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April 23, 2023
Key Takeaways:
- It's okay to criticize Israel. It's okay to celebrate Israel too, and we should celebrate Israel at 75 on Israel's Independence Day, Yom Haatzmaut.
- The Democratic Party continues to strongly support Israel as Republicans remain silent on threats to Israel's democracy and Israel's survival as a Jewish, democratic state.
- I reviewed "Impossible Takes Longer," a new book by Danie Gordis about Israel at 75, in the Times of Israel.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and how you can help rid Congress of Lauren Boebert.
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Hi Steve,
Criticism of Israel does not imply a desire to punish or destroy Israel. Just as we criticize policies of the American government and still support America, we can and should criticize policies of Israel's government and still support Israel.
It works the other way too. Praise for Israel does not imply agreement with all of its policies or denial of its challenges. Just as we can criticize Israel without prefacing our criticism with a recitation of our pro-Israel credentials (although doing so is sometimes smart), so too we can celebrate Israel without having, every time, to bring up its shortcomings.
July 4 is a day to celebrate America and all it has achieved. This Wednesday, Yom Haatzmaut, is a day to celebrate Israel on its Independence Day, and there is much to celebrate.
Israel is a modern-day miracle. After 2,000 years in exile, the Jewish people returned to and rebuilt their homeland. Quoting Israel's Declaration of Independence, "they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself."
Israel absorbed 140,00 survivors of the Holocaust, nearly 600,000 Jewish refugees from neighboring Arab countries, more than 88,000 Ethiopian Jews, and well over 1 million Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union. Not bad for a country the size of New Jersey with a population of less than 10 million.
As you read this list of Israel's achievements, achieved despite its small size, remember that Israel has faced wars and terrorism throughout its history.
The Holocaust is not the rationale for Israel but the Holocaust proves the necessity of Israel for the Jewish people. Quoting again from Israel's Declaration of Independence, "the catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people - the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe - was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the comity of nations."
Israel at 75 is a work in progress. Problems? Yes. America at 75 was on the verge of a civil war it was unable to avert. This Tuesday night and Wednesday, if you want to dance, sing, and wave the Israeli flag, you should. We have much to celebrate. And don't worry: To the extent you want to, you can contemplate the work yet to be done and how you can help with that work. Speak out if you feel you must, but regardless, the work will still be there the next day.
The Democratic Party continues to strongly support Israel. Those who claim otherwise point to statements critical of certain actions of Israel's current government and to silence on the Republican side of the aisle. But they cannot point to any votes in Congress indicative of diminished support military and economic support for Israel, which has traditionally been the yardstick by which support for Israel is measured. Only a handful of Democrats have even called for increased scrutiny of how Israel uses the aid we give it.
However, we should expand our definition of "Israel's security" to encompass not only military security, which remains important, but threats to Israel's democracy and actions that impair prospects for a two-state solution. If Israel continues down its current path we should view criticism of its government through that lens and judge harshly not those who speak out for Israel's security but those who claim to be pro-Israel yet remain silent in the face of existential, albeit self-inflicted, threats to Israel's existence as a Jewish, democratic state. It should come as no surprise that Democrats, who value democracy at home, better understand that democracy is the foundation of the U.S.-Israel relationship. On Yom Haatzmaut, of all days, we should remember that the ideals in Israel's Declaration of Independence are worth defending.
Israel deserves a book worthy of its 75th anniversary. If you are looking for a book supported by the Paul E. Singer Foundation and blurbed by Nikki Haley, whose tenure at the UN was characterized by blustery speeches but few results for the United States, then "Impossible Takes Longer," by Daniel Gordis, is the book for you. But if that's not what you're looking for, you don't have to read it. You can read my review instead.
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. Alert readers caught two typos that did not affect the meaning, but no one brought both typos to my attention so you're not perfect either.
In Case You Missed It:
- Prime Minister Netanyahu offered a politician who called herself the ‘mother of the politically incorrect’ Israel’s top diplomatic post in New York City (she also said she was "proud to be racist.").
- Senate Democrats need to play hardball: Jennifer Rubin says it one way, Jeff Tiedrich says it another way. They are both right. Too much is at stake.
- Last week, a man shot a 6-year-old neighbor and her parents in North Carolina after a basketball rolled into his yard. Also last week: "Young man shot in KC for knocking on the wrong door. Young woman shot and killed in New York for pulling into the wrong driveway. And now a young all-star cheerleader has been shot for trying to open the wrong car in a parking lot." As of today, 113 days into 2023, we've experienced at least 165 mass shootings and 12,725 gun violence deaths. It's the guns. It's the guns. We should ban them. Why are we the only democracy that can't figure this out?
Tweets of the Week. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).
Twitter Thread of the Week. Brynn Tannehill.
Video Clip of the Week. There's a Rep for that. Think today's GOP is something new? This video is 13 years old. Only the names have changed.
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 Democrat running against Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Adam Frisch--and special guest Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) on 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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