Chicagoland Pro-Israel Political Update
Calling balls and strikes for the pro-Israel community since 2006
August 1, 2021
If you remember nothing else, remember this:
- There is no contradiction between disagreeing with Ben & Jerry's decision to boycott the West Bank, as I do, and acknowledging that their decision is neither antisemitic, a boycott of Israel, nor an example of BDS.
- Let's maintain some perspective. The practical result of Ben & Jerry's decision is that settlers will have to drive five or ten minutes into Israel to buy ice cream.
- Conflating the West Bank and Israel plays into the hands of those who support BDS and accuse Israel of apartheid.
- Illinois and other states with anti-BDS laws whose wording applies to territories controlled by Israel will make a mistake if they attempt to enforce those laws against Ben & Jerry's.
- We should continue to support aid to Israel, continue to support a two-state solution, and oppose BDS. False claims against Ben & Jerry's do nothing to further these goals.
- The House narrowly passed full funding for aid to Israel with overwhelming Democratic support and not one Republican vote. This year, support for security assistance to Israel was not bipartisan.
- President Biden nominated Dr. Deborah Lipstadt for the position of State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism--an excellent choice.
- Read to the end for upcoming events and fun stuff.
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Friends,
Let's start with the basics: The West Bank is not part of Israel.
Ben & Jerry's (and its parent company,
Unilever) announced that it will no longer sell ice cream in the West Bank but would continue to sell in Israel. If a company sells in Israel, it is not boycotting Israel. As
Ben and Jerry themselves noted, "the company drew a contrast between the democratic territory of Israel and the territories Israel occupies."
Let's maintain some perspective. The practical result of Ben & Jerry's decision is that settlers will have to drive five or ten minutes into Israel to buy ice cream. Imagine if the organizations ranting and raving against this decision spent their time fighting for our democracy, advocating for vaccinations, or pushing for a two-state solution. I guess that's why I'm not in fundraising.
I disagree with Ben & Jerry's decision (as I noted last week), not because it is antisemitic or a boycott of Israel, but for many of the reasons articulated by
Michael Koplow and
Partners for Progressive Israel. It takes two to make peace, and neither the Palestinians nor Israel can make peace without the active engagement of the other. One-sided pressure on either side will cause the side under pressure to dig in and will cause the other side to sit back and watch.
And that's what's happening. Israel's government
launched a campaign against Ben & Jerry's decision and is urging states that have passed anti-BDS laws to take action against Ben & Jerry's (some of these laws extend beyond BDS and explicitly extend to boycotts of territories under Israel's control). Ninety of Israel's 120 Knesset members
signed a letter implying that the West Bank was part of Israel. Some later
withdrew their names, but that's still most of the Knesset.
Knesset members sign letters for different reasons, just like members of Congress. Some Knesset members support annexation. Some might be motivated by political considerations--the settlers aren't going anywhere in the near-term, and
475,00 voters can make a difference. Regardless, letters worded like this (the alternative would have been to criticize the tactic) contribute to the perception that the current Israeli government, by conflating the West Bank with Israel, is not serious about peace: The two-state solution depends on differentiation between the West Bank and Israel.
If we act as if the West Bank--which Israel has not annexed--is Israel, then we are giving a boost to the
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and others who argue that the undeniable disparity in legal rights between Jews and Palestinians in the West Bank means Israel is not a democracy. If West Bank Palestinians cannot vote in Knesset elections, and they can't, it doesn't mean Israel is not a democracy if the West Bank is not part of Israel. If the West Bank is part of Israel, then Israel is not a democracy.
The bond between the U.S. and Israel is based on shared strategic interests and shared values. Over the years, many of us argued that it was a mistake to emphasize the strategic value of the U.S.-Israel relationship (reliable ally in the region with military expertise) because the importance of that dynamic could change over time, whereas shared values such as democracy would endure forever.
Egypt and
Saudi Arabia are major human rights abusers, but our relationships with Egypt and Saudi Arabia were never based on shared values, but on cold economic and military interests.
