Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Whether driven by moral compass, or political survival; America’s Democratic leaders are finally recognizing the obvious: The continued leadership of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (Bibi), is hurting Israel, and fueling global antisemitism. It’s also making the Jewish nation an international pariah. Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s eloquent speech stated all this, while calling for new elections in Israel, and a two-state solution, in a speech at the Senate.
Schumer said in his speech, “Palestinian civilians do not deserve to suffer for the acts of Hamas. The US has an obligation to do better to get aid to the people who need it.” Few other US political leaders have dared to express that sentiment so boldly, but it is remarkable to see Schumer saying things on this issue that are so close to the stance of his fellow Senator Bernie Sanders. Schumer comes from a family of Holocaust survivors, and his name in Hebrew means “guardians of the faith.” Schumer prefaced his comments saying, “Oct. 7 was pure & pre-meditated evil. The widespread antisemitic expressions by many Americans have awakened the deepest fears of the Jewish people that our annihilation remains a possibility.”
With that family background and context, Schumer called out Israel as no other high-ranking US politician with such ranking ever has, other than President Barack Obama. President Joe Biden has also expressed growing objections and public differences with Bibi, as have other Members of Congress, many of them Jewish.
Bibi and his Gaza campaign are endangering Biden’s chances of re-election, as many Americans are horrified by images and stories in Gaza, and blame Biden for supporting the Israeli war machine. The traditional American blank check for Israeli military operations has become a huge political liability. Never has American largesse been so badly abused by an ally or client state. Americans have reacted forcefully and viscerally to Israel’s actions, which has given life to a new form of antisemitism.
American Democratic leaders are doing what Israelis are afraid to do, and demand the end to Bibi’s leadership. He’s used the PM position to shield himself from criminal charges, and as with Donald Trump, intends to “fix” the Courts and legislature to absolve himself of all past and future crimes.
Despite widespread condemnation of Bibi in Israel, many Israelis are reluctant to address the obvious need to depose him. When I’ve quizzed some deeply religious Israeli friends about the viability of Bibi’s continued leadership the answer is, “That’s not for me to decide.” Those wedded to the myth of Biblical prophecy sometimes shut themselves off from political realities, and are reluctant to think beyond their comfort zone. Schumer and Biden have challenged that.
The American blank check for Israel is about to have a finite dollar amount and expiration date. Ha’aretz columnist Yossi Vetter noted that with the airlift to Gaza, “The U.S. has effectively broken the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has been in place since June 2007. Another achievement by the fully right-wing government.” Biden has promised that no American soldiers would serve in Gaza, however some “contractors” must be employed to build the pier and makeshift port. What’s notable is the US building new infrastructure in Gaza to provide aid. With that, the US is expressing its disapproval of Israel by tacitly violating its sovereignty. But Israel is cooperating by providing security in the perimeter of the operation.
Bibi has been taunting Democrats and the US since before his speech to Congress, while he did not visit the Obama White House in 2015, and was not invited. But he colluded with House Speaker John Boehner and Republicans to show up the President.
The US move to break the blockade is a challenge to Israel on the order of President Dwight Eisenhower’s leadership during the 1956 Suez crisis. . Ike was facing re-election just weeks away when Israel invaded the Suez with support from the UK and France. An inconvenient coincidence was the Soviet invasion of Hungary three days before. General Ike essentially said in salty terms, “If you don’t pull back from the Suez, I can’t stand up to Khrushchev in Hungary.” That was the point in history when US supplanted the UK and France as Israel’s primary sponsors.
Biden and Schumer are sending strong leadership messages, as no US president has since then. Hopefully, this will address and counter the popularity of “uncommitted” votes in some recent Democratic primaries. That illustrates how the Democrats’ unconditional defense of Israel’s actions in Gaza has hurt them politically. Many Americans across age and ethnic spectrums are horrified by Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, and expressed themselves in the primaries by casting protest votes, confident Biden would prevail.
However, anyone even thinking about a protest vote to express themselves in the November election must remember the alternative: Donald Trump could become president again, and inflict way more domestic and global damage than Biden could possibly do. Trump would let Israel “do whatever the hell they want,” just as he said he would encourage Putin’s new USSR in Ukraine. Also important is that a vote for Biden or Trump is a vote for their teams, ideas, policies and goals; not the men themselves. So they’re both old. Biden is manageable, and tended by lucid advisers. Trump is not.
Biden is still Israel’s patron, but is attempting to restrain it from its worst instincts under Bibi. Trump fueled and empowered Bibi’s worst instincts during his presidency. Schumer gets credit for his candor and cojones for stating the obvious: It’s time for Bibi to go. It may be too late for a two-state solution in Israel-Palestine, but that Schumer seems genuinely to want one at this juncture is significant. It matters that Schumer is a descendant of Holocaust survivors, an observant Jew, a Zionist and highest ranking Jewish-American elected official in history.
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