Rep. Jerry Nadler built a career as a staunch opponent of BDS, but now his endorsement of Zohran Mamdani has left pro-Israel leaders feeling betrayed. It is just another sign of the sea change taking place among Democrats on Palestine.
Meet Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun. A long-time friend of Miriam Adelson, he has deep ties to the far-right of the Jewish community. Soon, he will be leading the charge to criminalize Palestine solidarity as Donald Trump’s envoy to “combat antisemitism.”
In a dangerous precedent, the House of Representatives passed a controversial bill equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism. Pro-Israel lawmakers quickly followed with a bill to establish a congressional commission aimed at Palestine solidarity.
Yom Kippur begins tonight and I reflect that the most prominent moral voice in the extended American Jewish community is today Rashida Tlaib. Young Jews look to her for the appropriate response to apartheid. She inspires us. At a time when virtually every establishment Jewish organization has abandoned any pretense to universal moral values, Tlaib has led the way.
Rashida Tlaib hit a nerve. It is obviously very important to the Israel lobby to maintain the claim that you can be progressive and support Israel. Being truthful about Israeli apartheid undermines this effort. Liberal Zionists are divided. J Street has condemned Tlaib’s comment. But like nearly all the Dems who attacked Tlaib, they didn’t even mention the apartheid part of her comment. Democrats don’t want to address it. They don’t want to engage with what Israel actually does and how Palestinians live.
Polling shows Democrats support BDS by three to one, but Rep. Jerry Nadler said last night that he has stopped BDS from getting a “foothold” among progressives in Congress, and that only a Jew with his seniority can do that. Nadler bragged of supporting Israel since he was 8 years old.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent refusal to criticize Israel in comments to an Israel lobbyist remind us that the lobby is still entrenched in the Democratic Party. We thought that narrative was over, but it’s not. Israel critics turn into Israel praisers when they have political ambitions.