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March 10, 2024
Key Takeaways:
- Republican hecklers allowed President Biden to show Americans watching his State of the Union address that he is quick on his feet and mentally tough. Biden demonstrated in his speech that strong support for Israel, unequivocal condemnation of Hamas, and advocacy for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians are not contradictory; they are complementary.
- President Biden and Vice President Harris reiterated their strong support for Israel and its right to defeat Hamas last week, emphasizing that the onus is on Hamas to accept the framework for a temporary ceasefire that would allow hostages to get out and humanitarian aid to come in.
- We learned last week that the Biden administration quietly approved more than 100 separate military sales to Israel since October 7. But Israel still needs the emergency aid Biden requested on October 20 that House Republicans continue to block.
- We must separate the government of Israel, which is undermining the U.S.-Israel relationship, from the State of Israel, which we must continue to support.
- For the third time, the Republican Party will nominate Donald Trump for president. Trump compiled a poor record on Israel during his presidency and his Iran policy was a disaster.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and our March 19 Zoom event with Sen. Bobby Casey (D-PA).
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Hi Steve,
Since October 7, we’ve seen several truths emerge that are difficult to reconcile. The first is that more Jews were the victims of atrocities than on any single day since the Holocaust. Hamas murdered 1,200, wounded 3,300, and took 240 hostage during a day of brutal savagery and unspeakable, unquestionable sexual violence; 134 hostages, half of whom are probably dead, remain in Gaza 156 days later. This happened in Israel, not Europe.
We’ve seen three UN Security Council resolutions biased against Israel and one biased statement, all supported by the overwhelming majority of the Council, that would have gone through had President Biden not blocked them.
At home, we’ve seen overwhelming support for Israel from President Biden and the Democratic Party, including an unprecedented $14.3 billion emergency aid request from Biden and the first visit by a sitting president to Israel during wartime. President Biden has approved more than 100 separate military sales to Israel since it invaded Gaza, "amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms, and other lethal aid."
If you missed the State of the Union address, read the section on Israel now. It's not long. It's near the end of this transcript. Biden said, "Hamas could end this conflict today by releasing the hostages, laying down arms, and surrendering those responsible for October 7th." He reiterated the importance of humanitarian assistance reaching the Palestinians.
And Biden reiterated that the only real solution is moving toward a two-state solution: "I say this as a lifelong supporter of Israel and the only American president to visit Israel in wartime. There is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and democracy. There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live with peace and dignity. There is no other path that guarantees peace between Israel and all of its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia." He's right.
Last week, the administration repeatedly stressed that the onus was on Hamas, not Israel, to agree to a temporary ceasefire that would include massive humanitarian aid for the Palestinians, release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, and the return of hostages.
Vice President Kamala Harris said on March 3 that "Hamas cannot control Gaza, and the threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated. Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that has vowed to repeat October 7th again and again until Israel is annihilated. Hamas has shown no regard for innocent life, including for the people of Gaza, who have suffered under its rule for almost two decades. And Hamas still holds dozens of hostages, for nearly 150 days now — innocent men and women, including American citizens, who were brutally taken from their homes and from a concert." In the same speech, she said "Hamas claims it wants a ceasefire. Well, there is a deal on the table. And as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal."
Democrats are not changing their position on Israel. Israel's government is changing for the worse, and at the worst time. John Maynard Kenyes, when asked why he changed his opinion, is reputed to have replied, "when the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?" Democrats remain committed to Israel's safety and security. But if Israel's government continues to act contrary to our shared values, Democrats will criticize Israel's government--as should we.
Republicans have repeatedly blocked, and voiced opposition to, vital aid for Israel. Donald Trump, all but certain to win the GOP nomination for president for the third time, favors elimination (not conditioning) of all foreign aid, including to Israel, and replacing foreign aid with loans.
House Republicans have blocked President Biden’s request for emergency aid to Israel for nearly five months. Speaker Johnson refuses to call the Senate compromise bill, which includes this aid, for a vote.
Democratic leaders met with Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz when he visited the U.S. last week. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson refused to meet with Gantz. As Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) said, "rather than taking the time to learn more about Israel’s war efforts in their existential fight against Hamas, Speaker Johnson is choosing to play partisan politics."
We should support Israel by opposing Netanyahu's government. Many of us are uncomfortable because Israel's government does not reflect the values that we expect from a Jewish state. As long as we conflate the State of Israel with the government of Israel we face unbearable cognitive dissonance. We treat attacks on this government's policies as attacks on Israel itself and then try to defend the indefensible. But if we voice support for Israel's safety and security while criticizing this government, we can make sense of the world and better defend Israel. Israel's enemies in the U.S. conflate the policies of this government, which must fall, with the State of Israel, which must endure. We should not play into their hands.
We say that Israel has no partner for peace. Netanyahu has made clear through his rejection of a two-state solution that the Palestinians don’t have a partner for peace either. We cite statements from Palestinian leaders evidencing genocidal intent against Jews. Members of Netanyahu’s cabinet are making statements indicative of genocidal intent against Palestinians (key comments were taken out of context, inaccurately quoted, or made by non-decision makers but if we keep saying "believe Palestinian leaders when they say..."--words have consequences).
