This last week, (it seems like forever ago), witnessed an epic unfold which was as unique as it was bizarre - an American President demanding that an ally deny entry to American elected Congresspeople. The context was equally unprecedented in that the Congresspeople had as their agenda a boycott of the American ally they wished to visit. Trump’s instruction to Netanyahu to humiliate his own House of Representatives was issued in spite of the negative aspects it would have on his ally, Israel. All this in the hope that his outlandish action would bolster his sagging election hopes.
An embattled Trump then attacked Jews as being “disloyal” if they oppose him and Netanyahu. Unfazed by the anti semitic connotations that that type of allegation historically entails, he doubled down on this vitriol a day later repeating his assertion that Jews who vote for Democrats are “disloyal” and that he was “The Chosen One and The King of The Jews”.
The irony is that his self-made crisis would win him no new votes and merely bolster the resolve of those who were going to vote for him anyway.
This lose - lose situation resulted in giving credibility to two nonentity congresspeople who now became the face and de facto leaders of a movement, Boycott, Disinvest and Sanction Israel, (BDS) which had gone nowhere to date. The other variable in this unparalleled scenario is that the Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu listened to Trump’s instruction to keep Congresspersons Omar and Tlaib out after publicly agreeing to let them enter. This all played out on twitter and has vast implications for all concerned, not the least for the Democratic Party, whoTrump is attempting to label as Socialistic and anti Israel.
One matter that this drama did not advance was any attempt in resolving the real life tragedy the Palestinian people are facing while politicians from everywhere continue to use them as pawns. Whatever all the dramatis personae are up to Israel is in control of the Palestinian territories. The Arab nations other than Iran and Syria, who are merely using the Palestinians as pawns, have lost interest in their cause and the Palestinian leadership itself is not united with the split between Hamas and the Palestinian Liberation Movement worsening. No one from any side at the moment is making a serious effort to end the stand off.
WHO ARE CONGRESSPEOPLE OMAR AND TLIAB AND WHAT IS THE BDS?
Congresspeople Omar and Tlaib are freshmen who, to date, have had very little influence on the Democratic Party. In fact if it was not for Trump they would not be international figures let alone world icons which he and Bibi Netanyahu have now made them. For the record they both have been criticized for anti - semitic statements. In fact no lesser personage then famed political commentator, Fareed Zakaria, has twice warned them of the dangers of peddling Jewish hatred. They have made their anti Israel sentiments, rather than other national issues the centerpiece of their thrust in Washington. They have taken positions such as not supporting the two state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian crisis since being elected to Congress.
It remains to be seen if they will be reelected or face Primaries as a result of their volte facie. Already Ms. Omar’s constituency, which included a large number of Jewish supporters have voiced opposition to her anti semitic positions. Ms. Dlaib’s credibility is also being challenged. many arguing that having agreed to accept Israel’s backtracking in granting her a visa to visit her grandmother on the West Bank and then refusing while grandstanding is evidence of her political motives for the whole exercise.
Lest there be any doubt as to where the two Congresspeople stand, on returning home they once again confirmed their support for the BDS movement. They then posted a cartoon drawn by a Brazilian - Lebanese artist whose work won second prize in Iran’s Holocaust Cartoon competition. The cartoonist has argued that there are similarities between the treatment by the Israeli Defense Force of the Palestinians with that of the Nazis of the Jews. What makes their choice of this artist’s work more obnoxious is that Ms. Omar’s exhortation to boycott Israel was made by referencing that it was the boycott tactic that was utilized to attack Nazi Germany. To cap it all they called for a halting of foreign aid to Israel, which incidentally no longer has the near unanimous public backing it previously had.
However whichever way this scenario is viewed the two have gained massive stature being elevated to the status of martyrs and spokespersons of the BDS movement which to date has had nobody of such standing backing them. They are, after all, democratically elected members of the United States Congress and as such have prestige and credentials. The civility and deference usually conferred to those in similar positions should have been afforded to them diplomatically. Had this been done Jay H. Ell would not be writing this blog.
The slap in the face by the Israeli Premier is not principally to those representatives rather it is to the institution they are members off, namely the elected House of Representatives of the United States of America.
HOW DOES THIS EPISODE IMPACT ISRAEL, THE DEMOCRATS, NETANYAHU AND TRUMP?
Israel and Netanyahu
The State of Israel has had, for decades, bipartisan support from the American Congress. This status has been under strain ever since Bibi Netanyahu accepted a Republican invitation to attack the then President, Barak Obama. The Democrats were furious at the time and the current Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi publicly emoted at the abuse the Israeli Prime Minister heaped on the President.
Obama, in spite of this public slight, did Israel a great favor by ensuring that the foreign aid afforded to Israel would continue for at least four years. (Incidentally it is this foreign aid that Ms’s. Omar and Tlaib attack claiming that it is as a result of Jewish money controlling Congress).
