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October 2, 2023
Key Takeaways:
- If we care about and support Israel, we have the right and the duty to speak out against the proposed judicial overhaul and against policies that will impede a two-state solution.
- The Biden-Harris administration admitted Israel into the Visa Waiver Program. a long-sought goal of successive Israeli governments. Biden proved that one can support Israel, even give Israel special treatment regarding qualifying for the program, and still oppose--as a friend--actions of the Israeli government that are contrary to our shared values and that will weaken the U.S.-Israel relationship.
- The Biden-Harris Administration took landmark steps last week to counter antisemitism: Eight federal agencies clarified—for the first time in writing—that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits certain forms of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination in federally funded programs and activities. The administration launched a listening tour of schools and colleges to hear from Jewish students about antisemitism and it issued a report on policies, programs, and actions worldwide aimed at countering antisemitism. It's nice to have a president who fights, rather than emboldens, antisemitism.
- Democrats bailed out Kevin McCarthy and averted, for at least 45 days, a government shutdown. The next step is to secure funding for Ukraine that was not in the continuing resolution. A party serious about governing would not have put the country on the brink of economic disaster--Congress should pass legislation that would end the potential for these charades (and should eliminate the debt ceiling for the same reason). We should not let Republicans use Rep. Jamaal Bowman's (D-NY) unforced error distract us from Republican malfeasance, individually and collectively.
- Today's newsletter is a day late (but not a dollar short) because of Sukkot. Next Sunday is Simchat Torah, so the next newsletter will again be on Monday, and then back to our Sunday morning schedule on October 15. Chag Sameach.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and our breakfast event with Senate candidate Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on October 6 in Highland Park, Illinois.
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Hi Steve,
I'm sometimes asked who this newsletter is for and who my intended audience is. It varies. Sometimes it's policymakers, legislators, and staff. Sometimes it's journalists. Sometimes it's you, and sometimes it's me.
But in terms of Israel, Rabbi Sharon Brous summed it up well in her Yom Kippur sermon. This newsletter is for "those who, like me, see in Israel a miraculous national renaissance, we who celebrate the astonishing revival of the Hebrew language, who take great pride not only in the safe haven, but also in the start-up nation, the flourishing of Jewish art and ideas and culture, the rebirth of academies of Torah learning, the bounty and the promise, the beauty and the bravery, even, or especially, in the face of grave threats. The realization of the Jewish national liberation project."
I encourage you to read or watch her sermon. She argues that unlike the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago, today's existential threats to Israel are internal as well as external: the threat to Israel's democracy from the proposed judicial overhaul and the continuing occupation, driven by a messianic drive for a Greater Israel. If we don't want Israel to become an apartheid state or be accused of apartheid, then we need to act to change the facts, not to deny or sugarcoat them.
We need to treat Israel's internal existential threats with the same urgency we treat Israel's external existential threats. Rabbi Brous recommends that we stop supporting Jewish institutions that "that are effectively sustaining an untenable status quo" and shift our dollars to organizations fighting for Israel's future. She provides links to those organizations in the written version of her sermon.
Shared values are the basis for an enduring U.S.-Israel relationship. If either country succumbs to its authoritarian undercurrents the relationship will be irredeemably damaged. Please urge your member of Congress to cosponsor H.Con.Res.61, Rep. Jan Schakowsky's (D-IL) resolution in support of Israeli democracy. The resolution now has at least 84 co-sponsors, but if your member of Congress is not among them, we don't have enough.
This resolution is supported by Politics with Dana and Steve, Jewish Democratic Council of America, Jewish Democratic Outreach of Pennsylvania, J Street, Israel Policy Forum, UnXeptable, Partners for Progressive Israel, Ameinu, NY Jewish Agenda, Americans for Peace Now, Union for Reform Judaism, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, National Council of Jewish Women, and T’ruah, among others, including the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston.
Does your area's JCRC support this resolution? Is your member of Congress a co-sponsor? If not, ask why not--if they claim to represent you, they owe you an explanation.
The Biden administration admitted Israel into the Visa Waiver Program. The administration announced on September 27 the designation of Israel into the Visa Waiver Program, which will allow "citizens and nationals of Israel to apply to travel to the United States for tourism or business purposes for up to 90 days without first obtaining a U.S. visa, a step which further strengthens the security, economic and people-to-people ties between the United States and Israel." Israel is the 41st member of this program.
Israel has desired for decades to be part of this program. Unlike Trump's public relations stunts, which pleased his right-wing constituents but did not enhance Israel's security and were not sought by Israel, admission into the Visa Waiver Program is a tangible accomplishment that will help both countries. It also again demonstrates Biden's friendship and commitment to Israel--unlike other countries in the program, questions have been raised about Israel's qualifications for the program, yet the administration nevertheless admitted Israel to the program (the administration maintains that Israel has met all requirements).
