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March 19, 2023
Key Takeaways:
- Jewish Americans continue to speak out in solidarity with Israelis protesting policies of the current Israeli government. Pro-Israel is not the same as Pro-Bibi; sometimes it is the opposite. The U.S.-Israel relationship comprises two countries, and we in the U.S. who care about the relationship have the right and the duty to speak out against policies that weaken the relationship.
- The judicial coup is not the only threat to Israel's democracy. We must also oppose settlement expansion and creeping annexation, which push a two-state solution further from reach and jeopardize Israel's survival as. a Jewish, democratic state.
- AIPAC's first round of 2024 endorsements included 21 election deniers. How can we support democracy anywhere in the world if we don't support it at home?
- Democrats continue to overwhelmingly support Israel's safety and security. The votes prove it. "Sympathy" is not a synonym for "support." Sympathy for Palestinians is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of humanity, and there is no contradiction between support for Israel and concern for the Palestinians.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and today's Zoom event, live this morning at 10:00 am CT.
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Hi Steve,
If you don't subscribe to Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg's daily blog, then you should--email him at [email protected] and ask to be added. He's insightful, funny, and always a good read. Yesterday he gave me the opportunity to pinch-hit for him. Let me know if I hit it out of the park or if I struck out in my attempt to explain what it means to be "pro-Israel."
If you're free this morning at 10:00 am CT, join me, Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA), Nimrod Novik, Jill Zipin, and Martin Raffel on Zoom for the latest from DC to Jerusalem.
Jews in Israel and the U.S. continue to protest policies of Israel's current government. Soldiers who served with Yonatan Netanyahu, brother of Benjamin Netanyahu and the only soldier who died during Israel's legendary rescue operation in Entebbe, blocked Bibi's entrance to Ben Gurion Airport in a black stretch Mercedes identical to the one used at Entebbe "to save Israeli democracy."
The soldiers who rescued Israelis held hostage in Uganda's airport in 1976 said that "nearly 50 years later, we are storming an airport again, democratically, non-violently, in an effort to rescue a Prime Minister who's been taken hostage by extremists, while the entire country is careening toward a dangerous regime coup."
Hundreds of elite officers said they would not show up for duty starting today, and former Likud Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged world leaders not to meet with Netanyahu because "the present government of Israel is simply anti-Israeli." In other words, as I wrote in 2017, pro-Israel does not necessarily mean pro-Bibi.
More than 250 former senior commanders of the IDF, Mossad, Shin Bet, Police or NSC, as well as former heads of diplomatic missions worldwide, accused Israel's government and the prime minister of undermining Israel’s national security in a full-page ad in Friday’s Haaretz.
National Council of Jewish Women CEO Sheila Katz spoke at last Sunday's protest of Israeli Finance Minister Belazel Smotrich. She said that "we’re here today to say our friends in Israel are not alone. And that we, the American Jewish community, who believe in the original vision and promise of the State of Israel, will not stand idly by."
Speaking at the same rally, Jewish Democratic Council of America CEO Halie Soifer said that "while American Jews respect the right of Israelis to elect whomever they choose, we have the right to express support for democracy, whether here or in Israel. We also have the right – indeed the obligation – to speak out when Israeli officials express views that are antithetical to the very foundation of US-Israel relations."
In an op-ed published the following day, Soifer wrote that she "protested Smotrich’s visit for the same reason I marched in support of Israel in the past – I remain an American Jew motivated by a deep and life-long commitment to Israel and its future as a Jewish and democratic state."
The judicial coup is worth opposing on its own merits, but we cannot stop there. The longer the occupation continues, the more settlements Israel builds, the further Israel's government puts a two-state solution further from reach, the less likely Israel will remain Jewish and democratic. Gideon Levy writes from Israel that "the hardening of the occupation is one of the main motivations for the [judicial] coup. Without it, the right could live with the judiciary if only it would take its hands off Netanyahu."
Shared democratic values is a pillar of the U.S -Israel relationship, and if that pillar collapses then Israel's safety and security will be imperiled--that is why we should support those in Israel working for change.
As Sheila Katz said, "the arc of the moral universe is long — and it doesn’t bend towards justice on its own. WE bend it — together."
Oops, they did it again. In the 2022 election, AIPAC backed 109 candidates who voted against certifying the 2020 election hours after Donald Trump incited a violent insurrection (David Schraub debunked the arguments AIPAC made in its defense).
