There are plenty of American politicians who have an incentive to demonstrate strong support for Israel, but only a small handful who have much, if any, incentive to support the settler movement there. So, it doesn’t surprise me that some politicians get upset (or pretend to, anyway) when the United States government acts in ways that displease the Israeli government, but it seems like the specifics are almost wholly irrelevant. Over in Europe, our allies loved John Kerry’s speech condemning Benjamin Netanyahu for his cowardice and lack of leadership in confronting the settlers.
In France, Britain and Germany, Mr. Kerry’s speech was greeted with more full-throated support. Senator Nathalie Goulet, vice president of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the French Senate, said Mr. Kerry “is right, he is absolutely right.”
“The more there are settlements,” she said, “the less it is likely there will be a two-state solution. But nobody ever dares condemn Israel. There is a double standard that nourishes the propaganda of the terrorists.”
In a statement, the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, praised Mr. Kerry’s speech as a “passionate and deeply convincing” defense of “the only credible way” to solve the issue: a two-state solution.
British officials said they regarded Mr. Kerry’s speech as a thoughtful summary of longstanding British and European concerns about the direction of Israeli politics.
Here at home, however, the reaction was mostly negative.
I’m not exactly sure why American politics is so stupid about Israel. But it is.
You can oppose the settlers precisely because you support Israel and don’t want to see it end in ruin, as neither secure, nor prosperous, nor democratic, nor Jewish. This possibility isn’t really considered in our discourse, though, even when the president and Secretary of State come right out and articulate it.
Hmm, could Citizens United have anything to do with it? I read that 60% of Bibi’s latest election was funded by dual citizens. And don’t kid yourself, Israel is quite pro-settler.
The major parties in the present governing coalition are quite pro-settler. To be accurate, and all.
I’d like to see your polls.
Polls or no polls, the simple basis of Israeli support in America:
Follow the money.
You will find people like Adelson on the right and Saban on the left.
Our government has really gone completely pay for play, and the Israel policies are only one example. At the root, politicians can’t get elected without the money and they become captive.
A very large reason, of course, is the Israel Lobby, which is usually ranked with the NRA as the most powerful lobby in America. It does not appear to operate with equal force in other western democracies.
The American Right is endemically militarist, and admires Israel for its militarism and successful military campaigns/wars—although these largely ended with the invasion of Lebanon in the Reagan years. The most recent ones have been unsuccessful slug-fests with appalling and wanton destruction of civilian infrastructure as the only elements of “victory”.
And over the course of the Conservative Era, Christian Dominionists seemingly switched from simple time-honored anti-Semitism to Revelations-based End Times prophecy, thinking that incessant ME warfare will somehow bring on the passionately desired “Rapture”. So the coaches of Team Conservative took this braindead garbage on as a policy position as well.
Just one of many issues which can only be discussed at the level of an ignoramus in America, gun control being another–which also involves the machinations of a powerful lobby.
Well, you have explained the attraction for neocon Republicans.
What is the attraction for Democratic pols who are NOT neocons?
IOW, do liberal voters actually punish them for not supporting Israeli behavior?
I thought both the Bushes were tougher on Israel than any Dem. And paid no price. Am I wrong?
Most Jews are Dems. There are many rich powerful Jews in places like entertainment who are both friends and campaign contributers. Many vocal of these groups support the settlements or at least see any real criticizm of Israel as an existential threat.
It’s hardly universal though. Many of those liberal Jews take human rights concerns very seriously and as a result oppose the settlements. You can’t really generalize.
I said vocal among those groups but look. If you are a liberal Jew and your response to Kerrys speech is
“You should have said it differently.”
“Why should Israel do something before the Palestinians do?”
“It wont change Palestinian attitudes.”
Then you either DON’T take human rights concerns very seriously, or you are blinded by Israel right or wrong.
As for me I dont particularly care about Israel or if it exists or not in the future. I just want whatever stops people killing each other and starts enabling them to live their lives with the most possible freedom on every side.
