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| Bernie’s Israel Heresy | Bernie’s Israel Heresy |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| In New York, no less, days before a primary, a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination declares that Israel used “disproportionate” force in Gaza in 2014, that “we are going to have to treat the Palestinian people with respect and dignity,” that the United States has to play “an even-handed role,” and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel “is not right all the time.” | In New York, no less, days before a primary, a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination declares that Israel used “disproportionate” force in Gaza in 2014, that “we are going to have to treat the Palestinian people with respect and dignity,” that the United States has to play “an even-handed role,” and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel “is not right all the time.” |
| Wow! Sensation! Hold the presses! | Wow! Sensation! Hold the presses! |
| That candidate, of course is Bernie Sanders, a Jew in the party that is the political home of a majority of American Jews; and the fact that his words are deemed shocking or even newsworthy reflects the degree to which, over many years, major American Jewish organizations have been able to dictate the line that says there is only one way to support Israel and win elections — and that is uncritically. | That candidate, of course is Bernie Sanders, a Jew in the party that is the political home of a majority of American Jews; and the fact that his words are deemed shocking or even newsworthy reflects the degree to which, over many years, major American Jewish organizations have been able to dictate the line that says there is only one way to support Israel and win elections — and that is uncritically. |
| In most of the rest of the world, Sanders’ position would be uncontroversial, reflecting a broad consensus. In fact, his statement in the debate with Hillary Clinton that he is “100 percent pro-Israel in the long run” would almost certainly have caused more of a ruckus in Europe. | In most of the rest of the world, Sanders’ position would be uncontroversial, reflecting a broad consensus. In fact, his statement in the debate with Hillary Clinton that he is “100 percent pro-Israel in the long run” would almost certainly have caused more of a ruckus in Europe. |
| Many people in Brooklyn cheered Sanders. He has overwhelming support with young Democratic voters, and it is among those aged 18-29 that a sense of alienation from Netanyahu’s right-wing government and the Israel it reflects has been growing most rapidly. The continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu’s heavy-handed interventions in American electoral politics, and his relentless attempt (even in extremis) to stop the Iran nuclear deal have all been factors in undergirding the view that it is no betrayal of Israel to be critical of some of its policies. | Many people in Brooklyn cheered Sanders. He has overwhelming support with young Democratic voters, and it is among those aged 18-29 that a sense of alienation from Netanyahu’s right-wing government and the Israel it reflects has been growing most rapidly. The continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu’s heavy-handed interventions in American electoral politics, and his relentless attempt (even in extremis) to stop the Iran nuclear deal have all been factors in undergirding the view that it is no betrayal of Israel to be critical of some of its policies. |
| The Iran deal, concluded last year, was a watershed. It divided the American Jewish community, was fiercely opposed by the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (or Aipac) and rejected by the Israeli government. Yet in the end it won Congressional approval and the support of the vast majority of Democratic senators. | The Iran deal, concluded last year, was a watershed. It divided the American Jewish community, was fiercely opposed by the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (or Aipac) and rejected by the Israeli government. Yet in the end it won Congressional approval and the support of the vast majority of Democratic senators. |
| This outcome suggested a new willingness on the part of members of Congress — at least Democrats — to place some distance between their positions and Israel’s. Jewish votes do not win American elections — although they may be important in one swing state, Florida. Jews account for about 2 percent of the United States population; most of them live in New York and California, which have voted Democratic in national elections for a quarter-century. Modest numbers concentrated in non-swing states do not on the face of it carry significant weight. | |
| But voting is one thing, funding another. As Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, a growing pro-Israel group that is critical of settlement growth and the occupation, told me: “The longtime perception was that the only way to get money was to toe the Aipac line. Iran showed something has changed.” It may still not be easy, but it is no longer American political suicide to criticize Israel or reject Aipac’s prescriptions. | |
| Sanders struck an important blow for honest and more open debate by raising issues seldom broached in an American presidential campaign — the Palestinian houses and schools “decimated” by Israeli force in Gaza, the fact that “there are two sides to the issue,” the need for a balanced American role. He set down a marker in the Jewish American city par excellence. | Sanders struck an important blow for honest and more open debate by raising issues seldom broached in an American presidential campaign — the Palestinian houses and schools “decimated” by Israeli force in Gaza, the fact that “there are two sides to the issue,” the need for a balanced American role. He set down a marker in the Jewish American city par excellence. |
| My sense is that he will not pay a political price for his stance because there is an emergent constituency, particularly among young Americans, for a different approach to Israel that underwrites its security without writing a blank check for its every policy. Whether Sanders will benefit is another matter — the situation is fluid and Hillary Clinton’s more conventional approach to Israel retains strong support. | My sense is that he will not pay a political price for his stance because there is an emergent constituency, particularly among young Americans, for a different approach to Israel that underwrites its security without writing a blank check for its every policy. Whether Sanders will benefit is another matter — the situation is fluid and Hillary Clinton’s more conventional approach to Israel retains strong support. |
| As Sanders said, Israel has “every right in the world to destroy terrorism.” No state can accept rocket attacks of the kind perpetrated against Israel by Hamas from Gaza nor random stabbings of its citizens. Hamas hides operatives among civilians. There is often something sickening about the continent — Europe — on which Jews were slaughtered reproaching the descendants of those who survived for absorbing the lesson that military might matters. Palestinian leadership is divided and weak. It condones or engages in incitement to violence. | As Sanders said, Israel has “every right in the world to destroy terrorism.” No state can accept rocket attacks of the kind perpetrated against Israel by Hamas from Gaza nor random stabbings of its citizens. Hamas hides operatives among civilians. There is often something sickening about the continent — Europe — on which Jews were slaughtered reproaching the descendants of those who survived for absorbing the lesson that military might matters. Palestinian leadership is divided and weak. It condones or engages in incitement to violence. |
| But the backdrop to all this remains an Israeli government driving the country rightward toward intolerance, permanent dominion over another people and their perennial humiliation. Jews, as no others, know the lacerating trials of statelessness. | But the backdrop to all this remains an Israeli government driving the country rightward toward intolerance, permanent dominion over another people and their perennial humiliation. Jews, as no others, know the lacerating trials of statelessness. |
| David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founding father, said, “Peace is more important than real estate.” Yitzhak Rabin came to the same conclusion and, derided by Netanyahu, was assassinated by a messianic Israeli fanatic. Netanyahu’s government is a don’t-give-an-inch government. “There comes a time,” said Sanders, “when if we pursue justice and peace, we are going to have to say that Netanyahu” makes mistakes. | David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founding father, said, “Peace is more important than real estate.” Yitzhak Rabin came to the same conclusion and, derided by Netanyahu, was assassinated by a messianic Israeli fanatic. Netanyahu’s government is a don’t-give-an-inch government. “There comes a time,” said Sanders, “when if we pursue justice and peace, we are going to have to say that Netanyahu” makes mistakes. |
| A growing number of Americans believe that time is now. | A growing number of Americans believe that time is now. |