Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer says that Israel will be the most important ally to the U.S. in the 21st century because of security threats from the Middle East and because Israel is in the “elite” of technology innovating countries, surpassing Britain.
Dismissing the idea of a two-state solution, Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, says that the Israeli occupation of Palestine is like the U.S. occupation of Japan and Germany after World War II. The occupation was imposed at first, but the people came to understand that occupation was “good for them.” He doesn’t note that Americans did not seize lands in those countries and build exclusive roads and cities and move our population into colonies, as Israel has done.
On Monday members from the House of Representatives announced the establishment of the Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations, which was created to combat the rising tide of white nationalism. However, the group includes New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, the GOP congressman who has made headlines for his connections to the alt-right and his repeated attacks on Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar on Twitter.
“Antisemitism is not some abstract idea to me. It is very personal. It destroyed a good part of my family,” Bernie Sanders tells the American Jewish Committee, and says that history leads him to fight Israel’s military occupation, which has “crushed” Palestinans for over 50 years in pain and humiliation and denies them freedom of movement.
Senator Kamala Harris is seeking to separate herself from the Democratic field by being an unapologetic booster of Israel. Her message to the AJC yesterday contains a vow– “I will do everything in my power to insure broad and bipartisan support for Israel’s security and right to self-defense” — but not a word of criticism of the “democratic and Jewish state.”
Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg hint at mild criticisms of Israel in comments to the American Jewish Committee while Cory Booker avoids the topic. Biden said American friends have to be honest with Israel before using the opportunity to criticize Palestinians: “They have to be ready to negotiate. They have to be ready to recognize a two-state solution as the only way forward.”
Rising Democratic star Pete Buttigieg went to Israel at the height of Gaza killings last May on an Israel-lobby-sponsored trip and came home praising the country for its “clear-eyed” decisions on security. He faulted fellow Democrats for making snap judgments of the country based on “90-second cable news versions of what’s going on over there.”
In an open letter to progressive Jews, Jewish activists says this moment calls for a strong, broad, united front against the Trump administration’s agenda but there are groups within the Jewish community that progressives should not stand beside: “Specifically, we refer to the February 12 rallies in support of refugees in which Jewish social justice groups cosponsored the action with, among others, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC), two organizations that have toxic anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian policies.”