Dems Caving On Israel

[Kathianne]

Not surprised, more so regarding some of the old guard like Durbin. I shouldn't be though:

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2023/11/03/democrat-support-for-israel-crumbling-n589691


Democrat Support for Israel CrumblingDAVID STROM 10:41 AM on November 03, 2023

Democrat Support for Israel Crumbling
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
The Democrat base is not as monolithic as it appears most of the time. On issues such as the defense of Israel Democrat politicians are torn between the more establishment base, which supports Israel (despite being uncomfortable with many Israeli policies), and the activist base which hates Israel and is increasingly antisemitic.


You see the tension in Biden’s policies, which have been generally supportive of Israel but are moderating quickly, and his messaging, which is suddenly all about combating Islamophobia (which barely exists, and is nothing compared to antisemitism in scope).


As the conflict in Gaza has dragged on (in politics 3 weeks is a lifetime), Democrat elected officials are feeling the heat from their Left flank. The money comes from the establishment, but the activists get out the vote. And the activists are unhappy with Democrats right now.


So the unity of the Democrats is crumbling, and Democrats are starting to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.




Dick Durban was the first Senator to break ranks, followed by Chris Murphy. There will be others, and may already be as I wrote this yesterday.




There is nothing surprising about the more diverse set of views in the House of Representatives, where political extremes tend to be more represented both due to the number of representatives and the nature of how they are elected. House members come from districts, while Senators represent states, which are more diverse.


So it’s one thing to have The Squad be the Hamas caucus; it’s another to have Senators break with the pro-Israel consensus.




In general, neither Muslims nor Jews is a large enough voting bloc to swing elections. Jews are heavily concentrated in New York, California, and Florida, and none of these states will be in play in the next election.


But Michigan will, and Muslims matter in Michigan politics. This is one variable in the equation.


Another variable is the activists, who are surprisingly passionate in their hatred for Israel, which they see as a “settler colony,” not a legitimate state. Decades of Marxist and DEI education policies have created an activist class whose values deviate significantly from the older generations, and the pressure on Democrat politicians is immense. The Left flank is no longer a fringe within the Party but is rather where the energy comes from.




Yet another complication is that Biden’s Middle East policy has been to appease Iran, and support for Israel is a red line for them. The truth is that Iran will never be appeased, but never tell an Obama alum that. The US has been shipping money and doing favors for Iran since Biden took office, and he was so deep in the tank for Iran that he wound up making an Iranian spy his envoy to the country.


You can’t appease harder than to make a spy for the other side your negotiator.


Hamas’ attack blows that strategy out of the water, and any desire to salvage the attempt will require Biden to moderate on taking out Hamas.


All these variables mean one thing: Democrat unity on Israel will continue to crumble. Expect things to get worse.

[Kathianne]

Good for Netanyahu. I wondered why US wasn't making the same demand from the get go:

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2023/11/03/breaking-netanyahu-rebukes-us-declares-no-pause-and-no-fuel-before-hostages-are-released-n589754


BREAKING: Netanyahu Rebukes US, Declares No Pause and No Fuel Before Hostages are ReleasedED MORRISSEY 11:21 AM on November 03, 2023

BREAKING: Netanyahu Rebukes US, Declares No Pause and No Fuel Before Hostages are Released
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Benjamin Netanyahu has learned to take Hamas at its word. The United States, and specifically Antony Blinken and Joe Biden, still have not. As Blinken met with the unity government in Jerusalem to push Israel to ‘pause’ operations for aid to flow into northern Gaza, Netanyahu delivered a rather humiliating public rebuke.


If the US wants a pause, then Hamas needs to unconditionally release all the hostages first. Failing that, game on:


In a brief televised statement before the start of Shabbat, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has told visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he rejects any temporary halt to the fight against Hamas that does not include “the release of our hostages. He also says Israel “will not enable the entry of fuel to Gaza.”


Netanyahu begins by promising that victory will be “sharp and clear” and will “resonate for generations.”


He says Israel’s enemies aim to destroy the country and will fail. “We won’t stop until victory,” he says, specifying that this means “to destroy Hamas, [and attain the] return of the hostages and the restoration of security for our citizens and children.”


Netanyahu didn’t even bother to wait until Blinken left to make his public statement opposing the demand. In fact, Netanyahu didn’t wait for Jack Lew to settle into office as Biden’s newly confirmed ambassador to Israel first. In diplomatic terms, that equates to a STFU.


Hamas won’t take that offer, obviously, especially after its demand on NBC that Israel withdraw from Gaza before they will even talk about hostages. However, Netanyahu has the formula correct. If Hamas and Gazans want humanitarian aid, they should trade in the humanitarian context by releasing the civilians and soldiers Hamas kidnapped as part of its massacre on October 7.


