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| Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock (Hollywood Reporter) |
With the sure win of Warnock and the likely win of Ossoff who is winning with 98% of the vote counted - the senate will be equally divided between Democrats and Republicans. The tie vote will go to the Vice President. (Liberal Democrat, Kamela Harris). With the House already controlled by a Democratic majority it looks very much like Congress is about to become a rubber stamp for the man who will be President in not much longer than the blink of an eye (politically). In 14 short days at 12:01 PM, Democrat Joseph R. Biden will be sworn in to become the 46th President of the United States.
I say this without any particular rancor. I say it only as a pretty much indisputable fact. Ordinarily this would not be much of a concern to me. In the not too distant past there wasn’t all that much difference between the 2 parties. Democrats and Republicans were not all that far apart on the major issues of the day. Although there were always exceptions, most members of congress were more or less political centrists albeit a bit right or left of center depending upon which side of the political aisle they were on.
But this is not your father’s ‘Oldsmobile’. Times have changed and politics right along with it. The exceptions are now in the center. Congress has never been more divided. Democrats are far more liberal and Republicans are far more conservative. And there are elements in both parties pulling them in even more extreme directions.
It is too soon to tell how far left the new Democratic congress will be at this point in time. But that is the direction it has been going, even if it isn’t fully there yet. The one saving grace about it is that Biden is an old time Center-left Democrat. But it is also true that Biden owes the hard core ‘Berne Sanders left’ a debt. Because without their support, we would be looking a second term for Trump.
What does all this mean to the issues that matter to Orthodox Jews? There are several to consider.
One is what the new US policy with respect to Israel will be. It was a nice reprieve during the last 4 years not to hear the word ‘settlements’ in the context of being an impediment to peace. I fear that we will shortly be hearing that again. We will surely be hearing the world ‘occupation’ a lot more as well.
There is also the distinct possibility that the US will not be vetoing UN Security Council resolutions condemning Israel.
On the plus side, I don’t think the US embassy will be switched back from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. I also believe Biden and his ‘Amen Chorus’ in congress will actually continue the policy of pursuing peace with additional Arab nations. How that will all shake out remains to be seen. (Yes... I know who coined the term.)
Another thing that seems likely is that J-Street will once again have the ear of the President. (Might as well be Rashida Tlaib. Birds of a feather.)
Next there is Iran. That this rogue nation is a threat to world peace in not in dispute. Which is why their quest towards developing nuclear weapons while simultaneously working on delivery system capable of reaching the US - should be taken seriously. As should their spread of terror throughout the region - most of which is aimed at Israel via their proxies in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon.
Should Biden focus only on the nuclear problem, death and destruction from Iran will continue with impunity as it did after consummating the nuclear deal (JCPOA) with the US and our allies. My hope is that Biden understands this reality and does not re-enter a deal that had these major flaws. And instead renegotiates it to include dealing with those flaws.
But all is not lost. Thankfully there is a very important 3rd branch of government equal to each of the other 2. The Supreme Court. Thanks to the outgoing President, the court is no longer liberal. It is conservative. Which very much favors Orthodox Jews and other religious groups. No longer will religion be taking a back seat to other issues. Religious rights will be better protected and our interests advanced. How so? For one thing, people that are denied jobs because of Shabbos have a much better chance of fighting that. The details of which are discussed by attorney Nathan Lewin in a JNS article.
Will any of this play out the way I described? I guess we’ll find out.
