Trump wants Israel “to move forward with annexation to create a wedge issue visavis Joe Biden and the Democratic Party [to have] a hard political tool to use against Democrats in a very tight election. We all remember last summer the brouhaha that Trump created over the potential visit of Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to Israel and accusing the Democratic Party of being leftwing radicals,” Israeli journalist Neri Zilber tells J Street webinar.
Susan Rice is reportedly a front runner to be Joe Biden’s VP pick. Over the course of her career she has criticized Israel, but never held it accountable.
Rep. Ted Deutch shows imbalance of US government in mideast policy. He is “frustrated” with Palestinian leaders for not recognizing Israel as a Jewish state and for demanding that Jerusalem be the capital of a future Palestinian state. But as for criticizing Israel, Deutch says he raises “concern” about Netanyahu’s annexation plans out of “love” for Israel.
Joe Biden has bent over backwards to tell the Jewish community he can work with Netanyahu and won’t sanction Israel if it annexes West Bank lands. He cannot afford to alienate the largest source of Democratic campaign funding, from pro-Israel Jews, a source Trump is making a play for.
Sarah Lazare and Branko Marcetic discuss Joe Biden’s track record on Israel and Palestine, his insufficient response to Trump’s Iran sanctions, and what his potential administration’s foreign policy might look like.
Joe Biden’s idea of criticizing Israel was being 90 minutes late to dinner at the Netanyahus on the day the Israelis insulted him as vice president in 2010 by announcing more settlements. And Biden embraces Trump’s move of the embassy to Jerusalem and offers only mild criticism of annexation plans.
Palestinians must recognize the “right and reality of Jewish state,” and US left is “equally wrong” to Trump in not criticizing Palestinians for their failure to do so, says Biden aide Tony Blinken, signaling that Biden will be far more supportive of Israel than Obama was.
The Netanyahu-Gantz coalition government will be sworn in this week and Netanyahu has made it clear that he intends to move forward with annexation plans this summer. Almost every Democrat opposes the move, but virtually none of them want to even suggest doing anything about it.
“I am proud to support Vice President Biden, and that’s in large part because I know that he stands where I stand on the importance of strengthening the US Israel relationship,” Rep. Ted Deutch tells the American Jewish Committee. But he didn’t mention Israel when he endorsed Biden in March. He knows that’s a special interest.
Joe Biden is a throwback to a bygone era when Democrats and Republicans demonstrated equal fealty toward Israel and disregarded Palestinian rights altogether. A Biden administration would likely reflect that outmoded worldview.