Last week, AIPAC announced its first round of 2024 endorsements, which once again included election deniers, this time 21 out of 93 endorsees. It is astonishing that with democracy in danger in the U.S. and Israel, with hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the streets demonstrating for democracy, AIPAC would choose this moment to endorse another batch of insurrectionists.
Pro tip: If you have trouble finding Republicans who support democracy, don't support Republicans. If AIPAC's "single issue" forces it to support enemies of American democracy then it needs to redefine its issue. How can we support democracy anywhere in the world if we don't support it at home?
True to form, AIPAC endorsed roughly equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, but AIPAC again put its thumb on the Republican scale. By normalizing what should never be normal or acceptable, by endorsing Republicans who attempted to overturn a free and fair election, AIPAC is giving these Republicans its hechsher instead of deeming insurrection treif. That's the epitome of partisanship and it helps neither Israel nor America.
As Rabbi John Rosove wrote last year, "an organization that claims to care about a democratic Jewish state in Israel cannot in good faith endorse candidates for office who undermine American democracy."
On March 13 (prior to AIPAC's latest endorsements), Ben Samuels wrote that "AIPAC is cementing its evolution from a pro-Israel organization to a pro-Netanyahu organization." Jacob Kornbluh reported that hundreds of Israelis protested outside the Jerusalem hotel where AIPAC leaders were staying, condemning AIPAC for failing to speak out against the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul plan.
Democrats continue to support Israel's safety and security. The most important poll is the one that matters most: how members of Congress vote. Democrats in Congress continue to overwhelmingly support Israel in vote after vote. President Biden continues to strongly support Israel in word and deed.
The most recent Gallup poll found that Democrats' sympathies lie more with Palestinians than Israelis. The poll's question implied a false choice and did not have a "both" or "neither" option, nor did it ask policy questions. Perhaps if it did, it would be easier to understand why what matters is true: Democratic support for Israel remains rock-solid.
Sympathy is not a policy preference, and one can sympathize more with a pedestrian struck by a car than with the driver of the car regardless of who you think bears less blame.
JDCA CEO Halie Soifer said that "Democrats – from President Biden on down – strongly support Israel’s safety and security. There is no contradiction between being pro-Israel and supporting Palestinian rights, which is why Democrats continue to support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as security assistance for Israel and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a zero-sum game, and thus polling that presents it as a binary choice is inherently flawed. The bottom line is that there is no evidence of erosion of support for Israel among Democrats, including those in Congress and the White House."
Ron Kampeas noted that "Israel’s favorables remain at 56% among Dems which suggests they don’t see a contradiction between greater sympathy for the Palestinians and having a favorable impression of Israel."
Gallup itself said that "regardless of the reasons that Democrats’ (and, to a lesser extent, independents’) views have changed on the conflict, majorities of all generational and party groups still view Israel favorably and look more favorably on Israel than on the Palestinian Authority. This suggests that while rank-and-file Democrats may want Palestinians’ needs addressed, they will want solutions that respect Israel’s needs as well." (Italics added.)
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:
- On March 14, President Biden issued an Executive Order that will increase the number of background checks conducted before firearm sales, moving the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation. The Executive Order will also keep more guns out of dangerous hands by increasing the effective use of “red flag” laws, strengthen efforts to hold the gun industry accountable, and accelerate law enforcement efforts to identify and apprehend shooters. As of today, 78 days into 2023, we've experienced at least 113 mass shootings and 8,702 gun violence deaths.
Tweet of the Week. Kealan Patrick Burke.
Facebook Post of the Week. Rabbi Jill Jacobs.
Video Clips of the Week--Oscars Edition. I did not have a problem with Hugh Grant's interview, but Robert Smith of The Cure did it better. None of Sunday's acceptance speeches were better than Peter Falk's Emmys acceptance speech.
Upcoming Events. Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania (DJOP) presents Israel's New Government: The View from DC and Jerusalem this morning, Sunday, March 19, at 10:00 am CT, moderated by Jill Zipin with panelists Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA), who recently returned from a J Street Education Fund trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories; Nimrod Novik, Israel Policy Forum’s Israel fellow and a member of the Executive Committee of Commanders for Israel’s Security; DJOP Board member Martin Raffel, previously senior vice president and director of the Task Force on Israel, World Jewry & International Human Rights at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; and Steve Sheffey (me). Click here to get the Zoom link.
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