction of the First and Second Temples. Has the current government of Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, and Smotrich learned anything from history?
- Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss is the leading (and my favorite) candidate in the Illinois 9th congressional district Democratic primary. See below for details on our September 18 event in Chicago.
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Greetings!
One of the best pieces of political communications advice I've received: "Just when you get sick of saying it, they start hearing it."
So I'll say it again: Pro-Israel is not the same as pro-Netanyahu. Why is this hard to understand? Most of us grasp that opposition to Trump's policies (or Biden's, for that matter) is not anti-American. Yet too many of us fall into the trap of conflating the government of Israel with the State of Israel and treating opposition to the former as opposition to the latter.
Israel's current government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is the opposite of what we were raised to believe that Israel stood for. It is undermining Israel's democracy, it is actively pursuing annexation of the West Bank, and it has created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Michael Koplow wrote a blistering column detailing Netanyahu's ruinous policies.
Israelis marching in the streets want this war to end, and they want the hostages brought home immediately, not in stages. But Netanyahu's government appears bent on prolonging the war to keep Netanyahu in power and starving and destroying what is left of Gaza even though Hamas is no longer a credible military threat to Israel.
Trump's America is not the America I know. Netanyahu's Israel is not the Israel I know. I am not giving up on America. I am not giving up on Israel.
Israel does not forfeit its right to exist based on the actions of this government. But Israel will not exist as we know it and as most Western democracies can support it if it continues down this path. That's why we must speak out.
None of these facts excuse Hamas's undeniable crimes and atrocities before, after, and especially on October 7, 2023. But I don't want Hamas to exist. I am a Zionist, and I want Israel to exist as the Jewish, democratic state envisioned in its Declaration of Independence.
Strongly worded statements and words have not moved Netanyahu. More is needed. But what is the "more"?
We are against peaceful protest in the form of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. We are against withholding military aid for Israel allocated for essential programs because as strong as Israel is, it is strong only because of that aid, and many of its neighbors would destroy Israel if they could.
Which brings us to Wednesday's Senate votes. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced two joint resolutions of disapproval. The chances of either passing were nil. Everyone knew it.
These were not resolutions to stop arming Israel or to cut off all aid to Israel. The resolutions did not touch Iron Dome, Arrow, David's Sling, or other defense systems. The resolutions did not touch tanks, airplanes, or many other offensive weapons systems.
The resolutions were narrowly focused on two specific sets of offensive weapons. Israel is not in immediate need of either.
S.J.Res. 41 would have cut $1,000,000 for rifles (about 20,000) to be used by the Israel National Police. The vote on S.J.Res. 41 failed 70-27. Three senators were absent. All 27 yes votes were cast by Democrats.
Biden had paused these sales. Trump resumed them. Everyone should have voted for this resolution. The rifles are mostly for Israel's extreme right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's West Bank settler militias and vigilantes and on balance, do not help the people of Israel, at least as they are used under Ben Gvir's direction.
S.J.Res. 34 would have cut 1,000-pound bombs and Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kits for the bombs. The vote on S.J.Res. 34 failed 73-24. The same three senators were absent. All 24 yes votes were cast by Democrats.
This is a tougher call. Israel used these offensive weapons against Iran, against Hezbollah, and with less justification in Gaza. Israel does not urgently need the weapons covered by this resolution because Israel has sufficient stockpiles of these munitions to continue current operations, but I don't know when they will run out or when the next shipments are scheduled. Pro-Israel senators could reasonably have voted either way on this one.
Three senators, Ossoff, Reed, and Whitehouse, voted for S.J.Res. 41 and against S.J. Res. 34.
These votes were not about Israel's security, and they were not anti-Israel. These votes were about sending a message that Israel's government is acting contrary to our interests. These senators were warning Israel, without harming its security, that because of Netanyahu's actions in Gaza, Israel's support among Americans is slipping--and that is a much graver threat to Israel's security than whether Israel gets this small subset of weapons.
What we are seeing is not diminishment in support for Israel's safety and security but intense opposition to Netanyahu's policies, especially those that are contrary to the values that underlie the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Because these senators support Israel, they oppose Netanyahu's indefensible policies, just as we oppose Trump's indefensible policies because we are proud Americans.
Most (maybe all) of the senators who voted for these resolutions did not ask Sanders to introduce these resolutions. Given that he did, they had to cast a vote. They chose to send a message that Netanyahu might hear. The senators who voted against the resolutions chose not to. I can live with disagreements within the pro-Israel community about tactics.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) voted for one of the resolutions. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) supported both resolutions. Each demonstrated principled, pro-Israel leadership.
A third Jewish senator, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), voted for both resolutions and summed it up by saying, "The government of Israel is behaving terribly. Its conduct of the war is indefensible. And it is not in spite of my Jewishness and my Judaism that I feel this way – it is because of it.”
