Chicagoland Pro-Israel Political Update
Calling balls and strikes for the pro-Israel community since 2006
August 18, 2019
If you remember nothing else, at least remember this:
- Trump pressured Netanyahu to bar two members of Congress from visiting Israel. Netanyahu is hardly blameless, but this happened because Trump wanted it to happen.
- Trump doesn't care about Israel. He cares about making two out of pattern freshmen Democrats the face of the Democratic Party.
- This decision will hurt Israel and is contrary to Israel's values and best interests.
- Just as we can criticize Trump and support America, we can criticize Netanyahu and support Israel--both have put their own reelection campaigns above the best interests of their countries.
- 41 Democratic members of Congress, mostly freshmen, returned from Israel this week.
- Read to the end for fun stuff and upcoming events. I love when you tell me about typos.
Friends,
The government of Israel's decision to bar Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) from visiting Israel is a blow to Israel's reputation, a gift to the Global BDS Movement, and another example of Trump's politicization of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
In July, Israeli Ambassador
Ron Dermer said that "out of respect for the U.S. Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America, we would not deny entry to any member of Congress into Israel." Was Dermer unaware that Tlaib and Omar support BDS? Was Dermer unfamiliar with Israeli laws about BDS supporters?
Of course not. Dermer and Prime Minister Netanyahu understood that barring Omar and Tlaib would create bigger public relations problems than letting them in. They were right.
Netanyahu reversed his position under pressure from Trump.
Alon Pinkus writes that "Trump showed how irrelevant he considers Israeli sovereignty, Israel’s relations with Congress, and bipartisan support. In his mind, he gave Netanyahu, the junior partner in this asymmetrical bromance, enough gifts over the last two years. It’s time Netanyahu reciprocate. And he did, willingly and enthusiastically."
Bibi's supposed rationale does not explain his reversal. Bibi could have stood up to Trump the way
Menachem Begin stood up to Ronald Reagan. But Bibi calculated that as unwelcome as Trump's pressure was, a confrontation with Trump would lessen his chances of winning in September. Bibi did not hesitate to publicly confront Obama, but that was in part because Bibi knew that, unlike Trump, Obama could be counted on to put the interests of the U.S. and Israel above personal slights.
Tlaib and Omar, however much we disagree with them, are members of Congress and deserve respect from all foreign governments, let alone the government of one of our most important allies.
We should be outraged that
Trump used an imbalance of power to put Israel in this position.
Other presidents have pressured Israel, but only for what they perceived was the best interests of the United States and regional stability. Trump pressured Israel to prevent his political opponents from visiting as part of his reelection strategy. This is unprecedented.
JDCA explains
that "Trump insists on continuing to politicize Israel by drawing attention to two members of Congress whose views on Israel are outside the Democratic mainstream...because President Trump wants to run a campaign against a fictional version of the Democratic Party instead of the actual Democratic Party – which is overwhelmingly supportive of Israel – that the vast majority of Jewish Americans support."
That's why,
as Tom Friedman explains
, "if you’re an American Jew and you’re planning on voting for Donald Trump because you think he is pro-Israel, you’re a damn fool."
If think still think Trump and Bibi were right, read
David Schraub's collected thoughts--if you've thought of it, he's addressed it. If you agree that Trump and Bibi were wrong,
remember the distinction between the government of Israel, whose policies we can oppose, and the state of Israel, which we must continue to support.
Trump succeeded in eclipsing what should have been the story this week: That 41 Democrats, mostly freshmen, visited Israel on a trip led by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD). I spoke with Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) about the trip on Wednesday.
Casten told me that the congressional delegation met with multiple leaders, entrepreneurs, military officers and politicians during their week. They also met separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Casten noted that the palpable distrust and dislike between the two leaders makes it unlikely that they will work collaboratively for a two state solution. Further, while Netanyahu insisted that any future for the Palestinians was contingent on permanent Israeli security (what can at best be described as a one-and-a-half-state solution), Abbas refused on multiple occasions to answer whether he would recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
Casten said that Netanyahu views Trump as a friend and seemed more concerned about left-wing threats from BDS than right-wing anti-Semitism in the United States. However, Netanyahu does recognize the importance of bipartisan support for Israel and thanked the Democratic delegation for its strong support.
Casten, fully cognizant of the unique enormity of the Shoah, noted parallels between the treatment of Jews in the early days of Nazi Germany and the treatment of migrants in Trump’s detention centers. They are not the same in important ways, but to ignore the similarities, to ignore the callousness, cruelty, and the refusal to see others as fully human, is to ignore the lessons of history. A condition that does not lead to the murders of six million people can still represent a terrible betrayal of our values and what we stand for.
The logistics of the trip prevented members of Congress from meeting with average Palestinians to get a sense for what the street is thinking--with one notable exception. Toward the end of the trip, the delegation visited the Dead Sea and Masada. Steny Hoyer, who had accompanied the delegation for all of its meetings, remained in Jerusalem.
When Casten returned to the hotel, he asked how Hoyer had spent his day. It turned out that Hoyer had arranged for Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s grandmother to travel to the King David Hotel from Ramallah so the two of them could get to know each other. He did it quietly, and without press or cameras, but speaking volumes about who Hoyer is and how we can, and must, meet each other as human beings, not caricatures.
Hours after I spoke with Casten, disregarding advice privately conveyed by several members of Congress, Israel barred Tlaib and Omar from entering. Trump, with Netanyahu's acquiescence, manufactured a crisis that obscured strong Democratic unity and support for Israel and put the spotlight on the two members of Congress who are the least representative of the Democratic Party on Israel. Both
Hoyer and
Casten urged Netanyahu to reconsider his decision.
The terms on which Netanyahu was later willing to let Tlaib visit her grandmother on humanitarian grounds were humiliating, and she
rejected them. Had Bibi put Israel's interests above his electoral fortunes, he would have stood up to Trump, and none of this would have happened.
Upcoming Events. Dana Gordon and I are hosting presidential candidate Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7:00pm in Highland Park. Contributions are not required
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: 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
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