In case any of you didn’t know it, I’m a Jew. And proud of it. So I don’t take too kindly to people telling me that I’m an anti-Semite.
No, Joe Biden didn’t tell me that to my face. But he might just as well have. Over the past few weeks, in an attempt to nail down the support of wealthy pro-Israel Democrats, his foreign policy chief, Tony Blinken, has been mouthing the worst platitudes about Biden’s future Israel policy. That bothered me quite a bit. But not enough to write a post. For that, I have to really get ticked off.
No, tonight Biden really stuck his foot in it as far as I’m concerned. This is the NY Times report:
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. told donors on a call on Tuesday that it was important to condemn criticism of Israel that drifts toward anti-Semitism, including on the political left, even as he acknowledged that he had “gotten in trouble” for such calls in the past.
“Criticism of Israel’s policy is not anti-Semitism,” Mr. Biden said. “But too often that criticism from the left morphs into anti-Semitism.”
Though this was among the worst of the comments quoted, there were others too. The following comments weren’t so much offensive, as disingenuous and showed a complete divorce from any Israeli political reality:
Mr. Biden himself said he was disappointed in Mr. Netanyahu for having moved “so, so far to the right” and called for Israel to “stop the threat of annexation” of West Bank territories.
“It’ll choke off any hope of peace,” Mr. Biden said, according to a pool report.
Netanyahu “moved to the right?” Um, where have you been all these years, Joe? Bibi didn’t move to the right. He’s been a fascist and son of a fascist all his political life. And as for the “threat of annexation”–Joe, that’s not a threat, that’s a promise. Israel will annex the Jordan Valley. The question is what are you going to do about it when he does. And the answer is clear–nothing. Aside from the usual nostrums and bromides. So that makes strike 2 for Joe in my book.
As for his third strike, read this:
Mr. Biden said “my commitment to Israel is absolutely unshakable” and pledged to reverse actions taken under President Trump, including restoring diplomatic relationships with the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Biden has previously said that Mr. Trump should not have moved the United States Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv but that he would not move it back.
Biden actually endorses one of the worst decisions of Trump’s presidency regarding Israel, moving the embassy to the divided city of Jerusalem: endorsing Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, including the portion supposedly reserved for a Palestinian capital. This Democratic presidential hopeful, who served as vice president in an administration which refused to do any of these things, has swallowed the poison pill and declared it delicious.
Of course, it’s totally unsurprising that this event was a “virtual fundraiser” hosted by Dan Shapiro and Deborah Lipstadt, two of the most insufferable liberal Zionists in America.
In earlier statements, Blinken marked a pointed division between his candidate and Bernie Sanders, who said that U.S. aid to Israel should be conditioned on Israeli adherence to international law, including settlements:
“He would not tie military assistance to Israel to any political decisions that it makes. Period. Full stop. He said it; he’s committed to it.
The Biden advisor also emphasized Biden’s opposition not only to the BDS movement, but to any UN criticism of Israeli policy:
Blinken [said] that Biden will push back against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as well as efforts to denounce Israel for its violations of international law at the United Nations.
“Will we get it to stop? No, I don’t think that’s possible,” he said of the UN criticism of Israel. “Will we stand up forcefully against it and try to prevent it, defuse it and defeat it? Absolutely.”
Blinken then went much farther than the Obama administration in demanding that the Palestinians accept Israel “as a Jewish state.” This is precisely the articulation of Bibi Netanyahu. But not the view of Barack Obama, who never made such an outrageous demand of Palestinians.
And he added for good measure, this even more insulting condescension toward the Palestinian people and its leadership:
“In the category of ‘Never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity’, I think a reminder to Palestinians… that they can and should do better and deserve better and that requires leadership: leadership to make clear the reality of the Jewish state; leadership to make clear the need to end incitement and violence; leadership to bring people along for the prospect of negotiating,”
If I had a nickel for every time an insufferable twit like this, either a pro-Israel apologist or politician, offered uninvited advice to Palestinians saying they “deserved better” and would do so much better if they only “accepted the reality of things.” Meaning they should accept the decimation of every aspiration they might have and every right to justice. If I had all those nickels I’d be a rich man.
Joe Biden supports a two state solution. It is a dead letter. Some may not see the danger is pinning an entire foreign policy on a faded delusion. But there is a steep price. When you base such policy on the belief in something that does not and cannot exist, you render yourself irrelevant to the region. You offer no solution. You offer only meaningless houses built of sand.
This means that the region will continue to shake with unrest like a powder keg about to explode. And Biden will have nothing relevant to say. He will have nothing to offer. He will be worse than Obama, who himself was a failure in the region. He will be slightly better than Trump. But that’s not saying much. In fact, it’s saying very little. It’s like the doctor telling you he has good news and bad news. The good news: you don’t have terminal cancer. The bad news: you do have multiple sclerosis.
Returning to the opening passage in this post: I am both a Jew and a progressive (or to use Biden’s term, “leftist”). I am not only critical of Israel, but I reject it as a Jewish supremacist state. I reject it as an apartheid state. And I do this as a proud Diaspora Jew. I accept Israel as a democratic state “for all its citizens.” As a state based in justice for all. A state acknowledging the sins of its past (Nakba) and dedicated to rectifying them. I will permit no one to tell me that these views are anti-Semitic. No one. Not a Jew. Not a non-Jew. Especially not a non-Jew presidential candidate who’s kissing the ass of pro-Israel donors to pass an Israel Lobby litmus test.
Joe Biden is Dickens’ version of Christmas Past. He is out of touch with progressive Democrats. He isn’t worthy of our support. He’s waging a campaign steeped in shibboleths and vapid ideas concerning Israel and many other issues. I will not vote for him. Not now. Not ever.