Israel have to hope that Netanyahu is not the next Premier as the next American President is most likely to be a Democrat. He or she will have to be more than mindful that Netanyahu joined in the Trump campaign by aiding the latter’s agenda in attempting to label the Democratic presidential nominee an Israel hating socialist. Netanyahu is an unashamed partisan Republican and why should a Democrat President do anything to help him? In fact it would be far better for Israel if Netanyahu was no longer around when the next Democratic President is sworn in, particularly if it is Biden. The reason being that Netanyahu’s administration, while Obama’s Vice President Biden was on a visit to Israel, announced an expansion of the Settlements which ostensibly at that stage of the game was an issue to be decided in the “peace” negotiations.
Bibi is about to learn how the bully Trump handles actors who show weakness. He discards them like he tosses away “used goods”. One of the attractions of Bibi was that he was strong like Putin and Kim Jun Un neither whom have caved into him. While the strongmen grovel and just flatter him he in turn fawns and idolizes them. Trump made no bones about the fact that he was the one who persuaded Netanyahu to change his mind on Omar and Dlaib.
Netanyahu is amidst an election, having failed to form a Government following the previous vote just a short while ago. Well one irony in the wake of this ballyhoo is that the most Right Wing member of Netanyahu’s cabinet, Defense Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, head of the secular nationalist party Yisrael Beiteinu who with his eleven seats, has had it with Bibi. He is obviously unmoved by the Prime Minister’s kowtowing to Trump. Whoever Lieberman sides with will probably be the next Prime Minister of Israel and he has just signed a vote sharing deal with the leader of the opposition Blue and White party, Bernie Ganz. Lieberman’s beef with Netanyahu centers around his continual caving to the ultra orthodox religious Haredi who refuse to serve in the army amongst other controversial positions. By the way the Haredi are the group that caused Bibi to sell out on the Conservative and Reform Jewry in the USA. Netanyahu reneged on promises such as providing access to the Western Wall to those non orthodox groups. Thus far the Israeli Premier has not responded to the attack on eighty percent of American jewry who Trump has claimed are “disloyal” because they are not voting for him and are letting Israel down.
While Lieberman is going for broke and is obviously even fantasizing being Premier himself and is no friend of the Israeli “left”, if he wants to keep the Haredi out he will have to back Ganz against Bibi.
The Democrats
Nevertheless the Democrats have to deal with an empowered pair of martyrs who are allied to progressives on other issues. Trump’s objective in this whole incident namely to send the Democrats in into a catatonic funk has not materialized. The POTUS also hoped to gain support among Jews and other Israeli supporters. However he met with almost universal condemnation. AIPAC the influential pro Israel lobby organization who always back Netanyahu condemned both him and Trump for their actions while Joe Lieberman the only jew ever to be a Vice Presidential nominee roundly criticized both leaders. For the moment the fall out for the Democrats is very limited as they had condemned BDS way back and there is known irritation at the two Congresspeople who are part of the four person radical “Squad” on the far left of the party.
Trump
Presumably, the Evangelical Christians agree with Trump’s action. Their support for Israel is guaranteed till the Messiah returns, because without a viable Israel, according to their belief, He cannot descend, However there is no sign that Trump has gained a single vote following his destructive act. In fact he has largely diverted from the issue to buying Greenland, then attacking their Prime Minister when she said the idea was “absurd”, then to persuading everyone there is no risk to the economy, then to blaming the Federal Reserve for the lack of growth in the economy, then to stating he was considering a payroll tax cut, to then state that he wasn’t, then to say he was for strong background checks for gun owners, then that he wasn’t, then to stating that China is paying for the tariffs, and then to delaying the next round so that they won’t increase the cost of living to Americans round about Christmas time. All that to once again reaffirming his opinion as to which Jew was loyal to America and as to which one wasn’t.
Trump and Netanyahu and Israeli President Rivlin
What can’t really help BibI, or Trump for that matter, is the fact that Israel’s President Rivlin, (who often is at odds with his Prime Minister), called Nancy Pelosi to contradict them both to affirm that notion that Israel should not be politicized. In his lengthy conversation with her he stressed, “We must keep the State of Israel above political disputes and make every effort to ensure that support for Israel does not become a political issue….. we respect the wishes of each of our peoples”.
AT THE END OF THE DAY
While the full implications of the Netanyahu/Trump escapade have still to unfold, Trump is now arguing that nearly eighty percent of the American Jews will be “disloyal” if they continue to vote for the Democrats. Trump did soften his smear by adding that another explanation for the Jewish behavior was that they lacked knowledge that Omar and Tlaib wanted to go on a propaganda war in Israel. As AIPAC would agree Netanyahu and Trump have done a far better job than the two could have done in a million years. Hopefully before long both those national leaders will be history. Trump has to be aware that the dual loyalty smear against jews is an age old anti - semitic trope and that he has given strength to the anti semitic white supremacists with his attack on eighty percent of the Jews in America.
One outcome of this disgraceful episode is certain and that is the two people that have to be most gratified that Bibi did not allow two elected members of the American Government to pass through Ben Gurion airport are the two selfsame Congresspeople, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. They and their cause have gained a prominence they could never have aspired too in their wildest dreams.
And in the final analysis who knows where this will really end as it is obvious that this grotesque foreign intervention will continue creating more and more unprecedented sequelae, as the President changes the world tweet by tweet.
For the moment Trump is taking on the world with China at the G7 conference.
For the moment Trump is taking on the world with China at the G7 conference.
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