On the campaign trail John Fetterman positioned himself as a staunch supporter of Israel. Can activists push him on the issue?
A recent poll confirms the trend that more and more American Jews are shifting their attitudes towards Israel.
Liberal Zionists are secretly exultant over Naftali Bennett unseating Benjamin Netanyahu, hoping it will end the politicization of Israel in U.S. politics. But Apartheid is a hard sell and Bennett will quickly be on a collision course with a lot of people in the United States who think Palestinians should have rights.
Israeli leaders believe that Donald Trump has set the new normal for US-Israel relations: total acceptance of Israeli expansion. And if Joe Biden is elected president today, Israelis will expect compliance from him; and Biden will likely do little to take Netanyahu on. That’s the view of Israel lobbyists as the pageant of democracy unfolds in the U.S.
“The president stands with our friend, Israel, more than any other president before,” Melania Trump brags in Florida. While Democrat Rep. Ted Deutch says, “Joe Biden will be a great president for the US Israel relationship…He… will make Israel a stronger country.”
Eliot Engel’s defeat has shocked the Israel lobby and Congress. They understand that the tide is turning, and the Israel Palestine issue is like gay marriage 25 years ago, with progressives on one side and conservatives on the other. The Democratic base wants change. So says longtime DNC member Jim Zogby.
The Biden team is about to put out very pro-Israel language on a party platform draft. And while it is likely that Israel-critics will try to amend that language, party insider Mark Mellman says they will not succeed.
Eric Alterman shows real courage in saying that the Bowman-Engel race in NY was liberalism versus Zionism and liberalism won. And that’s a wakeup call to Jews who thought the two belief systems are compatible.
Three leaders of a new group aimed at preventing the Democratic Party from splitting over Israel–Jennifer Granholm, Peter Villegas, and Ann Lewis –are affiliated with the Israel lobby group AIPAC, which has been panicked by the possible splintering of political support for the Jewish state.