The Shift: Schumer’s speech

The mainstream media says there’s a “widening rift” developing between the United States and Israel. To certain extent, they’re right.

We recently saw Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an obstacle to peace in the region.

“I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel, at a time when so many Israelis have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government,” said the New York Senator in a floor speech. “I also believe a majority of the Israeli public will recognize the need for change, and I believe that holding a new election once the war starts to wind down would give Israelis an opportunity to express their vision for the post-war future.”

Schumer has been a staunch supporter of Israel for decades, so his comments certainly tell us something about the current political climate. In addition to calling for a new election, he also pointed out that the high death toll in Gaza is further damaging Israel’s reputation. “Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah,” he explained.

Schumer’s comments were publicly backed by other consistent supporters of Israel like Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who told CNN that Netanyahu’s government was blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza.

Netanyahu shot back at Schumer, calling his comments on a new election inappropriate. “That’s something the Israeli public does on its own. We are not a banana republic,” he told Dana Bash.

This is especially rich coming from a guy who tried to tank the Obama administration’s landmark foreign policy achievement via a speech to the United States congress in 2015. It’s also funny to hear the Israeli government prattle on about its desire to be independent, when the U.S. is supplying the country with billions in military aid every year.

You see the inverse of this contradiction among many Democrats. For example, Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) recently said that he’d call for a new election in Israel if he was part of the Knesset, but (alas) he’s simply a member of the U.S. House and can only deal with issues connected to his own country.

If that’s really true then why is Auchincloss’s top contributor AIPAC, a group devoted to defending Israel through its worst atrocities?

Schumer’s speech is notable moment in United States/Israel relations, but it says something even more important about the current state of Zionism in the United States. Politicians like Schumer really think its image can be salvaged by removing Netanyahu, but that’s clearly not true.

Phil Weiss does a good job of breaking this down at the site.

“There is now no difference between right-wing and left-wing Zionists inside the Democratic Party,” he writes. “They have all gathered around the Schumer/Biden delusion that if you just get rid of Netanyahu, Israel will be able to curb the slaughter, pursue the two-state solution, and save the Jewish state.”

“Zionism is now entering an unending public crisis,” Weiss continues. “Because Netanyahu won’t go. Or if he does go, he will be replaced by others who are equally or almost as warmongering and who will do nothing to end the occupation. And Israel will just continue to be a pariah state. And the tsunami of boycotts, long predicted by Israel lovers, will really be upon us.”

This week Netanyahu spoke with Republican Senators virtually, but Schumer turned down his request to have a meeting with Democrats. Note the explanation for this snub from Schumer’s office: “Sen. Schumer made it clear that he does not think these discussions should happen in a partisan manner. That’s not helpful to Israel.”

Emphasis mine.

Conditioning Aid

There’s been a lot of talk about conditioning military aid to Israel lately.

We’ve seen some of this concept broached occasionally over the past few years, and it’s predictably picked up since October, but there have been some significant examples over the last couple of weeks.

First, Bernie Sanders led a group of Senators in urging Biden to stop providing offensive weapons to Israel if it continued to block humanitarian aid. Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Peter Welch (D-VT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) were the other signatories.

The letter cites the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, a chapter of the Arms Export Control Act.

“According to public reporting and your own statements, the Netanyahu government is in violation of this law. Given this reality, we urge you to make it clear to the Netanyahu
government that failure to immediately and dramatically expand humanitarian access and facilitate safe aid deliveries throughout Gaza will lead to serious consequences, as specified under existing U.S. law,” reads the letter.

This letter won’t have any impact, but it’s interesting that it references existing law. Insofar as any lawmaker actually suggests this kind of stuff, it’s generally vague. For example, here’s Elizabeth Warren while she was running for president: “Right now, Netanyahu says he is going to take Israel in a direction of increasing settlements, but that does not move us in the direction of a two-state solution. It is the official policy of the United States of America to support a two-state solution, and if Israel is moving in the opposite direction, then everything is on the table…Everything is on the table.”

That is complete gibberish.

There are already existing laws designed to prohibit human rights violators from getting weapons. The United States simply does not enforce them, especially not against Israel.

Around the same time as the Senate letter, it was reported that the Biden administration would “consider” conditioning aid to Israel if Netanyahu invaded Rafah.

There was a Politico article on this alleged consideration that contains a very telling paragraph:

Biden has given varying indications of how he feels about future weapons sales to Israel. Last year, he called the idea of conditioning military assistance a “worthwhile thought.” In a weekend interview, he said that he would continue sending arms to the country, particularly the Iron Dome missile defense system that protects against Hamas rockets. But in that same interview, he said that mass civilian casualties in Gaza was a “red line” for him.

This is how it generally goes with modern Democratic presidents and Israel. Some public hand wringing, allege concerns about casualties, some chats about worthwhile thoughts, but what does it add up to? Israel continues to get billions to oppress Palestinians.

