Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing unexpectedly strong pressure to
withdraw from a planned March 3 speech to a joint session of Congress. The
invitation from House Speaker John Boehner bypassed President Obama entirely.
Intended to sway U.S. policy on Iran and support Netanyahu’s re-election bid,
the invitation is eliciting unprecedented opposition.
Netanyahu,
in defending the visit, has indicated that he is coming to Congress to speak as
the representative of the “entire Jewish people.” American Jews are largely
appalled by the notion that Netanyahu, or any other Israeli politician — one
that we did not elect and do not choose to be represented by — claims to speak
for us.
The
math is clear: While 69 percent of American Jews (population 6.8 million) voted
for President Obama in 2012, only 23 percent of Israel’s Jews (population 6.1
million) voted for Netanyahu.
This
isn’t the first time that Netanyahu has claimed the mantle of the
representative of the Jews, nor is it the first time that Jews around the world
have been affronted by the idea that the prime minister of Israel would claim
to speak for them. What makes this moment unique, however, is the unprecedented
cracks in the bipartisan consensus that usually sustains unquestioning support
for Israel.
Thus
far, at least 25 members of Congress have publicly pledged to skip Netanyahu’s
speech, including the heads of the Congressional Black Caucus and the
Congressional Progressive Caucus. Staunch Israel supporters, from Thomas
Friedman to Jeffrey Goldberg, have expressed concern that the current brouhaha
threatens the bipartisan consensus on Israel, while even the leaders of the
Anti-Defamation League and the Union for Reform Judaism have called on
Netanyahu to cancel his speech.
For
years, some political observers have noted that there is an alliance of true
belief between the Republican Party and the Likud-led Israeli government, while
Democratic party principles should at least in theory require some criticism of
Israel’s settlement building, human rights violations, and discriminatory
policies. Of course, it hasn’t until now played out that way, as the pressure
from donors and the skillful Israel lobby has enforced a virtual, if
superficial, consensus on Israel.
Now,
under the guise of supporting Obama and inter-party wrangling, some Democrats
have the opportunity to express a little of their deep anger not only toward
Israeli policies, but their perception that they’ve been forced to support
those policies even when they didn’t agree with them to ensure their
re-election.
This
partisan split is why staunch supporters of the Israeli status quo want
Netanyahu to cancel the speech — they fear this initial crack in the consensus
could lead to a permanent split, with Israel becoming a partisan issue.
While
coverage of the controversy over the speech has focused on violations of
diplomatic protocol and Israeli officials attempting to play Democrats and
Republicans against one another, the stakes are actually much higher. Netanyahu
is not only trying to dictate American policy toward Iran, but is also using
the issue of Iran as a way to avoid hard questions about Israel’s policies
toward Palestinians and its own citizens.
The
current controversy around Netanyahu’s speech has revealed what we have known
for a long time: that the increasingly oppressive and hawkish policies of the
Israeli government do not reflect the values of American Jews, nor of
Democrats. Israel’s right-wing leadership — which justified a brutal war
against Gaza last summer, continues settlement construction in the face of
international censure, and allows ongoing attacks in the streets of Israel against
Palestinians and anti-war activists — is not worthy of our support.
The
long-standing bipartisan support for Israel even as it continues to flout
international law and undermine the possibility for peace has long been an
anomaly in U.S. politics. That’s why those of us who have long advocated change
in U.S. policy towards Israel see the growing backlash against the speech as a
hopeful sign.
A
couple of weeks ago, Jewish Voice for Peace and a coalition of allies initiated
an online campaign to ask our elected officials to ?skipthespeech as a strong
statement against warmongering and electioneering. Over 55,000 people have
since taken action. Other progressive groups have issued similar calls.
Trends
indicate a growing discomfort with Israeli actions among many Americans,
including people of color and young Jews. Elected Democratic officials may
increasingly find support among their base for taking a clear stand against
warmongering and Israel’s assumed unconditional support by the U.S. Skipping
the speech is turning out not just to be good policy, but good politics.
(Rebecca
Vilkomerson is the executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, the largest
grass-roots Jewish organization working for equality and human rights for all
the people of Israel and Palestine.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/netanyahu-does-not-speak-for-all-american-jews-commentary/2015/02/20/9c456ecc-b943-11e4-bc30-a4e75503948a_story.html
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