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July 23, 2023
Key Takeaways:
- Last week, Republicans introduced a resolution on Israel that they hoped would divide the Democratic Caucus. Instead, 95% of Democrats voted in favor despite its cynical motivation.
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Israel is not a racist state. Says who? Says Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and the entire House Democratic Leadership team. But when Donald Trump and the entire House Republican Leadership team engage in antisemitic rhetoric? No condemnations or clarifications from the GOP. Just crickets.
- This all makes sense when you realize that Republicans aren't pandering to Jewish voters but to right-wing Evangelical voters who don't care about Israel's future as a Jewish, democratic state but see Israel as an instrument toward achieving Armageddon.
- Democrats demonstrate by their words and their votes that not only can one support Israel and criticize certain policies of Israel's government but that if one cares about Israel's future, one must support Israel and criticize its government.
- A small group of Democrats is out of pattern on Israel. Ignore the noise. Unless they veer into antisemitism (none did last week) this is a policy issue for their constituents; they are not bringing other Democrats on board and their views do not represent the views of Democratic Leadership or the vast majority of Democrats in either chamber of Congress. But the GOP wants us to take the bait because the GOP is infected by antisemitism all the way to the top and opposes a two-state solution, which they'd rather we not focus on. Instead of taking the bait, Democrats should highlight the differences between the GOP and Democrats on Israel by circulating letters and drafting resolutions supporting the Israelis protesting Bibi's judicial changes and supporting a two-state solution.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and an in-person event in Highland Park and on Zoom tomorrow with Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), candidate for U.S. Senate, hosted by Politics with Dana and Steve.
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Hi Steve,
We're going to do some nuance this week, which I know presents a problem for some of you (not you, Steve, but for some), so for their benefit and for those new to this newsletter: I am a Zionist, I do not believe that Israel is a racist state, I supported voting yes on last week's GOP resolution on Israel despite GOP game-playing, and I supported attending Herzog's speech. Please print this out, cut this paragraph out, and tape it to your screen as you continue to read.
Last week was political theater at its worst. I'll say it again: Don't take the bait. 95% of Democrats voted for a last-minute Republican resolution on Israel that could have been written in crayon that was introduced to capitalize on remarks made by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) that she quickly clarified and that Democratic leadership quickly rejected. Michelle Goldberg describes the hysterical overreaction to Jayapal's "racist state" gaffe and Lynn Sweet provides the context: Jayapal was trying to "take the heat off of Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who was under sustained attack at a Netroots Nation convention panel from pro-Palestinian protesters."
Compare how Jayapal and Democratic leadership handled this to the refusal of Donald Trump and the entire House Republican leadership to clarify or apologize for any of their antisemitic rhetoric or for the rest of their party to reject their rhetoric.
Is "racist state" shorthand for "a state with racist policies in the West Bank" or "a state with racists in its government"? Possibly. Some of us describe America as a racist country even though we don't believe America is inherently racist (if we did, we wouldn't be trying to change its policies).
But Jayapal is a member of Congress and should have chosen her words carefully, even in the heat of the moment. Every country is complex and Israel is not inherently racist. Jayapal should not have said Israel is a racist state but she and Democratic leadership did far more in response than the Republican Party ever has done in response to antisemitic rhetoric within the GOP.
195 Democrats, including Jayapal, voted for the Republican resolution declaring that Israel is not a racist state--the "no" votes were cast by the small group (not enough for a minyan) that often votes against pro-Israel measures. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) explained his "no" vote by stating that while he is against antisemitism, he refuses to play the Republicans' "idiotic game."
Every Democrat knew it was an idiotic game and the GOP hoped to divide the Democrats by introducing an anodyne resolution that on its face was unobjectionable but that might get Democratic "no" votes because of its motivation. The GOP failed. Only nine Democrats voted "no."
I don't often include videos in the body of the newsletter but you've got to watch this two-minute floor speech from Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) on the Republican hypocrisy demonstrated by this resolution and the timing of its introduction. If you don't have time for videos read these short statements from Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL).
If Republicans cared about antisemitism and bigotry they would have rescinded Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s invitation to appear Thursday in front of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government because of Kennedy’s recent and repeated statements which spread dangerous antisemitic and anti-Asian conspiracy theories amid increased violence targeting both groups. But they don't. They care about using false claims of antisemitism to score political points.
Seven Democrats refused to attend Israeli President Isaac Herzog's speech to Congress. Herzog is not a prime minister but neither is he the King of England. His office is more than purely ceremonial. As Noa Landau explains, "in practice, at the level of policy itself, the president and prime minister have always and will always promote the same basic policy, the general outlines of which are coordinated by their political advisers, who are responsible for the messaging."
