The Biden administration was “very upset” with U.S. Jewish groups for not coming out strongly before the Israeli election against the racist/fascistic politician Itamar Ben-Gvir and his extremist political party, says David Makovsky, a former State Department aide and stalwart figure in the Israel lobby in Washington.
Ben-Gvir’s ultra-rightwing Religious Zionism party was the third largest vote getter in the November 1 election, with 14 parliamentary seats, and is poised to bring Benjamin Netanyahu back as prime minister.
“No one wanted to talk about this publicly,” Makovsky reports. “I know there were a lot of people in the Biden administration that privately were very upset. They felt the American Jewish community was silent about Ben-Gvir in the runup to the Israeli election. But I think a lot of people also felt that this would play into Ben-Gvir’s hands, that he would say I’m an underdog against an array of powerful people. So it might have boosted him.”
Makovsky spoke at an election panel held by the Israel lobby group Democratic Majority for Israel on Friday.
Since the election, many pro-Israel Jewish groups have issued statements of concern about the inclusion of the racist party but have also congratulated Netanyahu on his return and indicated they’re happy to do business as usual with the “Jewish state.” Even J Street issued a statement, respecting the results while condemning the Religious Zionism party.
Only Americans for Peace Now has said that it will boycott the Israeli government, refusing to meet with it, if it includes Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich and their racist, homophobic faction.
Makovsky and fellow insider Dennis Ross initially took a similar line to Americans for Peace Now, writing after the election at Washington Institute for Near East Policy that Netanyahu should form a broad-based government that excludes the Religious Zionism Party because the party’s inclusion would arm Israel’s critics.
But in Friday’s webinar, Makovsky had managed to wrap his head around Religious Zionism. He said that the party was likely to be entrenched in the new government, and the best that could be hoped for was that international pressure would keep Netanyahu from giving Ben-Gvir the police ministry or any other portfolio that deals with “security” issues involving Palestinians — whom Ben-Gvir openly derides. Makovsky said that in the coming days, Netanyahu will exhibit the sense not to give Ben-Gvir, who has been convicted of anti-Palestinian incitement several times, any power over the most inflammatory issue in the Middle East– Israeli encroachment on the Haram-al-Sharif, the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.
“I have to believe… [Netanyahu] understands that now,” Makovsky said. “He will come up with an alternative ministry for him.”
Going to bat for Israel, Makovsky said that the country is a “resilient” one that has survived far worse challenges, and it will survive Ben-Gvir too.
Makovsky said the U.S. government is likely to treat Ben-Gvir and the rest of his party as it did Ariel Sharon, then the Israeli Defense Minister, after the Sabra and Shatilla massacre in Beirut in 1982, when Sharon was found to be responsible for allowing the killings of several hundreds or thousands of Palestinians. Sharon was boycotted by the U.S. government for 16 years until he became Foreign Minister under Netanyahu, Makovsky said. Then the U.S. met with him again.
Making excuses for Israel as always, Makovsky said the “best hope” is that U.S. will treat the Religious Zionism Party as “persona Ben-Gvir… It’s a Ben-Gvir problem. Not a problem with the state of Israel or the government of Israel.” The U.S. would then get on with business with the rest of the government.
“That to me seems from an Israel point of view a huge achievement if that happens,” Makovsky said.
This appears to be the playbook inside the Israel lobby. Ben-Gvir stinks but he’s not the Israeli government. Look at how the American Jewish Committee responded a day after its initial statement of concern.
“AJC looks forward to again working closely with Mr. Netanyahu to strengthen Israel’s security and place in the world, enhance the deep bonds between Israel and diaspora Jewry, and amplify the shared values that unite Israel, the United States, and our democratic allies,” said AJC CEO Ted Deutch.
The U.S. government will surely take its cue from the lobby here and work with Netanyahu. My comment of last week that the U.S. will quietly demand that Netanyahu form a coalition with rightwing opposition leaders Benny Gantz and Avigdor Lieberman so he can avoid the far right now appears baseless. Netanyahu’s path to the prime ministership necessarily entails Religious Zionism, reporter Tal Schneider said on the Democratic Majority for Israel webinar.
Makovsky seemed terrified during the webinar, as so much of the lobby is, by the ways that Religious Zionism will arm progressive critics of Israel and Zionism. Ben-Gvir will be the “poster child” for progressives, Makovsky warned. He’s right. And Ben-Gvir is that for good reason.
Ben- Gvir will make a useful scapegoat if or when the new government falls. People will then say it shows democracy works.
Sharon was a known war criminal starting with the Qibya massacre in the 50’s and it did no noticeable damage to the US- Israel relationship when he became Prime Minister. Netanhayu is hated by many American Democrats ( mainly because he sided openly with Republicans) but now he is supposed to be the respectable figure that Biden can work with as they avoid talking to Ben- Gvir.
You will know a real change has occurred when most of the American criticism of Israel focuses on the violations of the rights of Palestinians instead of whether this or that Israeli figure poses a threat to Israel’s reputation as a democracy. The reputation can be patched up— that is how it has worked so far, with people like Sharon.
The lobby’s wheels are always working.
Has anyone noticed the near media blackout of Israeli elections.
BBC? Not a peep.
They got orders not too embarrass Israel.