I’m not sure what your point is here. Many liberal Jews were happy with Kerry’s speech and said so without any of your caveats. J Street endorsed it.
Like I said, Jewish opinion on the settlements is not monolithic.
Yes, vocal is the key word. The majority of Jews do not agree with total unwavering support of Israeli actions and have a range of reasonable opinions. But there is a very very vocal minority that is quick to ascribe everything to anti-Semitism.
It is a time-honored tradition in NYC local politics (for a position that has minimal/no impact on foreign policy) to have a campaign speech on support for Israel just so they don’t draw the wrath of the extremist groups smearing them as anti-Semitic Holocaust deniers. Unfortunately, the numbers of right wing Jews is growing with high Orthodox birth rates.
So the donor class are pro-settlement? That is an explanation, I guess.
So the donor class are pro-settlement?
Yes. Just look at Haim Saban. He put $5 million into one of the SuperPAC’s supporting HRC. By far the biggest single donor as far as I know. And the only issue he cares about is Israel. Meaning he’s on the same wavelength as Sheldon Adelson re: Israel. Also, Saban funded the construction of the DNC’s current HQ. Pretty much explains why any Democratic elected official will do whatever AIPAC wants. In fact, Saban hates Obama. Not sure why since Obama has bent over backwards to not criticize Israel before this week.
It’s not the case that the whole donor class is necessarily pro-settlement. The problem is that until less than a decade ago, there was no major American Jewish organization that would seriously criticize Israeli official policy. Now there is — JStreet. They have been very critical of Netanyahu and they do support Obama and Kerry.
JStreet’s not perfect, but I honestly think that the substantial support they have gained in the American Jewish community has made it possible for Obama and Kerry to get a little breathing room from the Israel-first establishment.
It’s a big topic, I suspect, rooted in history and party politics. Dem admins both recognized Israel in 1948 and gave it very significant support in the critical 1967 war.
As I see it, Israel was much easier to view as a wholly sympathetic cause in the decades after the Holocaust. It could be seen (and presented itself) rather convincingly as a victim of Arab military aggression seeking to destroy it, and then as a victim of PLO terrorism. The US Defense Dept was full of praise for it as a strategic asset for US military forces, i.e. “national security”. This became the overwhelming consensus position.
It must also be remembered that American Jews are long time and very important members of the Dem coalition and that by and large they have been very sympathetic and supportive of Israel and its policies since its inception. Thus politics plays a traditional role here in a way that it simply doesn’t for the Repubs. All this provides some pretty strong momentum for continuing extreme support of Israel by the Dem party. And the Israel Lobby works both sides of the aisle, that’s for sure.
The problem is that the cognitive dissonance under Netanyahoo & Co is also getting pretty strong. The question is how bad does Israel’s policy have to be before it provokes some sort of reassessment by at least some elements of the party? Is anything a bridge too far? Or is everything to be swept under the rug of “existential necessity” no matter how preposterous that characterization?
Euzolus, I’m not sure the word “Dominionists” means what you think it means. Christian Zionism is much wider than just Dominionists. Dominionists are mostly Christian Zionists but that isn’t their main focus. For example, the “Kingdom Now” theology of Dominionism does not believe in the Rapture and is not especially oriented towards “End Times”.
Just got back from a trip to visit the folks in Louisiana. They live in an alternate universe. The new attitude toward Russia is particularly startling from my parents who have lived most of their lives in the Cold War. I can’t imagine the catastrophe that would force them to acknowledge that Trump bears any responsibility; they will pin anything and everything on the outgoing administration.
It appears to me that what Israel is doing with the settlements is equivalent to the white man taking over American Indian land. Maybe it isn’t; but, it certainly looks that way to me, an American Indian.
So much easier to accomplish before the advent of modern communication systems. The Greater Israel Zionists seem to be acting as if the consumer internet is still somewhere in the future.
Zionism is a form of 19th-century romantic nationalism.
I don’t just mean it started in the 19th century, I mean it is still in the mindset of the 19th century.