Nevertheless, it's possible--and now, necessary--to criticize the policies of Israel's current government and to support the State of Israel. But it's important to know when to do which. This was the time to support the State of Israel by attending Herzog's address and celebrating Israel's 75th anniversary. Israel is a modern-day miracle and the homeland of the Jewish people. Less than 100 years after the United States turned away Jewish refugees during World War II, leaving them to be murdered in the Holocaust, the President of Israel addressed the United States Congress. That's worth celebrating regardless of our feelings toward Israel's current government. (And yes, it's worth remembering when we read about Texas troopers pushing migrants into the river and not giving them water.)
However, those who did not attend Herzog's speech or voted against the Republican resolution should not be lumped together as a group--each is an individual with their own reasons and worldviews. Before you jump to conclusions about why any did not attend or voted no, read their explanations. For example: Jamaal Bowman, Delia Ramirez, Summer Lee, Ilhan Omar (here and here).
This is all about Republicans trying to fundraise from their right-wing base. No one who would have voted Democratic in the 2024 general election is going to vote for anyone in today's Republican Party because of Jayapal's gaffe or because nine out of 212 Democrats voted against this cynical resolution. But it plays well within the GOP donor base.
My advice: Ignore the noise. Don't take the bait. A small number of Democrats voted and acted out of pattern. They aren't bringing other Democrats on board and they remain a fringe on this issue. What they say and do should matter to those who live in their districts. But for the rest of us, unless their comments veer into antisemitism (none did last week), the correct response is to treat this as we would any policy disagreement and remember that 90% or 95% agreement with us on any issue is more than sufficient. Israel's security does not hinge on whether a non-binding resolution passes 412-9 or by even more overwhelming margins.
Pro-Israel resolutions will continue to pass with overwhelming majorities from both sides of the aisle unless those resolutions include support for a two-state solution, which is essential for Israel's future as a Jewish, democratic state. But resolutions supporting a two-state solution will never be called for a vote as Kevin McCarthy is Speaker. If Republicans want to keep playing games with Israel and antisemitism all we can do is vote them out in November 2024 and stop supporting organizations that support Republicans.
Until then, Democrats should refrain from taking the bait by circulating letter after letter that does nothing but distract from the real differences between the parties on Israel and antisemitism, which includes not conflating criticism, even harsh or unfair criticism, of Israel with antisemitism--exactly the bait Republicans want us to take.
The Democratic Party's commitment to a strong U.S.-Israel relationship has not changed. The Democratic Party remains committed to a two-state solution, to continued military assistance to Israel, to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and to the shared values that are the foundation of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
We see more criticism of Israel from Democrats not because Democrats have changed but because the policies of Israel's government have changed. Netanyahu's coalition is on the brink of judicial changes that would imperil Israel's democracy and is pushing a two-state solution further from reach by continuing settlement expansion. When reality changes, people's opinions change. If you are upset that it's raining you don't blame the weather app for predicting it--you take out an umbrella.
If you are concerned that American support for Israel might erode then you shouldn't blame those who call attention to why it might happen--you too speak out against the policies of Netanyahu's government that imperil Israel's status as a Jewish and democratic state.
On a gut level we'd love to hear that Israel can do no wrong and that if only the Palestinians would abandon terrorism, Israel would reach out its hand in peace. That might have been true under previous Israeli governments. But not this one. Wishing it were different won't change reality but pretending the Israel we love is the Israel depicted in Leon Uris's Exodus and the pure and perfect Israel we were taught about in school will only diminish our credibility.
Israel is not a racist state but it has racists in its government who are pursuing the policies that will, as at least three former Israeli Prime Ministers--Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak, and Ehud Olmert--have warned, push Israel to the brink of apartheid.
The Democratic Party continues to overwhelmingly (not unanimously, but overwhelmingly) support Israel's safety and security. There is nothing inconsistent with that support and criticism of the current government's policies. If you can distinguish between Trump and America (or Biden and America) you should be able to distinguish between Bibi and Israel.
The theory that we should not criticize Israel in public--even if we know what it is doing is wrong--is based on the fear that we will validate the views of those who genuinely hate Israel. But if Bibi thinks he has a free pass, if he thinks that what we say privately doesn't matter because we never say it publicly and therefore carries no weight, he and his government will continue to take Israel down a path from which eventually there will be no return. The GOP base (which is not Jews but right-wing Evangelicals) doesn't care. But shouldn't we?
