In what can only be seen as a political slap in the face to Benjamin Netanyahu, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has invited the Israeli President, Isaac Herzog — and not Prime Minister Netanyahu — to speak in front of a joint session of Congress. Although he threatened to invite Netanyahu to Washington if President Biden did not, McCarthy must have agreed to a compromise whereby President Herzog, the kinder, gentler, and more palatable face of Israel, is slated to appear instead of Netanyahu.
However, while Herzog may seem like a moderate face of Israel and Zionism, he is no less a racist war criminal than Netanyahu. He is the official head of the State of Israel, a country that Amnesty International accused of committing the crime of Apartheid, a crime so heinous it falls under the definition of a Crime Against Humanity. Before becoming President, Herzog served as minister in several Israeli cabinets and within the State of Israel and as head of the Jewish Agency, one of the major arms of the World Zionist Organization.
The Israeli presidency is a cushy position, one where politicians who have nothing more to do go out to pasture. My great uncle, Zalman Shazar, was Israel’s third President. Before that, he was a cabinet member and a labor leader — and only when he was too old to perform any more useful tasks was he sent to be President.
Herzog comes from deep racist Zionist roots, albeit from the center-Labor political world. He is seen as a more moderate face than Netanyahu, and unlike Netanyahu, he was never indicted. His father was Chaim “Vivian” Herzog, who was no less a war criminal and had a career in the military, serving alongside my father in the Israeli army for decades.
Herzog, the father, later served as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. When on November 10, 1975, the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution 3379 declaring Zionism as a form of racism and racial discrimination, Ambassador Herzog tore the resolution in protest in front of the General Assembly. He was eventually sent to pasture and became Israel’s President.
Officially the Israeli President is not permitted to make political statements but must rather act as a uniting figure, one that everyone can look up to. And indeed, in November of 2021, a few short months after he became President, Herzog the son decided to demonstrate unity — he visited one of the most contentious spots in Palestine to light a menorah and celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah: Hebron.
According to a story published by the AP about the visit, Herzog said he was visiting the “Cave of the Patriarchs,” in Hebron to celebrate the ancient city’s Jewish past. Furthermore, even as life for Palestinians in the city is becoming less and less bearable, and access to the Ibrahimi Mosque for Muslims is becoming progressively more restricted, he met and lit the menorah alongside racist, violent settlers who inhabit the city and terrorize the local Palestinian residents. Then he went on to say that he was there to promote “interfaith relations.”
Herzog’s visit to Hebron, a city known to suffer from what is described as the purest representation of apartheid, was not without symbolism. He, as the representative of the elitist Zionist so-called Left, “came to Canossa,” so to speak, to pledge support and loyalty to the most vile and violent elements within the Zionist world — the Hebron settlers. It was the closing of a circle, a moment of unity, and from that moment on, there was no more difference between Zionist settlers in Tel Aviv and those in Hebron.
“From that moment on, there was no more difference between Zionist settlers in Tel Aviv and those in Hebron.
I could not but be reminded that, as a child, we would visit the President’s official residence during Hanukkah. President Shazar, my great uncle, would hold an open house, and my entire extended family, along with dignitaries, came to see the lighting of the candles. But Herzog did not hold this event in the official residence. He traveled to the settlers’ base to legitimize and show support for the ethnic cleansing and terrorizing of over two hundred thousand Palestinians who live in the city of Hebron.
In his speech, while standing in the stronghold of racist Zionist supremacy and unbridled violence, Herzog made what can only be seen as an absurd call for peace between all the children of Abraham, saying that we must “denounce all forms of hatred and violence.”
This double-faced strategy of Zionism is not new, but Herzog has taken it to a whole new level — supporting uncontrolled settler violence against Palestinians while calling for a peace that can never happen so long as Zionists rule over Palestine.
In his speech in front of the joint session of Congress, a speech that several members have announced they will boycott, one can surely bet that Herzog will put on his reasonable, moderate face. He will undoubtedly mention Israel’s sincere yearning for peace and its need to remain strong and secure in the face of constant threats. The only question that remains is how many standing ovations he will receive.
Thanks for making this point crystal clear!
The shtick being peddled over in Zionistville is that Herzog is merely the President of Israel, and they can’t seem to understand why the likes of Ilhan Omar and The Squad are getting their knickers in a knot over his “visit” to D.C. and choosing to publicly and openly boycott his address to Congress. Going so far as to claim that it shows that they really don’t understand his policies or the mere “ceremonial position” that he holds.
Which I find a very odd defense.
If his position is merely ceremonial and his policies past and present are of so little value in comparison to someone like, say, the Prime Minister, then why the heck has the Speaker of the House bothered to invite him in the first place? He’s either important or unimportant. If he’s important, then they are more than justified in showing their contempt for the office he holds, and the Apartheid nation and policies that he represents. If he’s unimportant, then he shouldn’t be here in the first place, nor allowed to stand up in the House of Representatives and lecture us about “democracy”, nebulous bullshit “shared values”, nor spread his propaganda to our ACTUAL democratically elected officials or the American media and American people.
I have to confess having a chip on my shoulder vis a vis Miko Peled because he spends a few days with Neturei Karta and thus assumes the title “expert on true Haredi attitudes”, which is obviously self aggrandizing nonsense. Thus I focus on his “I am the prince” and I deserve your attention. In these days with Robert Kennedy Jr. spouting crap, this “I am the prince” shtick should be retired.
Speaking of self aggrandizing princes, Isaac Herzog is a singularly unimpressive loser in his prepresidency career. I do not blame him for pursuing the presidency, but he should not be compared to people who really accomplished things in their careers, who then filled the role of president. He hasn’t. Until now.
Israel’s Judicial Coup crisis is not an easy one to navigate and Herzog has not been the key player, but I’d give him a B for his service in that regard.
I was surprised when Herzog went to Hebron, but once he accepted the presidency, he became president of all Israelis and that’s what his presence in Hebron seemed to assert.
One does not refuse an offer to speak in front of the Congress and I am not surprised that he accepted the invitation. It is a particularly bleak time to represent the Israeli government to the world, even if you are a figurehead from the opposition.
as far as current attitudes towards Israel by left wing Jewish journalists, I would go with Michele Goldberg in the NYT talking about the brouhaha caused by Jaypal’s “racist state” and retraction.
You use incendiary words to describe Israel that are lies. There is no apartheid or governmental racism, and President Herzog is not a criminal. The criminals are the PA, the leaders that push Pay for Slay, teach their children hatred, train them to murder, and reward their criminal behaviors.