I grew up in a Jewish home imbibing all the pro-Israel propaganda that my friends also grew up with. Most of us are liberal Democrats. Pretty much all of us are ethical people who believe in things like civil rights and racial equality. But when the subject of Israel comes up, most Jews lose any sense of perspective. It’s as if all our ethical perspectives get suspended because the land of milk and honey is somehow a special case, defensible at all costs no matter what. In fact, I’d go a step further and say that most of my childhood friends believe that if Israel’s doing something, then it’s self-evidently moral. Perhaps there’s some sort of moral relativity going on here where, analogous to the way the speed of light is a constant and space-time bends around it, except in this case Israeli morality is the constant and everything else bends to accommodate that perspective.
I honestly think the Jewish community that sticks its head in the sand in this way needs to wake the fuck up.
“I honestly think the Jewish community that sticks its head in the sand in this way needs to wake the fuck up.”
So do I.
My father was raised in a religious family. Like most religious Jews before the creation of the state of Israel, they were opposed to Zionism. Although my father was later much influenced by left-wing politics, he always spoke of his rabbi with the greatest love and respect. When it came to anti-zionism (as to many other things) he always told me he got that from his rabbi. It was absolutely an ethical perspective.
We seem to have lost our ethical way. Racism and colonialism and entitlement is a dangerous thing.
I really can’t remember the last time I sat down with friends, family, or co-workers and discussed the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Who does that? Oh yeah… political junkies and media hacks. And I’m pretty sure they don’t talk about anywhere but online and with people they don’t even know.
Otherwise, no one cares. This ought to be the lesson we all take home from the election of Trump.
Well, Trump certainly cares, and encouraged his supporters to do so throughout the campaign. Criticizing the Iran nuclear deal and many other foreign policy positions were constants in his stump speeches, always thru the lens of “This is bad for Israel”. So I think you’re incorrect here.
“…But nobody ever dares condemn Israel. There is a double standard that nourishes the propaganda of the terrorists.”
Boy, that really seems to boil it down accurately. So that’s another reason that we should care; the safety of ordinary people around the world depends on our ability to subvert the propaganda of those who encourage and execute deadly attacks on people in group settings.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is this… Israel could pick itself up and move while giving all the land back to the Palestinians and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference to the lives of 99% of people. Similarly, the Palestinians could agree to give Israel all their land and move away and it wouldn’t make any difference to 99% of people. And yet, we allow the media and political class in this country to drag us through this drama and spend billions… and none of this affects 99% of people.
Why? Why do we tolerate this bait and switch? Why do allow religious fanatics to dominate? Why is the goverment of the United States wasting time on this?
I am wary of being drawn into a lengthy back-and-forth on this. But let me dip a toe in.
Israel isn’t going to “…pick itself up and move…”. Positing this is purposefully unhelpful to the discussion. Amongst the questions that would need to be confronted would be “Move where?”. So, again, unhelpful.
The Israel/Palestine “drama” and its numerous offshoots affect 100% of Americans. 9/11 permanently changed the United States. We can be unhappy about many of those changes while acknowledging that these changes have taken place.
And it is not just government officials who have made these changes happen. For example, the American voters elected a President in 2016 who proposed banning Muslims from the United States, who proposed torturing “terrorists” and their families, who is remarkably loose in talking about using nuclear weapons to “solve” geopolitical problems. Substantial portions of the American people support these unconstitutional, immoral practices.
You want to pretend that this is all just put upon us by leaders of government. That’s not true. We don’t help ourselves by suggesting we should shut down these subjects of conversation.
The only way I could ever see a two state solution coming to pass as things stand today is if who lives where is totally ignored and two states with a chance of success are created, one with a Jewish majority/Arab minority and another with an Arab majority/Jewish minority and then let the baby races begin….
A prescient article? Will Trump give the Israeli right so much rope that it swings past even Netanyahu?
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/trump-israel-worst-nightmare-netanyahu-214565