Fetterman, Netanyahu, Gantz, and the American People

Pa Democratic Senator John Fetterman

It’s complicated. If I had to reduce my Centrist ideology (both religious and secular) to a single phrase, that would be it. 

The question at hand is how do Americans view Israel and the Jewish people since the October 7^th Hamas massacre and the ensuing war in Gaza.  Well… it’s complicated.

It’s important to note that the American people are not a monolith. Americans are as divided as ever on many important issues. Including this one.

Until the Gaza war, the vast majority of Americans had favorable views about Israel and the Jewish people. Increasingly among Republicans and decreasingly among Democrats. But favorable just the same.

But after daily images of death, destruction, and starvation, resulting from Israel’s defensive actions in Gaza, the typical American cannot be blamed for being critical of Israel and by association - the Jewish people that tend to support Israel.

But that criticism does not mean they do not support Israel’s goals in this war. A recent poll suggests that they do, even with all the carnage in Gaza they witness  every day on TV:

 A new ​​Harvard CAPS-Harris poll …found that 80 percent of respondents said they support Israel over Hamas in the current war.

So in spite of their legitimate concern over the massive number of Palestinian casualties and sympathy for what surviving Palestinians are going through, the American people understand the evil that Hamas represents and supports Israel’s goal to eliminate them.

On that score, the President has not withdrawn his support for Israel’s mission. Despite his calls for Israel to be more careful about civilian casualties and insistence that Israel open up more corridors for humanitarian aid, he is still calling for congress to approve $14.3 billion aid package for Israel’s fight against Hamas. His ill advised call for 2 state solution at this time did not change his support of Israel’s mission.

And he is not the only Democrat that supports Israel. In fact there is one Democrat whose declared support for Israel is strongest - it would be the former darling of congressional progressives, Pa Senator John Fetterman. His vocal and strident support for Israel at this juncture rivals that of Republican Nikky Haley: 

Clad in a dark hoodie and shorts and holding a miniature Israeli flag, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) emerges from his office to engage with a small group of anti-Israel protesters. The first thing he does, in video footage that circulated widely on social media, is direct activists to the offices of colleagues.

“We’re not changing, so there might be more different people that you may want to [be] protesting around,” said the senator, whose speech has been imprecise since a May 2022 stroke. “I’ve been very clear. Very clear.”

On Sunday, Fetterman posted on social media repeatedly about Israel.

“At any point, Hamas could have ended this burgeoning tragedy to surrender and release every hostage. Now, they’re unwilling to provide a list of any surviving hostages,” he wrote. “Hamas is anathema to peace for Gaza. Hamas instigated and owns this humanitarian catastrophe.”

“Demand Hamas to surrender. Demand release every hostage. Demand to seize billions of dollars Hamas stole from Gaza,” he added. “Demand those stolen billions to rebuild Gaza and compensate true victims- Israelis and Palestinians. Demand Hamas eliminated or permanently exiled.”

The reaction by these protesters was both predictable and disgusting:

“I’m a Palestinian,” one woman says. Another says to the senator, “That’s an inhumane view.”

“I’m a Palestinian. Why can’t you look me in the face?” a woman asks.

“I’m a constituent,” another woman insists.

“Pro-genocide is not a view,” a man says as Fetterman walks away, closing the door to his office.

A woman calls him a coward.

These protestors make a lot of noise and use the images of Palestinian carnage in Gaza to vilify Israel and the Jewish people. That resonates with some non Palestinian that have chosen to join them in protest. Most of whom are young people that have not done any research on why this is happening. They too see the carnage and blame the ‘the man with the gun’. Without acknowledging that the man with the gun is acting in self defense and that the casualties are the fault of Hamas. 

Fortunately they are in the minority as are the progressives (deluded Jewish progressives among them) that are calling Israel's defensive war - genocide. 

Minister Benny Gantz

There are unfortunately many people both here and in Israel that blame Netanyahu for all the negative PR. Seeing his determination to win the war as little more than a ploy to salvage his political career. And consider his decision to push into Raffah despite US objections  - Chutzpah of the highest order. That he is in biting the only hand that feed Israel.

It's time to disabuse people who harbor this notion: It isn't just Netanyahu that wants to take out Hamas in Raffah. It is his chief political rival Benny Gantz who said the following:

If hostages held in Gaza are not freed within the next few weeks, Israel will broaden its offensive in southern Gaza and push into the city of Rafah on the Egyptian border, war cabinet member Benny Gantz warned on Sunday.

“The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know — if by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere, to include the Rafah area,” Gantz said. 

Israel has a right to exist. and a right to defend itself toward that end. They must not allow themselves to be intimated by a small but vocal minority that paints them as virtual Nazis with words like genocide. No matter how much they try to paint Israel that way, most of the American people aren’t buying it.