The illogical, but altogether conventional, assumption in Matthews's comment, which cannot be emphasized enough, is that we give $3 billion a year to Israel and yet we are toothless. That is to say, if you take his point and there is really a heavyweight match taking place between our president and the rightwing premier of a tiny country, well, you'd think there is one way for our president to win: don't give them money.
But of course it never enters Matthews's thought process because he takes the power of the Israel lobby for granted (even as American support for Israel, especially among Democrats, is finally sliding off the table).
Rob Browne of DailyKos is thinking the same way as me. Here is his wicked/smart analysis of the Union for Reform Judaism's renewed opposition to settlements:
The URJ's Board of Trustees were
meeting in New Orleans this weekend, and passed a Middle East Peace
resolution, "the Urgent Need for Leadership." What is interesting, to me, is item #7:
of prior URJ Resolutions (1978, 1983, 2001, 2004 and 2007), for the
government of Israel to freeze all settlement construction and
immediately dismantle illegal outposts, not only to fulfill its prior
commitments, but also to do so as the politically
wise and morally right action that enhances Israel’s efforts to
preserve a secure future for Israel as a Jewish and democratic state;
I have not read those prior Resolutions. That
being stated, if they have passed 6 Resolutions against
settlements since 1978 and 4 in the last 8 years, where are the
punishments to the Israeli government by the URJ?
The URJ is North America's largest Jewish Movement. As such,
they certainly are an influential group, economically if not
religiously. But they do not use that strength to advance
their stated beliefs. Just look at the RJIsrael website
to see all the ways that Reform Judaism promotes for Jewish
North Americans, from teens to older adults, to spend weeks to a year
in Israel.
If they are serious about having their Resolutions carry weight,
they can tell the Israeli government officials that they will
stop offering these programs (and promoting the Jewish National Fund, which can be found on
the URJ resource page) unless they honor the freeze on settlements and removal of illegal
outposts. If they don't use this type of pressure, not only are they
failing to live up to their own ethical and moral standards, but they
will continue to be treated in a patronizing manner by Israeli
officials.
(Ironically, I believe, the URJ did suspend many programs earlier
this decade, but that was because Reform members and officials were
scared for their safety during the early days of the second intifada.)
