Netanyahu knows that expanding settlements “early” in the Biden administration is “red flag” so he’ll hold off to avoid a “confrontation,” says David Harris of the American Jewish Committee. But he would not avoid that confrontation if Biden has any thought of returning to the Iran deal, predicts the Israel lobbyist.
Trump is trying to tie Biden’s hands against returning to Iran deal with “spider web” of sanctions that Democratic hawks won’t reverse, says Sina Toossi of National Iranian American Council. And Israel may take it into its own hands to try to kill the deal in the transition period. “I’m worried that Israel and Saudi Arabia might view the rhetoric from the Trump administration as a green light for Israel to launch a strike on Iran,” Toossi says.
A Georgia state legislator who has pushed the anti-boycott law in that state testified that the Israeli consulate “asked me” to make changes in the legislation. She appeared at the hearing with an Israeli consular officer seated at her side, and introduced him to the legislative committee.
In what sounded like an audition for secretary of state, Sen. Chris Murphy tells an Israel lobby group Joe Biden will restore a “decision” the two parties made long before Trump came along not to argue about Israel. He said Donald Trump’s “anti-Muslim” actions had the unfortunate effect of making Netanyahu’s policies toward Palestinians look racist to some Democrats, but those days will end under Biden.
Unlike the other Democratic GA Senate candidate, Jon Ossoff has not made a misstep on his Israel positions, but shrewdly given nods to both conservative and liberal Zionists. He says the two-state solution is on “life support,” but has couched criticism of Israel in the language of Zionism. “I oppose Israeli annexation of the West Bank. What I want is for Israel’ s security as a homeland for the Jewish people to be secured and strengthened with U.S. support.”
Trump will push annexation of West Bank, and if Netanyahu sees it as in his political interest to be antagonistic to Biden, he will accede, say two prominent Israel lobbyists. The issue could be Trump’s way of sowing difficulties for Biden.
US election showed that American Jews and Israeli Jews could not be more different, American Jews dislike Netanyahu two-to-one, and so the Israel lobby is divided forever, because the Jewish community is divided on the Israel question, with many young Jews supporting boycott. And that divide will continue to spur political debate.
In a fiery speech in 1986 then Senator Joe Biden said he would “be on the ramparts” in South Africa if he were a black leader there, and justifed armed resistance to apartheid. “Hell they’ve tried to compromise for twenty years. They’ve tried everything. Everything in their power! And look what’s happened to them. They’re being crushed.”
Benjamin Netanyahu wants as much as he can from the last weeks of the Donald Trump presidency, so he took his time to congratulate Joe Biden– waiting till after midnight last night, many hours after other world leaders had sent Biden their best wishes– then lavishly thanked Trump too.
Don’t blame the Cubans! Trump’s 43 percent of Florida Jews shows influence of orthodox in Miami and turned the state for him, Israel lobbyist Mark Mellman says. Oh and Joe Biden will use “pressure” and “sanctions” to get a “stronger, better, longer” deal from Iran than President Obama got, Mellman says.