Anyone disappointed in the Democrats who supported these resolutions should instead be disappointed in the Netanyahu policies that necessitated these votes.
My idea of "pro-Israel" is not senators who close their eyes, put their hands over their ears, and shout "la la la." Maybe that's what some big donors want them to do, but that's not going to make problems that the whole world can see go away.
The Democrats who supported these resolutions have more consistently supported aid to Israel than the Republicans who opposed them. This is not a matter of opinion. This is a matter of record, and it includes the more than $14 billion in emergency aid to Israel requested by President Biden after October 7, 2023, that the GOP delayed for six months and that many Republicans voted against. Those votes were not symbolic. They mattered.
Myths and Facts on Gaza. Ilan Goldenberg dispelled in detail three myths that stand in the way of ending the war in Gaza. The reality is that Netanyahu has refused to make a direct, simple offer: Hamas releases all the hostages and the war ends, despite overwhelming support from the Israeli public and the hostage families for such an offer.
The reality is that Israel has significant control and can do much more to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The reality is that continued Israeli military operations in Gaza at this point are doing little to further defeat Hamas.
If any of these realities are alien to you, read the full article.
If you believe the myth that since this is a war, Israel does not have to feed Gazans ("since when do countries at war feed each other?"), read Seth Frantzman.
If we care about Israel's future, we must do all we can to pressure Israel's current government to take "yes" for an answer. Last week, Arab and Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey, signed a declaration condemning for the first time Hamas’s onslaught of October 7, 2023, calling for a two-state solution, and calling on Hamas to release all the hostages it is holding, disarm, and end its rule of Gaza.
Lieutenant Colonel (R.) Peter Lerner writes that this "is not a trap. It is an invitation, an opportunity. Not only to be in the room, but to help shape the room."
He outlines how Israel can seize this moment, noting, "The world is not turning against Israel because of our existence, but because it can no longer reconcile our legitimate right to security with the devastating images from Gaza, the expansion of settlements, ever-expanding extremist settler violence, and ministers who weaponise humanitarian aid and mock international law.
"We must show them something else. Not because we owe it to the world, but because we owe it to ourselves. Israel was founded on a dream of coexistence, of moral strength and democratic values. We must reclaim that dream, not by abandoning our security, but by anchoring it in legitimacy, humanity, and courage."
That is what it means to be pro-Israel.
Today is Tisha B'Av, which commemorates many tragic days in the Jewish calendar, including the destruction of the First and Second Temples. Has the current government of Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, and Smotrich learned anything from history?
Rabbi Shai Held provided some sources for study, consideration, and discussion useful for considering where we are today.
Rabbi Shaul Magid asks the questions we need to ask today, including "what does it mean that nothing justifies October 7, but October 7 justifies everything?"
Upcoming Event. Alan & Andrea Solow, Jon Carson, Politics with Dana & Steve, and Mark Zivin are hosting Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, the leading candidate in the 9th Illinois congressional district Democratic primary (Rep. Jan Schakowsky is retiring), on Thursday, September 18, from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm CT, in person in Chicago. RSVP and contribute here.
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 pointed out any errors in last week's newsletter.
In Case You Missed It:
- Do you wear a yellow ribbon or tags to support the hostages and think that Netanyahu is on your side? Then read this from Amir Tibon: "Israel's government treats the hostages not as a priority, but as a problem – an inconvenience to larger ambitions like building settlements in Gaza and deporting its Palestinian residents. Organized diaspora Jewry has looked the other way."
- Matt Nosanchuck writes that "anyone genuinely concerned about the civil rights of Jewish students should be outraged that this administration claims to champion antisemitism while dismantling the infrastructure needed to combat it."
- Arno Rosenfeld: Columbia’s settlement won’t solve its campus crisis. Here’s what could.
- Reaction of Yehuda Cohen, father of the abducted soldier Nimrod Cohen, to European countries' recognition of a Palestinian state.
- The Guardian reports concerns that antisemitism"training" designed by ADL and JUF appears designed to promote a political agenda rather than effectively protect Jews from antisemitism.
Social Post of the Week. Nimrod Novik.
Video Clips of the Week. One of Tom Lehrer's many great songs and my favorite Tom Lehrer song. He passed away last week.
Music Clip of the Week. From the upcoming Spinal Tap sequel, and it's better than most of the music it's parodying: Stonehenge featuring Elton John.
Vintage Music Clip of the Week. Only Happy When It Rains.
For those new to this newsletter. This is the newsletter even Republicans have to read and the original home of the viral and beloved Top Ten Signs You're At a Republican Seder (yes, I wrote it). If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, why not subscribe and get it in your inbox every Sunday? Just click here--it's free.
I periodically update my posts on the IHRA definition of antisemitism and on why Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism. My definition of "pro-Israel" is here (it's a work in progress, as am I).
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