Israel has submitted written assurances as required by the U.S. State Department stating its use of American-supplied weapons is not being used to violate humanitarian laws in Gaza, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Yesterday, a U.S. official said that Israel had until Sunday to submit written assurances that U.S.-supplied weapons aren’t being used to commit human rights violations. The State Department says it will assess whether Israel’s assurances are credible within the next two months. Meanwhile, Haaretz reports that there’s a “deep internal rift” within the administration over Israel’s commitment to letting in humanitarian aid that could impact further weapons transfers.

It’s important to take a step back here and consider what Palestinian society has actually called for. That’s an end to U.S. military support of Israel and a boycott of the country until it complies to international law.

Odds & Ends

???? CUNY students demand that Hunter administration apologize for antisemitism smear

???????? Canadian foreign minister says country will stop arms sales to Israel

⚖️ Opposition to Palestinian rights shaped U.S. anti-terror laws

????️ Counterpunch: Joe Sacco and Palestine

???? The Intercept: GOP megadonor’s PAC fires off first ads in Summer Lee’s Democratic primary

???????? Al Jazeera: ‘He’s lost my vote’: Many Irish Americans turn against Biden over Gaza war

???????? Truthout: More Than 40 Pro-Palestine Orgs Refused to Meet With Biden in Chicago Last Week

????️ NBC News: Behind the scenes, Biden has grown angry and anxious about re-election effort:

“President Joe Biden was seething.

In a private meeting at the White House in January, allies of the president had just told him that his poll numbers in Michigan and Georgia had dropped over his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.

Both are battleground states he narrowly won four years ago, and he can’t afford any backsliding if he is to once again defeat Donald Trump.

He began to shout and swear, a lawmaker familiar with the meeting said.

He believed he had been doing what was right, despite the political fallout, he told the group, according to the lawmaker.”

???????? Responsible Statecraft: Bombs, guns, treasure: What Israel wants, the US gives

???????? Washington Post: How Biden became embroiled in a Gaza conflict with no end in sight

???? Common Dreams: US State Department Claims It Hasn’t Seen Reports of Israel Torturing UNRWA Staff

???????? Hammer & Hope: The New Movement for Palestine

???????? Haaretz: Biden Administration Split on Suspending Arms Sales to Israel Ahead of Deadline on Sunday

????‍⚖️ HuffPost: A Democrat Just Caved To The GOP’s Bogus Attacks On Biden’s Muslim Court Pick

???? The Nation: A Statement From Jewish Americans Opposing AIPAC

????️ CBS News: ‘Arab groups urge Illinois to protest Biden with “Gaza” write-in vote

???????? NPR: This Maryland senator says a law could allow Biden to push for more aid in Gaza

???????? Exchange between Al Quds Said Arikat and State Department spokesman Vedant Patel during a briefing this week:

Arikat: First, I wanted to ask about a colleague of mine in Gaza. He’s in fact the bureau chief of Gaza for our newspaper, and the editor-in-chief for the electronic version. His name is Mahmoud Abu Awad Abu Musab, but I’ll send you his name and his picture. He was taken by the Israelis on Sunday night, Sunday or Monday morning, and we lost his whereabouts. We don’t know anything about him. Then there was a picture published with him stripped naked along with other men and so on.

So my point is: When will the United States demand and say that this cannot keep on going, where journalists that are credentialed, that have worked there for year after year, decade after decade, well-known to the Israelis – well-known to the Israelis – why do they keep taking them, targeting them, killing them, imprisoning them? With impunity? Why is that not outrageous to you?

Patel: Said, when we talk about continuing to press Israel to enhance its mechanisms to better protect civilians, we of course are also talking about extending that to journalists as well. We are always concerned for the safety of journalists, especially in conflict zones, especially in somewhere like Gaza, where journalism plays a critical role. And as Secretary Blinken has said, journalists – including many Palestinians in Gaza – are doing extraordinary work under the most dangerous conditions. And we’ve been unequivocal here. We also have been clear and reiterated the fact that Israel needs to abide by international humanitarian law, especially as it conducts these operations. And that’s something we’ll continue to reiterate with them.

Arikat: Yeah, well, honestly, Vedant, this slap-on-the-wrist kind of language is not going – in any way, shape, or form – to sway the Israelis, or to pressure them, or to make them do stuff. You should – everybody believes that a civilized country like the United States of America, who is basically the umbilical cord for Israel to do everything under the sun, can stand and say: This should not go on.

????‍⚖️ The Hill: Supreme Court unanimously rules against government in No Fly List case

???? The Guardian: Jared Kushner says Gaza’s ‘waterfront property could be very valuable’

???????? A man yelled, “All Muslims should die!” at worshippers entering the Downtown Islamic Center in Chicago. He also verbally harassed a woman and smashed a glass door.

✝️ Middle East Eye: Christian Americans mobilize for Gaza ceasefire and against Zionism

Al Jazeera: Biden warns Netanyahu against ‘mistake’ of invading Rafah: White House

Stay safe out there,