For that matter, the US should be demanding the same thing. After all, Hamas murdered over 30 Americans on October 7 and took a still-unclear number of Americans hostage. Why are we fronting for Hamas while our own citizens remain as hostages? Why should we send humanitarian aid in this situation before those hostages get released, and before the 400-1,000 Americans in Gaza are allowed to leave?


Meanwhile, Blinken sounds like he just flew into Israel from 2005. He called for a “two state solution” as the solution to the violence:






A two-state solution with who as a partner? Clearly not Hamas, and clearly not the current Gazan culture. They had a chance in 2005 with the end of the occupation to form themselves into a responsible state. They elected Hamas to run their government and chose to pursue their own idea of a one-state solution — the annihilation of Israel. That has proven incredibly popular with Gazans over the last 17 years, so much so that the October 7 massacre had them dancing in the streets.


Blinken should know better now, especially after emerging “visibly shaken” from watching the videos captured by the Israelis from the massacre:


“I saw, for example, a family on a kibbutz, a father (of) two young boys — maybe 10, 11 years old — grabbing them, pulling them out of their living room, going through their very small backyard and into a shelter, followed seconds later by a terrorist who throws a grenade into that small shelter. And then as the father come staggering out, shoots him down. And then the boys come out, and they run into their house, and the camera in the house is filming everything. And they’re crying. ‘Where’s daddy?’ one says. The other says, ‘They killed daddy. Where’s my mommy?’ And then the terrorists comes in, and casually opens the refrigerator and starts to eat from it,” Blinken said he saw in the video.


The top US diplomat expressed sympathy for the plight of Palestinians civilians as well, saying he sees his own children when he sees images of “Palestinian children, young boys and girls, pulled from the wreckage and buildings.”


“Hamas doesn’t care one second or one iota for the welfare, for the well-being of the Palestinian people,” said Blinken. “It cynically and monstrously uses them as human shields, putting his commanders in command posts, its weapons and ammunition, within or beneath residential buildings, schools, mosques, hospitals.”


No kidding. So why are Biden and Blinken insisting on pauses and negotiations with the monsters of October 7 rather than supporting their effort to eradicate them? Why are we publicly playing into Hamas’ hostaging strategy when our own citizens are at risk rather than ending the incentives of such strategies forcefully and decisively? Incoherent hardly covers it; moral idiocy comes a lot closer to explaining the Biden administration’s pressure.

[Gunny]

Not surprised, more so regarding some of the old guard like Durbin. I shouldn't be though:

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2023/11/03/democrat-support-for-israel-crumbling-n589691Vote for the hate:rolleyes:

[Gunny]

Good for Netanyahu. I wondered why US wasn't making the same demand from the get go:

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2023/11/03/breaking-netanyahu-rebukes-us-declares-no-pause-and-no-fuel-before-hostages-are-released-n589754

Somebody's got to have the balls to stand up to these crazies. Who would have thought? Is it the most powerful militaries in the World? Nope. A sliver of land on the Med and a bunch of farmers in Eastern Europe showing the "Big Boys" how to take out the trash:rolleyes:

[Kathianne]

and Jewish Schumer:

https://pjmedia.com/rabbi-michael-barclay/2023/11/03/from-guardian-to-coward-the-journey-of-chuck-schumer-n4923612


From Guardian to Coward: The Journey of Chuck SchumerRABBI MICHAEL BARCLAY | 6:19 PM ON NOVEMBER 03, 2023



AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
There are a lot of true villains in politics: people who are filled with hate and are true supporters of evil — Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Omar, Pressley, et al. They seek to destroy Western culture and the United States and to prop up evil regimes and terrorist organizations. It’s especially easy to see them right now as they try to justify the evil of Hamas, as they try to destroy Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, and they strive to tear down our country with riots on college campuses and even the Capitol.




But none of them disappoint or anger me as much as Chuck Schumer, a man who has a significant Jewish educational background aware of the history of his people and the world. He has throughout his career pointed out that his last name means “guardian” and that he would always be the “guardian of Israel” in Washington.


I write this as a Rabbi who is deeply saddened by the fall of this man. While I have never agreed with much of his politics, he was for many years someone who deserved respect for acting on his beliefs. But he has truly fallen from that status, seduced by seeking personal power over personal values. Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in his abandonment of Israel.


For most of his career, Schumer did try to embody his name and protect Israel. He campaigned hard to revoke the tax-free status of a Palestinian charity in 1994. He harshly criticized Gaza for electing the terrorist organization of Hamas, calling on Israel to “strangle Gaza economically until they see that’s not the way to go” and repeatedly and publicly supported Israel’s blockade of Gaza.