Israeli journalist Anshel Pfeffer writes that the Israeli "government's policy on humanitarian supplies to Gaza is a combination of vengeance, ignorance and incompetence." Michael Koplow writes that "whether or not the IDF killed Palestinians last Thursday morning [in the food stampede] is irrelevant, because Israeli decisions have led to an environment in which what happened was inevitable. Israel did not ask for October 7 and the subsequent war, but life is not fair; Israel is not relieved of the responsibility it had and continues to have for what takes place in Gaza now that it effectively owns the territory."
We can resolve our cognitive dissonance by reminding ourselves and others not to confuse pro-Likud with pro-Israel. Dahlia Scheindlin wrote last week that "overwhelmingly, Americans support Israel over Palestinians; and they support Israel way, way more than Hamas." Why weaken that support by confusing Israel with Netanyahu? As Vice President Harris said on March 8, "it’s important for us to distinguish or at least not conflate the Israeli government with the Israeli people."
Israel is the realization of a 2,000 year-old dream. Yet the Israel we were raised on, the mythological Israel of Leon Uris's Exodus and the Israel whose hand was outstretched for peace with enemies who sought to destroy it, is run by an unpopular government that seeks not peace but one state from the river to the sea and that enables settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank.
We view ourselves as having returned home; unlike colonizers, Jews in Israel have nowhere to return to and are not outposts of a foreign power. But today's Israel is acting like a colonizer in the West Bank and is fighting a war in Gaza that has created a humanitarian crisis.
We don't want to criticize Israel because we fear that Israel's enemies will seize on our airing dirty laundry in public and say "look, if even Steve Sheffey is criticizing Israel, Israel must be wrong." We know that unlike every other country, criticism of Israel leads not to corrective action but to challenges to Israel's right to exist. So what do we do?
We need to change our perspective. Do you think Israel is the only country on earth that can do no wrong? If not, do you think that candidates for office should tell you that Israel does no wrong, or do you want candidates to give you honest answers and tell you what they’ll do about it? I feel more comfortable with candidates who support Israel given its imperfections than with candidates whose support for Israel is based on blind Evangelical faith or denial of problems that can’t be denied — once elected, who knows what they’ll do when their eyes are opened or when the political winds blow the other way?
The U.S. elected Trump in 2016. Yet we remain proud of American ideals. Half the country might vote for Trump again. Yet we have faith in the goodness of Americans. The same is true of Israel. Israel is more than settlers and extremists. Israelis demonstrate every week against Netanyahu and Israel's ideals remain our ideals. Just as we need to ensure that we elect leaders true to American ideals, we need to help Israelis--with our money or with pressure from the United States--elect leaders true to Israel's ideals.
President Biden's peace plan, of which a two-state solution is an essential component, might not be in Netanyahu's best interests but it is in Israel's best interests, which is why Israeli security expert Nimrod Novik warns that Israel must not let Netanyahu reject the Biden peace plan.
And yes, we have to remember that the Palestinian polity too is not monolithic. We have to strengthen Palestinian leaders and institutions willing to accept what Israel must accept: two states for two peoples, with neither getting all the land they think they deserve but both living side by side, in peace and security. Israel cannot make peace without a partner, but that does not relieve Israel of the responsibility to do all it can to make peace possible.
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, and as Theodor Herzl said, if you will it, it is no dream.
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. In last week's newsletter, in the same paragraph, I correctly spelled "Jared Kushner" twice and incorrectly spelled it as "Jared Kushnir" once.
In Case You Missed It:
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Gershon Baskin writes that there is a diplomatic solution to the war in Gaza, and Daniel Bral suggests that we start by recognizing a Palestinian state.
- Mark Robinson won the North Carolina Republican primary for governor. His bigotry and hatred include blatant antisemitism. Michelle Goldberg writes we should not downplay antisemitism from the left but "we should we should be clear about which political faction is willing to give antisemites power." You don't see Democrats espousing antisemitism winning statewide or national primaries because the Democratic Party condemns and marginalizes antisemitism. In the GOP, it's a ticket to a third presidential nomination.
In Case You Forgot:
Political Ad of the Week. Who else? (Be sure to watch to the end.)
Katie Britt Parody of the Week. Lots to choose from but this wins.
Tweets of the Week. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Halie Soifer, parts one and two, and Renee.
Video Clips of the Week. Seth Meyers sums up Trump's record in 90 seconds and improvisational comedy from Liam Neeson.
Upcoming Event. Please join Dana Gordon, Steve Sheffey, Jill Zipin, and
Democratic Jewish Outreach PA PAC for a Zoom fundraiser for Senator Bobby Casey (D-PA) on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at 4:30 PM ET. RSVP here to get the Zoom link. This will be a close race. Holding this seat is key to holding the Democratic Senate majority.
For those new to this newsletter. 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.
I periodically update my posts on why Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism and on the IHRA definition of antisemitism. My definition of "pro-Israel" is here (it's a work in progress, as am I).
I hope you enjoyed today's newsletter. Donations are welcome (this takes time to write and costs money to send). If you'd like to chip in, click here and fill in the amount of your choice. If you see something that says "Save your info and create a PayPal account," click the button to the right and it will go away. You don't need a PayPal account. Or you can Venmo @Steven-Sheffey (last four phone digits are 9479). You can send a check too.
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