Thus far, President Barack Obama is sitting out the January 22nd Israeli elections. There is no indication about who he hopes to see as the next Israeli prime minister. His noninterference, even disinterest, is not surprising except when contrasted with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s open preference for the Republicans in the U.S. election two months ago. One might have thought that a little payback would be in order.
One reason for Obama’s apparent indifference may be that there is almost no possibility that Netanyahu will not be the next prime minister. The only question is whether Netanyahu’s next government will be as far right (and pro-settlement expansion) as his current government or much farther to the right.
To put the Israeli election in U.S. terms, it is as if the choice two months ago was between the rightwing Republican Party and the ultra-rightwing Tea Party with the Democrats merely hoping to win enough support to compose a credible opposition or to get a cabinet post.
But that is the case in Israel where Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s Likud-Beytenu coalition is being challenged by a new party to its right, the Jewish Home party. The Jewish Home party is led by 40-year old Naftali Bennett who is running on an openly annexationist platform, in contrast to Netanyahu and Lieberman who, although also expansionist, occasionally pay lip service to the idea of reaching a two-state agreement with the Palestinians.
Bennett favors the immediate annexation of 60% of the West Bank which would make the creation of a viable Palestinian state impossible. His 60% plan is rejected by other leading figures in his party, even more radical, who favor a 100% annexation just to make sure.
Needless to say the new party is dominated by ultra-nationalist settlers and religious fanatics who, in addition to supporting land grabs, vehemently oppose equal rights for gays, women, Arabs, and non-Jews in general. Nonetheless, Jewish Home is the first choice of Israelis under 30, who are abandoning the old rightwing parties for the extreme right.
Perhaps the craziest thing is that the new ultra-right party is rising as the Netanyahu/Lieberman party has shifted rightward, too. Gone are the more pragmatic Likud types like Benny Begin and Dan Meridor. In their place are the likes of Moshe Feiglin who told the Atlantic‘s Jeff Goldberg:
Why should non-Jews have a say in the policy of a Jewish state?” Feiglin said to me. “For two thousand years, Jews dreamed of a Jewish state, not a democratic state. Democracy should serve the values of the state, not destroy them.” In any case, Feiglin said, “You can’t teach a monkey to speak and you can’t teach an Arab to be democratic. You’re dealing with a culture of thieves and robbers….The Arab destroys everything he touches.
Feiglin isn’t alone either. Take a look at this list of rightist extremists who top the Netanyahu-Lieberman list, yet who are seen as too moderate for voters drawn to the up and coming new party.
The interesting thing is that few Americans are paying any attention to the Israeli election, a sign that even the pro-Israel community is losing interest in and hope for Israel. A country that once was a source of joy for so many Americans is now a source of pain; the prevailing attitude seems to be to just look away and hope that things will improve by the next time they pay attention.
But then it doesn’t really matter what most Americans think or don’t think about what is happening in Israel. Except for one.
The President of the United States matters very much. Every Israeli is aware that without the support of President Obama, Israel would be in desperate straits. The United States provides Israel with billions of dollars of aid a year, aid which is used to purchase the weapon systems that sustains Israel’s “military edge” and the occupation too.
That aid also provides Israel with the economic cushion it needs to preserve its immunity to the recession that has afflicted most of the world. It is the President of the United States who decides whether to stand (virtually alone) with Israel at the United Nations, using our veto to block any resolution that Israel opposes. It is the President who has adopted Israel’s position on Iranian nuclear development as our own, leading the effort to punish Iran with sanctions and reiterating Israeli threats that there will be war if Iran develops nuclear weapons (despite the fact that Israel is said to have some 200 war heads).
In short, Israel is almost entirely dependent on the President of the United States. As for Congress, it matters too but, on all foreign policy matters, it is the President who leads. That is how the United States Constitution works. It is the President who defends the national interest abroad.
And the fact is that U.S. interests are being damaged by Israel’s current course. Whether we like it or not, the United States is viewed as linked at the hip with Israel. An Israeli government dominated by ultra-nationalists, racists, and fascists impacts on our standing throughout the world. After all, the world (and not just the Muslim world) understands that we are Israel’s enabler.
