The New York Times has published a major exposé purporting to explain how Jeffrey Epstein rose to the top of the financial and political world, but it ignores one key topic: Israel.
Mondoweiss interviews Andrew Day, senior editor at American Conservative, about the fierce debate over Israel (and Epstein) happening on the right, neoconservatism’s role within the Trump administration, and what a “post-Israel” GOP might look like.
An excellent piece in the Nation this week by Michael Massing documents that Ken Roth–the man who affixed the apartheid label on Israel as head of Human Rights Watch in 2021 — lost out on a fellowship at Harvard’s Kennedy School last year because of his criticism of Israel. Massing quotes Roth and a Kennedy School official saying the offer from a human rights center at the school was withdrawn because of the Israel issue. Then Massing identifies several pro-Israel donors he suggests had influence over the dean, Douglas Elmendorf.
Pro-Palestine activists have repeatedly been beaten back at Harvard, and sure enough, today the school paper’s endorsement of BDS is facing intense backlash. But this time round the pro-Israel arguments feel familiar, and have lost their bite. Faculty and alumni letters claim the endorsement will cause Jewish students to feel alienated. One alum warns angrily that Harvard will lose Iron Dome protection. Gosh.
Two prominent men demoted because of association with Jeffrey Epstein last week shared with him a love of Israel. Leon Black gave $1.25 million to Zionist indoctrination program Birthright. And so the Epstein scandal is revealing the ways that high-stakes social and professional networking serve the Israel lobby in the U.S.
Alan Dershowitz has sought to undermine victims of Jeffrey Epstein– notably Maria Farmer– by suggesting that they are motivated by antisemitism. He has distorted Farmer’s comments in typical fashion.
The New York Times gives Paul Wolfowitz a platform to criticize Trump on the withdrawal from Syria, and the fight against ISIS, without saying a word about the roots of ISIS in the destruction that his project of invading Iraq wrought throughout the region. Wolfowitz should be on trial for major war crimes, Helena Cobban writes, not featured in the New York Times.
Jeffrey Epstein, the financier charged with sex trafficking, had friendships with many Israel supporters, from Les Wexner to Ehud Barak to Larry Summers. And there is speculation that Epstein, a mysterious international figure, had links to Israeli intelligence. Alan Dershowitz, Epstein’s former lawyer, says Israel is a factor in the case, alleging that the New Yorker is investigating his role in the case so as to hurt Netanyahu.