Chuck Schumer’s recent floor speech calling for elections in Israel says something very important about the state of U.S./Israel relations and the future of Zionism.
The unbelievable onslaught on a captive people in Gaza has at last cracked the conscience of the American Jewish community and sent American Zionists into complete crisis.
Democrats are criticizing the Israeli government for not reflecting the desires of Israelis in its war on Gaza. Netanyahu may be hated, but it’s clear he’s not acting against the will of his people. That description is far more fitting for Joe Biden.
American Zionists are not deluded about Zionism. They know exactly what Israel is, and they are actively supporting blatant supremacy, racism, and apartheid. But that is changing, because Zionism is finally being challenged in the left/liberal press.
Longtime Israel lobbyist Martin Indyk says Joe Biden’s rebuke of Benjamin Netanyahu last month will have dramatic consequences on the Israeli leader’s ability to influence US politics.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken should publicize Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call for a Palestinian village to be “erased” and use his global “megaphone” to discredit Smotrich, says Tom Friedman of the NYT. But Chuck Schumer is yucking it up with Netanyahu to please American Jews.
The Biden administration is determined not to criticize the extremist Israeli government even in the wake of settler terrorism licensed by officials. It wants no daylight between Democrats and Republicans on Israel.
A surprising number of Democratic politicians running in close elections have not been vocally supportive of Israel after it attacked Gaza. They include Raphael Warnock, Mark Kelly, John Fetterman, and most of the candidates in the crowded 10th district in New York. These Dems surely see Israel as an issue that is going to cause them problems with Democratic voters, so they avoid the association.
Don’t look now, but mainstream Democrats are defying Israel over the Gaza attack. Chuck Schumer calls for a cease fire, joining 30 other Senators, and Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called for a hold on a $735 million sale of missiles and bombs to Israel that the White House approved May 5 — till he backed down today. But liberal Zionist J Street group is for all military aid continuing to flow to Israel.
On May 14 hundreds of Jewish New Yorkers protested in front of Senator Chuck Schumer’s house (D-NY) demanding an end to ethnic cleansing in Palestine. The Senate Majority Leader is a longtime supporter of Israel.