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Friends,

Elections have consequences. Thousands of Americans have died and will die as a result of the choices too many Americans made in 2016. Even in defeat, Trump continues to jeopardize our lives and threaten our democracy. Thanks to Trump's incompetence, we face a vaccine shortage. Thanks to Trump's corruption, his cronies get treatments unavailable to most of us.

History will not judge kindly the Republican Party, and I wonder what the millions of Americans who voted for Trump twice will tell their children and grandchildren. Or how they can even look in the mirror without cringing. 

Susan Rice writes that "our democracy dodged a bullet — or, more precisely, multiple concerted efforts by the president of the United States to torpedo its very foundations" and we now know that "a determined autocrat in the White House poses a grave threat to our democratic institutions and can severely undermine faith in our elections, particularly when backed by partisans in Congress."

Nearly 2/3 of House Republicans supported an absurd failed effort to overturn free and fair elections. Zeynup Tufekci asks us to "imagine the same playbook executed with better decorum, a president exerting pressure that is less crass and issuing tweets that are more polite. If most Republican officials are failing to police this ham-handed attempt at a power grab, how many would resist a smoother, less grossly embarrassing effort?"

It would be nice if both sides were to blame. Then we could talk to each other, hold hands, sing kumbaya, and move past this moment. But as Lilliana Mason explains, "we don't have a polarization problem, we have a democracy problem...Republican leaders and voters are actively undermining democracy on a regular basis, and Democrats are trying to defend it."

The extent to which Joe Biden can undo four years of damage and enact overdue reforms depends on the deep southern state of Georgia electing a Black pastor and a Jewish son of an immigrant to the U.S. Senate on January 5. Unless both win, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will control the Senate. We learned under President Obama that McConnell will stop at nothing to block progress. We can't let that happen again.

Georgia Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock is pro-Israel. If the test is whether a candidate criticizes certain Israeli government policies, then half of the Israeli electorate would fail. The test is what a candidate proposes to do about it. Warnock opposes BDS, rejects labeling Israel as an apartheid state, supports a two-state solution, and opposes conditioning or cutting aid to Israel. If that's not pro-Israel, what is? Should we oppose him because he supports a two-state solution not only to protect Israel but to provide peace and dignity to Palestinians?

Alon Liel, who served as Israel’s consul general to the Southeast in Atlanta from 1990 to 1992 and later as ambassador to several countries and as director general of Israel’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, wrote last week he had been briefed "in great detail" by Israeli diplomats who served in Georgia more recently and has followed Warnock's career closely. His conclusion: "I have no doubt that when it comes to Israel, Reverend Warnock’s support is rock solid."

Last week, JDCA convened a Jewish community call with Rev. Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Warnock said “I am a staunch ally of Israel and echo Dr. King’s perspective that Israel’s right to exist is incontestable. I’ll always affirm the right for people to protest nonviolently. But at the same time, I condemn BDS in its refusal to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.”

Warnock said he won’t condition military aid to Israel. “I support President Obama’s memorandum of understanding [of $38 billion in military aid over 10 years]. It’s the largest commitment made in history. Our aid and support of Israel is something that I would advance as a member of the Senate. And there’s no question: Iran cannot get a nuclear weapon. We cannot allow that to happen.” Watch for yourself and read Warnock's position papers on Israel.

On Thursday, Warnock's opponents manufactured another controversy, this time regarding a sermon from 2016 comparing Benjamin Netanyahu to George Wallace and warning that Israel risked becoming an apartheid state if it did not move toward a two-state solution. Over over 300 retired IDF generals, Mossad, Shin Bet, and police equivalents share Warnock's position (although they do not endorse in American elections).

Pro-Bibi is not the same as pro-Israel. Warnock said in his sermon what the pro-Israel community has been saying for years: “If you don’t have a Palestinian state, you cannot have a Jewish democracy. That state will either be Jewish, or it will be a democracy. It cannot be both.”

Warnock warned that “If you do not have a Palestinian state, you will have to have apartheid in Israel that denies other citizens, sisters and brothers, citizenship.” He was speaking in the future tense about what could happen. Warnock has never called Israel an apartheid state, nor did the letter he signed call Israel an apartheid state.

Warnock's warning should sound familiar. Prime Ministers Ehud Barak, Ehud Olmert, and Yitzhak Rabin (who compared settlements to cancer) have all used the same language, warning that Israel risks becoming an apartheid state if it does not achieve a two-state solution.

Warnock's opponent, Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), continues to falsely claim that Warnock defended anti-Semitic comments made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Politifact rated Loeffler's claims "mostly false" and the Washington Post gave her "bogus claim" three pinocchios. I went into more detail about Wright in my piece, Warnock and Israel: Setting the Record Straight. But if you have any unanswered questions, please let me know.

Iran cannot be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons. Thanks to Trump's ineptitude, Iran is now closer to nuclear breakout than it was when he took office, mainly because Trump walked away from the Iran Deal. President-elect Biden will try to return to the Iran Deal before negotiating another deal. Given how long negotiations could take and how far Iran has advanced since Trump walked away from the deal without cause, this is the best approach.

The sanctions-for the-sake-of-sanctions crowd, undeterred by four years of failure under Trump, will oppose a quick return to the JCPOA. Please urge your member of Congress to sign the letter led by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and others, including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), supporting diplomacy as the best path to halt and reverse Iran’s nuclear program. 

As the letter notes, the JCPOA does not prevent us from addressing Iran's other destabilizing activities; rather, an unrestrained Iranian nuclear program would exacerbate these other threats posed by Iran and inspire a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

Morocco normalized relations with Israel, joining Bahrain, UAE, and Sudan. These are not peace agreements. None of these countries were at war with Israel. All had relations with Israel and the major change is that they are now in the open. The common thread is that Trump accelerated a process already underway by selling arms and damaging U.S. interests in the region: arms sales to UAE and Bahrain, removal of the terrorist designation for Sudan, recognition of Morocco's occupation of the Western Sahara. The Morocco deal was driven in part by Trump's personal animosity toward Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), which is not the stuff of sound foreign policy decisions.

Normalization of relations between Israel and its neighbors is good, but at what price? For more insights, read Jewish Dems Raise Concerns About Morocco-Israel Announcement, Peace for Peace? Israel-Morocco Deal Is Occupation in Exchange for Occupation, and Ilan Goldenberg's thread.

Have you read the criticism of President Obama's memoir? If you've read the cherry-picked out of context criticism of the section on Israel and you are tempted to believe any of it, read the book and breathe easy. If pressed for time, skip to page 623 and read the 13 pages on Israel. If you're worried that buying the book will put money in Obama's pocket (people have said this, as if the dollar or two he gets in royalties from their purchase will make or break him), you can get it from the library for free, which I know is kind of socialist, but if you can't be bothered to read 13 pages, then don't pretend to care.

Last week's newsletter.

ICYMI. Israel can’t contain Iran alone. It doesn’t have to.

Tweet of the Week. Jeff Tiedrich.

Twitter Thread of the Week. Garry Kasparov.

Video Clip of the Week. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

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The Fine Print: 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 pride in accurately reporting the facts on which I base my opinions. Tell me if you spot any inaccuracies, typos, or other mistakes so that I can correct them in the next newsletter (and give you credit if you want it). Advertisements reflect the views of the advertisers, not necessarily of me, and advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their advertisements. I read, value, and encourage replies to my newsletters, but I don't always have time to acknowledge replies or to engage in one-on-one discussion. Don't expect a reply if your message is uncivil or if it's clear from your message that you haven't read the newsletter or clicked on the relevant links. © 2020 Steve Sheffey. All rights reserved.