Without a two-state solution, and with continued settlement expansion, Israel will become either Jewish and not democratic or democratic and not Jewish. Jewish and not democratic is the more likely result, which will cost Israel support in the U.S. Ostensibly pro-Israel organizations are making a major mistake by conflating the West Bank with Israel and bolstering the argument that the West Bank is part of Israel.
They will compound their error if they press for enforcement of state-level anti-BDS laws, such as
the Illinois law, against Ben & Jerry's, which will (i) reinforce the false notion that Ben & Jerry's is engaging in BDS (why would we want to tell people that a well-known progressive company is engaging in BDS when it isn't?), (ii) conflate Israel with the West Bank, and (ii) pit a loud subset of the pro-Israel community against the free speech community, forcing allies of Israel to choose between free speech and action against an American company whose decision to pull out of the West Bank will have little or no economic impact on Israel. Any action taken now against Ben & Jerry's would be premature since they will continue to sell in the West Bank until the end of 2022.
Has Ben & Jerry's created a perception problem because people think that they are anti-Israel and boycotting Israel? Their statement could not have been clearer. Should they have put the part about selling in Israel in all caps? Ended that sentence with an exclamation point? Perhaps included a smiley face at the end? The fault for the misperception lies with the right-wing organizations in our community falsely accusing Ben & Jerry's of boycotting Israel, of antisemitism, and of engaging in BDS. If we care about accurate, honest reporting, we should push back against those falsehoods.
Others claim that Ben & Jerry's independent Board
wanted to boycott Israel. The Board's original statement didn't say that. Rather, the Board's original statement did not include the sentence affirming that Ben & Jerry's would continue to sell in Israel. Unilever added it. This "independent" Board does not seem to have the power to even issue statements on behalf of Ben & Jerry's.
We are not the thought police. What matters is not whether those within the Ben & Jerry's organization agree with the statement issued by Ben & Jerry's. What matters is the statement issued by Ben & Jerry's, and as of now, it's
clear as clear can be that they will continue to sell in Israel. If and when that changes, we'll do what intelligent people do: We'll reevaluate our opinion.
Ben & Jerry's decision is neither antisemitic nor supporting BDS. As Ben and Jerry themselves said, "it’s possible to support Israel and oppose some of its policies, just as we’ve opposed policies of the U.S. government...As Jewish supporters of the State of Israel, we fundamentally reject the notion that it is anti-Semitic to question the policies of the State of Israel."
Instead of giving BDS an unearned victory by parroting its claims that its pressure on Ben & Jerry's was successful, we should tell it like it is: This was a rejection of BDS, which advocates for boycotts of Israel, and is instead a targeted, limited boycott of the West Bank that will have little economic impact. We should use this opportunity to explain why we disagree with the tactic rather than using
potentially unconstitutional laws to alienate those who otherwise might agree with us, and we should explain that we believe settlement expansion, while not the root of the conflict, is an impediment to a solution.
This has nothing to do with Israel's legitimate security needs, so we should continue to support the Obama-Biden administration's record-setting security assistance package to Israel. We should oppose breaching the
Memorandum of Understanding by adding additional conditions/restrictions, which does not mean giving Israel a blank check:
The MOU itself contains restrictions.
We should continue to support the two-state solution that Israel needs to remain Jewish and democratic and that the Palestinians need to live in peace and dignity. Last week, I participated in a fascinating discussion with Hussein Ibish, sponsored by Heart of a Nation, about the structural and political realities that are preventing Israeli and Palestinian leaders from shifting course.
Read the transcript--it's not long.
Finally, we must prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons by supporting President Biden's attempts to reenter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran--which means rejecting
phony arguments against the JCPOA. The ball is
currently in Iran's court, but we need to be ready if Iran signals a willingness to return to the deal.
President Biden nominated Dr. Deborah Lipstadt for the position of State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. I've spoken personally with
Deborah Lipstadt on several occasions and can personally vouch for her intelligence and wisdom. She is an excellent choice. We now spell "antisemitism" as one word with no hyphen because Dr. Lipstadt advocated for that change, arguing that it would help clarify that antisemitism is hatred of Jews, not hatred of all Semites (which is why some argue that "Jew-hatred" might be an even better term).
Biden has been in office roughly six months. Trump left the the Envoy position vacant for two years.
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