And if there’s no coverage, then no one will know, a tree in the woods and all that.
To be fair, I can hardly blame these groups for remaining dead silent.
Let’s take the 30,000 foot view. Virtually every single one of these same groups have been actively promoting, lobbying, bullying, strong-arming, and bribing federal, state, and local governments and untold numbers of major organizations and media outlets to officially adopt the flawed IHRA working definition of antisemitism, which conflates ANY and ALL criticism of Israel, its government, or Zionism with antisemitism.
Now when the chips are down and there is a very real and valid reason to turn their criticism on the openly racist and supremacist incoming government of Israel, they themselves would be guilty of violating the very definition of antisemitism they were instrumental in creating and unleashing on the world!
Having just witness the complete thermonuclear public assassination and annihilation of Kanye West and Kylie Irving for their antisemitism, why would these organizations risk the blowback and fallout of their own ultimate weaponization of antisemitism backfiring and destroying them too?
They’ve already proven and witnessed EXACTLY how effective and efficient their weaponization of antisemitism is. They are now also realizing that their greatest weapon against any criticism of Israel has also become their greatest weakness in regards to the actual future of Israel.
Unfortunately for them, just like with the discovery of nuclear weapons, the genie is out of the bottle. They simply can’t afford to give up this ultimate weapon now that they know precisely how potent and effective it is.
The greatest irony of all is that they themselves will now be to blame for the giant wedge that the new Israel government is certainly going to drive through US political, financial and military support of Apartheid Israel. Netanyahu’s new government is going to be the ultimate poster child and face of Israeli Apartheid and the IHRA definition of antisemitism these organizations implemented and their silence in due to the very same working definition are the cause. They effectively just fell on their own sword.
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Op-Ed: Netanyahu’s return to power with a coalition of racists is appalling. But the problem runs deeper – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
Excerpt:
Op-Ed: “Netanyahu’s return to power with a coalition of racists is appalling. But Israel’s problem runs deeper” Los Angeles Times, Nov. 3/22 David N. Myers teaches Jewish history at UCLA and is president of the New Israel Fund. Daniel Sokatch is the CEO of the New Israel Fund.“The apparent return of Benjamin Netanyahu to power in Israel is a gut punch to people concerned about the state of democracy & the rule of law in the world. Netanyahu has been a key pillar in the global movement of illiberal leaders who have taken control & altered the rules of the democratic game — including in Turkey, Hungary & the United States in the Trump era.
“During his 12 years in power from 2009 to 2021, Netanyahu lashed out at the media & political enemies, consistently attacked the Israeli judiciary (while under indictment and on trial), & promoted a version of majoritarianism intended to enshrine Jewish supremacy as a constitutional principle.
“And now, in his new term as prime minister, he will sit in a government with Itamar Ben-Gvir, the avowed disciple of the hate-filled racist Meir Kahane, & Bezalel Smotrich, a rabidly anti-LGBTQ rabble-rouser. The fact that Netanyahu, together with these allies, will form a government with as many as 65 seats in the Knesset represents not an aberration but the clear will of the people.
“A majority of Israel’s Jewish population — about 62% — identifies as right-wing, which is a sharp increase from 46% in 2019. Especially depressing is that young Israeli Jews (70%) are more right-wing than older Israeli Jews. Ben-Gvir received a rapturous reception from young Israeli Jews across the country, including in reliably liberal Tel Aviv. And this was not the result of external forces such as a war or a third intifada. Instead, it reflects sustained political efforts to promote a doctrine of Jewish supremacy — & larger global right-leaning populist trends…(cont’d)
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“In Israel, as in many countries around the world, the very idea of Western-style liberal democracy is under assault by those who — like Viktor Orban in Hungary, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, Narenda Modi in India, Giorgia Meloni in Italy &, of course, Donald Trump — champion the idea of ‘illiberal democracy,’ in which the majority rules with little or no consideration for the rights of minorities or the rule of law. It is easy to despair in the face of the success of these politicians & their many millions of supporters. To many in the U.S. who have committed much time and effort to supporting a progressive vision of Israel, this is a day of reckoning.
“Israel is not what our parents & grandparents imagined it could be — a workable balance of a haven for Jews & an enlightened, egalitarian society. The problem was not born with the latest election nor in the Netanyahu era more generally. It runs much deeper. Israel has maintained an illegal & immoral occupation of Palestinian land since 1967. And it has never reconciled its self-definition as a Jewish state with its professed desire to offer full equality to all its citizens, especially its large Arab minority, which makes up a fifth of the population.
“As an antidote to paralysis, it is important to recognize that this week’s election results, like all election results, are transitory — a snapshot in time, not a final destination. Even in the Israeli case, it turns out that just shy of 50% voted against the Netanyahu coalition. Despite the growing right-wing tendencies of Israeli Jews, the outcome could well have been different had a number of small parties on the left joined forces to pass the minimum threshold of votes. But the path forward will require a new approach to Israeli politics — and in fact, a new vision of Israel, one that rests on the principle of Arab-Jewish partnership.
“The Israel of the future must turn away from the ugly face of Jewish supremacy that is ascendant today. This means that although Israel can and should remain a homeland for Jews, it must not be, as the 2019 Nation-State Law declared, exclusively so. It also must be a homeland for Palestinians who have lived in the land for centuries….”