As State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on September 28, these "are not decisions that we make with respect to any one government. They are decisions we make with respect to the relationships between the United States and Israel. And I should reiterate that President Biden has been a friend of Israel for decades. He has been outspoken about how this relationship transcends U.S. and Israeli administrations because of our shared long-time commitment to democratic interests and values. That does mean there are times when we disagree with things that this Israeli Government does, as we have disagreed with positions that previous Israeli Governments have taken. And when that happens, we express our disagreements openly, we express them privately with them, we at times press them to take different actions; but it doesn’t mean that we don’t take decisions that we believe are in the best interests of the United States and in the best interest of the Israeli people."
The Biden-Harris Administration took landmark steps last week to counter antisemitism. On September 28, as part of President Biden’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, eight federal agencies clarified—for the first time in writing—that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits certain forms of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination in federally funded programs and activities. Title VI applies to all programs and activities supported by federal financial assistance. Thus, these protections are wide-ranging and provide important tools to prevent and curb discrimination. Read the details, along with highlights of dozens of actions already taken to counter antisemitism pursuant to the National Strategy, in this fact sheet.
In addition, the administration launched a listening tour of schools and colleges to hear from Jewish students about hostility on campus.
Separately, on September 28, as part of the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, led by Amb. Deborah Lipstadt, published a report on policies, programs, and actions worldwide aimed at countering antisemitism.
You would think that if the GOP presidential candidates who participated in last week's second presidential debate were serious candidates, at least one would have attacked Trump for his long record of antisemitic rhetoric. But not one did. Antisemitism was not mentioned at all.
Guess what? No shutdown. The government is still open because Democrats bailed out Kevin McCarthy and supplied the votes that the Republican majority could not produce. On Saturday, 99% of House Democrats and 58% of House Republicans voted to fund the government for 45 more days. More than 40% of House Republicans would have preferred to shut down the government. This is not a party interested in or capable of governing. The lone Democratic "no" vote was cast by Mike Quigley, who wanted more funding for Ukraine. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NV), referring to 90 of his GOP colleagues, said "we're tired of f***ing around with these whack jobs. They voted against it yesterday, so let's just put up a clean CR."
Better almost-too-late than never, but as President Biden said, "we should never have been in this position in the first place. Just a few months ago, Speaker McCarthy and I reached a budget agreement to avoid precisely this type of manufactured crisis. For weeks, extreme House Republicans tried to walk away from that deal by demanding drastic cuts that would have been devastating for millions of Americans. They failed.
"While the Speaker and the overwhelming majority of Congress have been steadfast in their support for Ukraine, there is no new funding in this agreement to continue that support. We cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted. I fully expect the Speaker will keep his commitment to the people of Ukraine and secure passage of the support needed to help Ukraine at this critical moment."
These periodic spending crises are the epitome of a broken Republican Party but also of a broken system that allows these charades to occur. Congress should enact HR 5353, introduced by Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD), which would prevent shutdowns by initiating an automatic continuing resolution to fund the government if Congress is unable to pass an appropriations bill by the end of the fiscal year. Congress should also eliminate the debt ceiling.
The party that manufactured another economic crisis, that refused to impeach Donald Trump, that still stands behind Trump despite 91 criminal counts, that refuses to take action against any of its members who participated in the January 6 insurrection, is up in arms about a Democrat who pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon Office building (not the Capitol building, where Congress votes). Even assuming the worst, it does not seem that he violated the law used against January 6 defendants who stormed the actual Capitol building.
Read Rep. Jamaal Bowman's (D-NY) statement, then read this tweet, this tweet, and this short thread. Then return your attention to what matters. Whatever you do, don't email me about this unless you've read the links in this paragraph.
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 mistakes to my attention last week, so it looks like last week's newsletter was perfect.
In Case You Missed It:
- Since our right-wing friends cannot win the debate over Iran diplomacy on the merits, they've resorted to baseless personal attacks. Joe Cirincione outlines the Anatomy of a Smear Campaign.
- So far in 2023, we've experienced at least 520 mass shootings and 32,096 gun violence deaths. Want more? Vote Republican. It might not be what you want or why you vote Republican but if you vote for the party that opposes gun safety legislation that's what you're voting for, whether you want it or not. As President Biden said, "it’s time to again ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. And let me be very clear: If members of Congress refuse to act, then we need to elect new members of Congress who will act."
Tweet of the Week. Modern Talmud.
Reader's Note of the Week. Matt Fuller.
Video Clips of the Week. Secretary of State Antony Blinken plays some mean Chicago blues and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX).
Newsletter of the Week. I only publish once a week but if you want a daily newsletter filled with interesting information, subscribe (for free) to Charlie Meyerson's Chicago Public Square.
Upcoming Event. Politics with Dana and Steve, Jill Zipin, and a growing host committee is hosting a light breakfast and conversation with U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) in Highland Park, IL on Friday, October 6, from 9:00 a.m. CT to 10:00 a.m. CT. RSVP here.
This is the newsletter even Republicans have to read and the original home of the viral and beloved 2022 and 2023 Top Ten Signs You're At a Republican Seder. If someone forwarded this to you, why not subscribe and get it in your inbox every Sunday? Just click here--it's free.
My most popular Times of Israel posts are How Not To Define Antisemitism and Pro-Israel Or Pro-Bibi? I periodically update my Medium posts on why Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism. You can read my most recent effort to define "pro-Israel" here (it's a work in progress, as am I).
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