In 2016, he co-sponsored a Senate resolution objecting to the United Nations Resolution 2334, which condemned Israel for building in “occupied territories” and he even vocally criticized Obama for not supporting Israel. In 2017, he co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which made it a federal crime for Americans to boycott Israel. Most notably, Schumer even went against his personal disdain for President Trump in May of 2018 when he passionately praised Trump for moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.


Yet now, only five years later, Schumer not only is fighting against the House-approved bill of November 2 to give $14 billion in aid to Israel, but he also refuses to even let it be discussed on the Senate floor. What happened in five years to make Chuck Schumer, whose Hebrew name is Yeshaya ben Avraham, totally abandon freedom, Israel, and his Jewish heritage in favor of socialism, authoritarianism, and terrorists?


Cowardice. Schumer’s 180 degree shift is caused simply by his fear of losing personal power. Succumbing to his “yetzer hara” (a Jewish term meaning “evil inclination”), Chuck Schumer has totally forsaken his values, his family history, his religion, and the United States out of fear of losing personal power.


To accuse a senator of being wrong is common, but to call a senator a coward is rare. But in this case, it is one hundred percent accurate. For a Rabbi to say this publicly is profoundly sad, but for the preservation of Yeshaya ben Abraham/Chuck Schumer’s very soul… it must be done.


Schumer went down this path of cowardice starting in June of 2018. Remember that in May of that year, he publicly lauded his greatest rival, President Trump, for moving the embassy. But on June 26, 2018, a bartender named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley in a Democratic primary and then would go on to win the seat for New York’s 14th congressional district. Crowley and Schumer had been connected since 1999 when they were both initially elected to the House and Senate respectively. Schumer watched his old friend lose power to this bartender… and he got scared.


With this bartender who can intellectually barely grasp political issues winning an election against his friend, Schumer got frightened. He tucked his tail between his legs and got on board the AOC train. He rejected the values he had lived by in order to not have Crowley’s fate and changed his positions on multiple issues in order to not be challenged by an Ocasio-Cortez type of candidate or the woman herself.


This can be seen most clearly in his sudden shift on everything having to do with Israel. Most sadly, Chuck Schumer is right now avoiding supporting Israel in this war because Ocasio-Cortez and her anti-Semitic friends like Tlaib and Omar hate Jews and want Israel destroyed.


Schumer knows what Hamas is. He has always expressed his recognition that it is evil, and he is undoubtedly deeply aware of their horrific and depraved actions on October 7 and for the last month. I have no doubt that this man’s heart and soul ache in seeing the videos that Hamas made of raping women, kidnapping the elderly, and killing children. But he is choosing to ignore it all out of fear that standing against Ocasio-Cortez will lead to him losing political power.


To betray all of his personal values in favor of retaining his office is the ultimate act of a coward. To ignore the history of his people and personal ancestors who experienced pogroms and persecutions out of his fear that he might be challenged by an anti-Semite for his office is a degradation of all that is good in the world, and the definition of cowardice.


Chuck Schumer, also known his whole life in his temple and family as "Yeshaya ben Avraham," has transformed from a guardian of Israel to a coward. Unless he makes a quick and demonstrative shift to return to his values, there is no penance, not even Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, that will be able to redeem his soul.


Yeshaya, as Schumer has publicly said, is the Hebrew name for Isaiah. Schumer needs to remember the journey of his biblical namesake. According to the Midrash, Isaiah offered to be a prophet for the Jewish people, but God gave instructions to the future prophet first. “If you are ready to be insulted and even beaten by them, you may accept My message. If not, you need to renounce it.” Isaiah was ready for the insults and became one of the greatest leaders in history.


In 2017, Schumer declared on the Senate floor that “anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism”, but that was before his fear of Ocasio-Cortez and losing power. For most of his career, Chuck Schumer was prepared for insults and more as he defended Israel. Now, especially by not supporting unencumbered aid to Israel in her great time of need, and by not even bringing the discussion to the Senate floor, he is betraying everything of value to his soul. In becoming such a coward, he needs to renounce his position as a senator, not for politics, but for his own soul’s survival.


Or he could choose to go back to his lifetime values, return to his unconditional support of Israel, and no longer live his life in fear of anti-Semites like Ocasio-Cortez removing him from power.


Typically, an article is written to educate or persuade the reader. My prayer is that Chuck Schumer, Yeshaya ben Avraham, somehow reads this appeal for his very soul and chooses to return to the values he embodied for so many years by bringing and supporting the House bill to send unconditional aid to Israel. For Israel. For the United States, which desperately needs the presence of Israel, the only democracy and American ally in the region. And for the sake of Yeshaya ben Avraham.