That is why it is time for President Obama to send a clear message to Israel by nominating former Senator Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense. That is not because Hagel is anti-Israel. He isn’t.
The reason to nominate Hagel, in addition to his qualifications for the post, is that the Israel lobby has decided to demonstrate its clout by preventing his nomination. Like the National Rifle Association, the lobby has an intense need to demonstrate that it’s in charge. It does not like Hagel, so he will not get the post. Successfully blocking him will demonstrate that no matter how far Israel lurches toward the right, no matter how many settlements are built, no matter how many Palestinians are thrown off their land or just abused, the United States will simply grin and bear it.
Obama could, of course, issue a statement or deliver a speech re-stating U.S. policy on settlements, a Palestinian state, and the need for peace. But the sad fact is that no one believes that this administration will ever back up its fine words on Israel and Palestine with deeds, not after the past four years of giving in to Netanyahu over and over again.
There is only one way to send a message to Israel that will be heard: it will be by nominating Hagel. It is Israel and the lobby that created the Hagel issue. Why not use it to America’s advantage? And Israel’s too. After all, it is Israel not the United States that seems to be going over a cliff and, sadly, it is not just fiscal.
Mr. President, nominate Hagel. And fight for his confirmation. As for the lobby, let it do what it wants. Out in the open, for a change.
It’s now being reported that Hagel will likely be announced as the nominee Monday or Tuesday though a final dicision has still not been made. The vetting is reportedly completed. Let’s hope the White House stay’s firm on this through the predictible Sunday talk show attacks, and, if they do indeed nominate Hagel, that they hang in through a full confirmation process. Let the public debates begin!
So let’s hear senators ask him tough questions and find out who he is.
Why is it that Israel, which is heavily dependent on the good graces and sacrifice of the US, routinely injects itself into American politics, yet Israel and every single other country in the history of the planet is upset, to the point of declaring it a casus belli, when foreigners inject themselves into their politics?
Pick any media story about the Israel Lobby’s opposition to Hegel. Read the article aloud to a friend, substituting, say, “Nepal” for “Israel” throughout. See if you can make it through the first two paragraphs without either or both of you cracking up in uncontrollable laughter. That’s how silly the Israeli veto on US policy is.
It’s about time for an independent United States of America.
jeff,
but usa is not like nepal……the jewish vote is very much a part of all american politics, not only in number, but in power of influence…..including jewish members of congress and the business sector…….that changes the picture…..
Shira, Jews are what, one percent? half a percent? of US voters. Name any other voting bloc that small that has veto power over the rest of the country. They don’t exist. This one should not exist. It will not exist for much longer, or the host that the parasite is feeding from will die.
American Jews, by and large, have made their choice: US issues come before Israeli ones, according to every major poll that has been done in at least the last three election cycles. It’s only their self-styled leaders, the professional parasites, that are giving them a bad name to other Americans, and putting the US into harm’s way in the rest of the world. Again, no other country would tolerate this from them, and we would not tolerate this from any other group. Something is going to give.
So now we are parasites?
How would you describe a tiny minority who attempt to change a larger organism (or nation) while asserting to the organism at large that even if that minority exists, it is not acting in the way in which it is seen by rational observers to be acting, when those actions bring the minority benefit at the expense of the larger whole? That may well not have been, and almost certainly was not, the original intent; however, it’s hard to maintain contact with reality while pretending that that’s what the more extreme parties (AIPAC, the JDL and points right) have become?
I agree that Israel is important. I agree that it has every right to exist and be safe and secure. But the greatest threats to Israeli security are actually now coming from those purporting to act on behalf of Israel. Why would a country which identifies a theocratic Iran as its greatest threat, work so hard not only to adopt its worst qualities, but to impose those on a foreign power whom it has historically relied on for its very existence? That is what I completely fail to understand.
Hey Dicky, Aside for foreign aid, what major sacrifices has the US made for Israel?
Shouldn’t parasites be exterminated. The krauts used Zyklon B on us. What would you use?
I chose Nepal specifically because it’s ridiculous in that context – tiny, remote from most Americans’ consciousness and apparently happy not to meddle overmuch in the affairs of its neighbours or those halfway around the globe (like the US). Israel could do far worse for a role model.
Nepal is a land locked country with only 2 neighbors, China and India. Think about it