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| US Congressional delegation visiting Israel (PBS screenshot) |
I discussed both sides of the issue yesterday – the pros and
the cons - of letting them in and I leaned towards letting them in as the
perfect example of Israel’s commitment to free speech even if it was against
their own country.
The backlash from Democrats was not what
I expected it to be. Although Israel was criticized for reversing their decision,
most of the criticism was reserved for the President who was blamed for this
reversal. He had earlier made a comment that Israel was making a mistake by letting
in these two anti Israel/anti Jewish congress woman and that they would show
weakness if they did. It was only after the President ‘tweeted’ - that Israel reversed
course. While criticizing Israel for doing that, Democrats believed that Israel’s Prime Minister was ‘forced’ to do that
because the leader of the free world and Israel’s closest (if not only) ally is
America. Not to mention Israel's domestic political situation in light of its upcoming election.
(It should be noted that as a humanitarian gesture Israel
will allow Rashida Tlaib to visit her 90 year old grandmother who lives on the
West Bank. She at first accepted but then changed her mind with an
explanation that is typical of her biased anti Israel stance. I guess she
hates Israel more than she loves her grandmother!)
Now that this is a fait accompli, it is worth examining the
why and the what of it. Was it really because of the President? Or were their
other legitimate reasons? I think there were. (And certainly Israel’s ‘official’
reasons did not mention the president at all.
The obvious reasons were that Israel has a right to differentiate
between legitimate criticism and actions whose purpose is to weaken the country
– if not outright destroy it. BDS is of the latter variety. Which is why Israel passed
a law that bans BDS supporters. (From which Tlaib and Omar were originally made
exceptions because they were US government officials.)
There was also the fact that they billed their trip as a
visit to Palestine - NOT Israel - to see for themselves the ‘horrid’ conditions under which Palestinians
live. Without the slightest attempt to
see Israel’s point of view on this. They had no intention to meet with any Israeli
officials.
But here is the ‘kicker’. While all this is going on, the US
was in the middle of hosting a Congressional delegation that included the House
leaders of both parties. Tlaib and Omar wanted no part of that. Had they come
with that delegation along with their many other House colleagues (from both
sides of the aisle) they would have been welcomed. They would have even been
allowed to go to the West Bank if they chose – just as other American officials
have in the past. But they only wanted to go to ‘Palestine’ and promote BDS. Thus hurting
Israel in tangible ways.
For me, that puts a slightly different complexion on this.
Instead of this being a genuine fact finding tour, this was a clear attempt to
hurt Israel by two powerful congress women. Powerful by virtue of the worldwide media attention and sympathy they get.
I’m still not entirely convinced that Israel should have banned
them. I’m not sure how much actual damage they would have done. And it might
have enhanced Israel’s commitment to free speech. But it is certainly a lot
more understandable now. And it didn’t hurt that the leader of the free world
suggested it.
What remains to be seen is whether this decision will harm
Israel in the long run. I don’t think so. Especially now that I see that the criticism
is mostly directed at the President. Even the media has been a bit more honest
about that.
This doesn’t mean that Israel has gotten away Scott free.
Their decision was criticized on both sides of the political aisle. Including one
of Israel’s biggest Republican supporters, Marco Rubio. But I do not see this as hurting
Israel in the long term. Even among Democrats.
There has been a lot of hand-wringing by liberals that
support Israel – fearing that Israel’s current embrace of the Republican right
wing ‘agenda’ for the Middle East that includes
things that Democrats have opposed (like settlement activity and the rejection
of the Nuclear deal with Iran) – will significantly weaken American support for Israel in the long run. But as I said, I really don’t think it will.
I realize of course that America is far more important to
Israel than Israel is to America. But I would not discount the value to America of Israel,
the Middle East’s only legitimate democracy. To just cite one example of that,
Israel’s intelligence services have provided and will continue provide information
that is no doubt invaluable to American security and perhaps even to world
peace. If and when Democrats get
control of the White House (which is entirely possible a little over a year from now) they would
be foolish to try and hurt Israel in any significant way. I think they almost all know that. Which is one
reason the House voted overwhelmingly to reject BDS. (With the obvious exception
of Tlaib and Omar and 15 others. Among them Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.)
I believe the last night’s PBS interview of Israel’s former Ambassador to the US, Danny Ayalon and Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman is illustrative of my views.