Others may argue that Trump is such a profound danger to the Republic that we should hold our noses and vote for the best candidate. But frankly, I’m tired of voting for the least of two evils. It offers me the choice of voting for a man who is toxic to the Middle East and my country; or a man who professes to support reform and moderation, but who offers nothing but the suffocating status quo. In both cases, the blood of Jews and Palestinians will flow. The question is will it flow in rivulets or in a torrent? What sort of bargain is that? It’s one I refuse to make.
You are accepting the Israeli State in a dream scenario. I’d be more able to understand this if you would posit a route to change, and minimised the flavour of ‘chosenness’ implicit in self-defining as a “proud Jew”.
Which is exactly the position of the Israeli state leadership
@ Nick Wheeler: It’s not my job to “posit a route to change.” It’s my job to analyze the situation accurately. I’m not a prime minister and not a prognosticator.
Saying I am a proud Jew has nothing to do with “chosenness.” The only thing I am “chosen” to do as a Jew is the act with kindness and walk humbly with my God. That’s something anyone can do whether Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, etc.
Nor is my definition of being Jewish common to anything the Israeli state leadership believes on the subject. If you’ve read anything in this blog (and I’m not sure you have or understood what you’ve read) my views diverge from those of Israel’s leaders concerning their definition of Zionism and its relation to Diaspora Jewry.
Thank you. It’s uplifting to hear someone with a moral backbone.
Truth beautifully expressed!!! The world agrees with you, yet Israel and US reign supreme. How is this possible?
Yep!
Biden and Blinken on Syraq (2007)
A failed VP for 8 years as arms sales to Arab States peaked. Democrats making the same mistakes as four years ago. Biden is so 20th Century in mindset and policy. America deserves better … time to clean house.
[comment deleted: you’re either a troll or a fool.]
‘…liberal Zionists.’
”Liberal Zionists’ has always struck me as a bit of an oxymoron.
Isn’t it more or less equivalent to ‘humanitarian Nazis’?
I would say ‘no offense,’ but frankly, if anyone’s offended, tough-o.
if ‘Liberal Zionists’ struck you as a bit of an oxymoron, how does ‘progressive Zionist’ struck you?
@ carmel yativ: Are you saying that the proper term to associate with Zionism is fascist, right wing, extremist, ultra-nationalist? If so, I’m willing to concede that to you.
But I’m always amazed by so called Zionists who know nothing about Zionist history and don’t realize that there have been many forms of Zionism over the years. THere surely is progressive Zionism. It riles the hell out of you, I know. That there could be a Zionism that posits Israel as a secular democratic state of all its citizens. That rejects Jewish supremacism. That rejects apartheid and Judeo-fascism. BUt there is.
If you think that Biden is only “slightly better” than Trump, then I guess you don’t care much about what the Supreme Court will have to say in the next 30 years on issues such as abortion, gun control, voting rights, criminal justice, etc. If Trump gets a second term, he will very likely appoint three new justices, including those who will replace Ginsburg and Breyer, ensuring a solid majority for the extreme right on the Supreme Court for decades. That probably will not affect you personally too much, but the most vulnerable people in America will suffer greatly from it. If you think that is not a good enough reason to vote for Biden, then I don’t think you can call yourself progressive.
@ Rex: I am not a progressive who’s willing to vote for a shill and a sham. Biden is a sham of a Democrat. I am not going to make compromises just so we don’t get the worst of 2 evils. Progressives don’t vote for infirm, mentally meandering moderate candidates in order to prove they are progressive.
@Richard Silverstein: I must be too dumb to understand the wisdom of this “no compromise” approach. There will be a choice this November between a candidate who wants to offer expanded medicaid and a public option and a candidate whose administration and party have worked to undo Obamacare. Between a candidate who wants to protect voting rights and one who wants to make it as hard as possible for poor and minority citizens to vote. Between a candidate who wants to offer some student loan forgiveness and free college for those with lower incomes and one who wants to eliminate existing loan forgiveness programs. There are hundreds more examples of how Trump would be much much worse than Biden on fundamental issues, without even getting into Trump’s moral corruption of the US government and erosion of its democratic institutions.
Many more Americans would suffer. Many more people would die. All for purity’s sake? Why don’t Sanders and Warren see the wisdom of your approach? Is there a single elected progressive who does?
@ Rex: There will be an election this November with the “best” candidate, one who rejects Medicare for all, Green New Deal, $15/Hr federal minimum wage, forgiving student loan debt, offering federal funding for college. Not to mention this candidate refuses to move the U.S. Embassy back to Tel Aviv, and offers little but tut-tutting in response to Netanyahu’s Judeo-fascist policies.
Biden will continue Obama’s targeted killing campaign in the Middle East. He will not advance on Obama’s nuclear deal by normalizing relations with Iran.
If the Democratic Party is smart (and they largely aren’t) they’d nominate a progressive candidate who would energize the electorate on behalf of this platform. Biden is a lukewarm candidate, inspiring no one (not even his supporters). Can you not see that? If you can’t, you’re hopeless. And don’t blame me if he loses because there will be millions more Americans like me who are wholly uninspired by him and either weren’t motivated to vote or opposed voting for him.
And if he wins, you will find the next four years one of stasis and disappointment. Biden will either fail to, or refuse to make good on most of his promises.
You’ve had 2 shots here to advance your pro-Biden agenda. So let’s end it here. No more comments from you on the subject.
So who are you going to vote for? Should the US embassy be moved out of Israel entirely?