As Hillary Clinton and Sarah Hurwitz blame the rising support for Palestine within the Democratic Party on social media, former Obama staffer Ben Rhodes makes clear why Democrats are turning on Israel and what this means for the party moving forward.
U.N. human rights investigator Miloon Kothari has now apologized for criticizing the “Jewish lobby.” But Israel advocates including Alan Dershowitz, Stu Eizenstat, JJ Goldberg and Bari Weiss have long acknowledged the power of the Israel lobby in forming U.S. policy, and said it expresses the goals of the Jewish community.
Progressive forces enjoyed a triumph for Palestinian human rights last week before House leadership called for a standalone vote that went 420-9 for Israel military aid. The pro-Israel lobby still has a “stranglehold” over policymaking because it has the overwhelming backing of the organized Jewish community, and a lot of money to spend on political races.
The Democratic Party is about to become the latest “existential threat” to the Jewish state. And there’s one thing you can be sure of, Zionists won’t take U.S. defection lying down. Tom Friedman worries that things here could “blow up.”
Joe Biden is dithering on his promise to return to the Iran deal, under pressure from Bob Menendez and other Democrats beholden to the Israel lobby. The lobby’s ability to influence the White House’s definition of the American interest in the Middle East in Israel’s favor is a longstanding tradition, and it’s just a pity the media continually fall for it.
Former Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes says the Israel lobby uses money to get its way in Congress. “Members would call me at the beginning of the August recess in 2015, when we’re having the Iran [deal] fight, and be like, AIPAC put out a press release saying they’re going to spend $40 million on ads on this. The money issue became acute. And people started to say, AIPAC told me they’d cancel my fundraisers if I vote this way. We’re never supposed to name the issue of money. But when AIPAC is threatening people that they’re going to cancel fundraisers, suddenly you’re having that conversation.”
“We pretended to my shame at times in the Obama administration that Netanyahu was interested in the two-state solution. When I dont think he was, ever,” Ben Rhodes says. And Rhodes is just as cynical about Palestinian opportunities for sovereignty under the Obama administration. “I can tell you we didn’t really give them one when I was there. Not a real one.”
Donald Trump is pushing Israel as a wedge issue with Democrats, and it seems to be working slightly, with Trump’s Jewish support up to 30 percent. But Haim Saban is all-in for Biden, and some Democratic congresspeople in swing districts are running to Trump’s right on Israel.
Rep. Nita Lowey tells an Israel lobby group that she chose to chair a House subcommittee controlling foreign aid over a subcommittee controlling much larger funds for health care and education and child care because she went with her heart. Imagine a Congressperson saying they chose a committee because of love for Russia, what the fallout would be.
On the basis of alleged “anti-Semitic tropes,” numerous critics of Israel, many of them writers of color, have been accused of bigotry for their criticisms of Israel. The latest is Ali Abunimah, accused by Matt Seaton of NYRB. Meantime, you can say anything you like to dehumanize Palestinians and no one in the mainstream will call you out.