The Republican Party removed support for a two-state solution from its platform in 2016 and nixed language supporting a two-state solution in the Israel 75th birthday resolution the House passed in April. By refusing to support a two-state solution and including the West Bank in anti-BDS legislation, the GOP is undermining the only argument against Israel being a racist state: that the West Bank is not part of Israel. Anything we do that makes de facto or de jure annexation more likely strengthens the argument that Israel is a racist state, and the fault will not lie with those who point out the obvious. The fault will lie with those so-called friends of Israel who remained silent.
Ishaan Tharoor writes that "even as mass protests against Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul Israel’s judiciary once again rocked the streets of Tel Aviv on Tuesday night, no prominent Republican politician has expressed concrete support for Israeli civil society or even concern about Netanyahu’s attempts to use his razor-thin margin in power to erode a major element of Israeli democracy."
That's not a Democratic problem. That's a Republican problem and because it's a Republican problem it's Israel's problem. If you don't understand why, you owe it to yourself to read all of Tharoor's article: It’s the Republicans, not the Democrats, who are radical on Israel.
The Republican Party knows that it will never expand its support from Jewish voters, 73% of whom view the GOP unfavorably and who support Biden over Trump by 50 points. They aren't trying. The GOP is trying to appeal to its right-wing Evangelical base, which sees Israel as the first step toward Armageddon and the end of days, after which we will all go to Hell. That's why they want war with Iran and that's why they could not care less about whether Israel remains a democracy (although in fairness, they seem not to care about whether the U.S. remains a democracy either).
Not too long ago, we used to defend the right-wing Jewish alliance with right-wing Christians on Israel by saying "who cares if they think we're going to Hell? They want what we want right now and when the Messiah comes we'll see who he is and who's right."
The hypocrisy of the right-wing pro-Israel community's alliance with right-wing Evangelicals is astounding. They justify it on the grounds that we have to take our allies where we find them and that oppressed people can't afford to be choosy yet when other groups ally themselves antisemites those groups are expected to subjugate their interests to ours.
Putting the hypocrisy aside, the problem with that thinking is that the policies our right-wing friends and their Evangelical allies are advocating for will mean the end of Israel as we know it. No two-state solution means an Israel that is either democratic or Jewish but not both. No diplomacy with Iran almost guarantees that Iran will acquire nuclear weapons--the most war can do is set back their program a couple of years (knowledge cannot be bombed away). Sanctions rarely work to change the behavior of authoritarian regimes, let alone topple them. As Steven Simon said Thursday at the Stimson Center, sanctions send messages to rulers through the bodies of their subjects even as they present wonderful opportunities for smugglers. That's about it.
Once you understand that Republican positions on Israel and Iran are based on their desire to raise money and votes from right-wing Evangelicals, you understand why they are not concerned about Israel‘s future as a Jewish democratic state and why they wouldn't mind war with Iran or the likely result, a nuclear-armed Iran, if the result leads to Armageddon. The only thing that you will not understand is why 25% of Jewish voters still vote Republican.
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:
- Editorial: Netanyahu is the leader of Jewish Supremacy and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's "racism is sickening, and his politics of Jewish supremacy are a stain that won’t be erased from the history of the Jewish people. The same is true of his partner, the chairman of Otzma Yehudit (literally Jewish Power), the despicable Kahanist Ben-Gvir. We must not cease to shame them from every platform in Israel and abroad, until they and their rotten ideas disappear from the Israeli public domain."
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New polling shows that most Americans would choose Israeli democracy over a Jewish Israel if a two-state solution were off the table, that many Americans are unfamiliar with Zionism and most of those who are familiar hold a negative view, and that excluding those who said they didn’t know, 70% of those offering opinions, including most Republicans, say criticism of Israel and of Zionism is not antisemitism.
Tweets of the Week. Joe Walsh on why musicians have nothing to fear from AI (via Chris Stein) and Alon Pinkas--if Democratic members of Congress want to show that they are pro-Israel they should do what Republicans will never do: introduce resolutions and circulate letters supporting the protesters in Israel.
Twitter Thread of the Week. Amy Spitalnick.
Video Clips of the Week:
Upcoming Event. Politics with Dana and Steve was the first Jewish group in the Chicago area to back Elissa Slotkin when she initially ran for Congress in Michigan after working for the CIA as a Middle East analyst, serving three tours in Iraq, and holding defense and intelligence positions under President Bush and President Obama. Other groups said "no" or "maybe later" or "we're not sure if she's viable." But we knew she would never be viable unless someone gave her a chance. She beat the odds, she won, and now she is running for the U.S. Senate.
Join Dana Gordon, Steve Sheffey, and our amazing co-chairs for an in-person and on Zoom event with Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) for her Senate campaign in Highland Park, Illinois, tomorrow: Monday, July 24 at 6:00 pm CT. You must RSVP to attend. This will be one of our best events and we still have space.
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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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