A Palestinian protester throws stones at Israeli soldiers during a protest in the West Bank city of Hebron.
As Israelis increasingly write off the chances of a peace deal with Palestinian Arabs any time in the foreseeable future, the US Democratic Party is increasingly in thrall to a fantasy “solution” that would destroy the Jewish state.
Top Democratic Mideast-policy people like Obama-era National Security Council officials Ben Rhodes and Robert Malley — the folks likely to set the agenda for a Joe Biden administration — actually praised writer Peter Beinart’s outrageous call last week to strip Israel of its status as a Jewish nation in order to (theoretically, at least) make it a “home” for Palestinians and Jews alike, as Jonathan Tobin noted in these pages.
It’s certainly true that Palestinian leaders have turned down countless proposals for a “two-state solution,” but that hardly justifies any hope that they’d live peacefully with Israelis in a unified state — not after decades of propaganda about the inherent evil of the Jews.
Israelis have grown deeply skeptical (and weary) of efforts to find a viable peace deal. That’s a key reason why the Labor party has collapsed. Indeed, the fact that voters last March overwhelmingly backed coalitions headed by a security hawk, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a centrist, Benny Gantz, shows that voters there have little hope that any genuine agreement is possible for now.
Yet for Jews all over, it’s hard to imagine a greater blow than what would be, in effect, the destruction of modern-day Israel, a nation set up to protect them after the Holocaust and after centuries of anti-Semitic persecution across the world.il
With no military force of their own under a “one-state solution,” and birth rates that would soon make Arabs the clear majority, Jews would be back to their pre-Nazi days, politically.
That fits fine with the dreams of a rising Democratic faction of young Israel-haters and anti-Semites, like Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) is also part of the group. She and a dozen fellow Dems last month called for restrictions on US military aid to Israel if it annexes areas of the West Bank. Folks can disagree about such plans, but restricting aid should be a bipartisan nonstarter, given the threats Israel faces and its importance as a US ally.
New York Democratic voters ousted staunch Israel-backer Rep. Eliot Engel last month in favor of AOC-backed Jamaal Bowman, whose pro-Israel bona fides are dubious, at best.
Hostility toward Israel isn’t new among Democrats. At their 2012 convention, the floor booed the idea of recognizing the reality that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. In 2016, they fought over Palestinian rights, with Sen. Bernie Sanders leading the anti-Israel charge.
But the hostility has grown, as top presidential contenders boycotted the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference and threatened to use aid to pressure Israel.
Biden, meanwhile, was part of the team that forged an Iran nuclear deal that put Israel’s very existence at risk. If he wins in November, he’ll likely undo all President Trump’s pro-Israel steps.
What’s most notable, though, is that US Democrats aren’t just parting with US Republicans — but with the people of Israel.
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