In decades past, Israel was a unifying issue in Congress and among much of the electorate. Now, it’s another vehicle for feuding politicians and competing ideological groups to fight anew.
The brutal attack on Israel that began last week shocked Americans, who were consumed with grief for those slaughtered by Hamas and fearful for those hiding in their homes or held hostage by the militant group.
For about a day, anyway.
Then America’s deep political divisions surfaced with a vengeance, with politicians blaming political foes for the crisis, and others turning the terrorist attack into a judgment of Israel, its government, Jews in general and the plight of the Palestinian people.
With President Joe Biden facing the third major foreign policy crisis of his presidency after a disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and the 2024 election campaign already in full swing – political foes were quick to blame him for the obviously coordinated surprise air, land and sea attack.
Meanwhile, activists across the country clashed over Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, trading accusations of antisemitism, anti-Muslim sentiments and a disregard for human life. Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman called on CEOs to deny jobs to Harvard students who signed an open letter saying they hold Israel “entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” there.
One law firm – the global firm Winston & Strawn – posted a statement on social media saying it had withdrawn a job offer made to an unidentified former summer associate who had “published certainly inflammatory comments regarding Hamas’ recent terrorist attack on Israel.”
The Anti-Defamation League reported a “wide range of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli conspiracy theories” online soon after the attack, with hateful comments about eradicating Jews or suggesting Israel had somehow engineered the brutality.
One Palestinian member of Congress, Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, faces a censure motion for a statement she made grieving the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost – but also calling for an end to the “apartheid” in Israel.
Meanwhile, the attacks resurrected complaints against Republican Rep. Steve Scalise, a Louisianan seeking to be House speaker who spoke to a white supremacist group in 2002. Rep. Summer Lee, Pennsylvania Democrat, called on her GOP colleagues to reject Scalise – who later said he regretted speaking to the group – saying, “Every Republican who votes for his speakership will vote in support of rising antisemitism, white supremacy and Islamophobia.”
In decades past, support for Israel was a unifying issue in Congress and among much of the electorate. But now, it’s another vehicle for feuding politicians and competing ideological groups to fight anew.
“We used to say that politics ends at the water’s edge. Our leaders have lost sight that this comes down to fundamental questions about security, stability and our standing in the world,” says Brett Bruen, who was director of global engagement under President Barack Obama and who now teaches crisis communications at Georgetown University.
Then there were the accusations regarding $6 billion in Iranian funds the Biden administration unfroze in September as part of a negotiation for the release of five Americans wrongfully detained by Iran. The money – which is in Qatar – was for humanitarian aid and has not been disbursed at all, White House officials said. Reports emerged Thursday that Qatar and the United States agreed not to release any of the money, answering calls from Congress to thwart any avenue for Iran – which backs Hamas – to finance any terrorist activity.
“We have to really reflect on whether or not scoring some cheap political points by accusing Biden of being soft on … support for Israel or that somehow their effort to release five American hostages from Iran led to the Iranians somehow” enabling or funding the attack, Bruen adds. “If we do continue in this divisive debate, it’s only going to benefit Russia, Iran and China.”
The attacks on Biden came quickly after the attacks on Israel.
“Biden’s weakness invited the attack. Biden’s negotiation funded the attack. … At this point, Biden is complicit,” Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolinian seeking the Republican nomination for president, wrote on social media the day after the Hamas assault. His fellow South Carolina Republican and primary foe, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley made a similar complaint about what she called Biden’s “ransom deal.”
Former President Donald Trump also blamed Biden for the attack, telling a campaign audience in New Hampshire this week that the sitting president’s “weakness” led to the assault, along with the transfer of Iranian money between two offshore accounts.
Later, Trump extended his jabs at U.S. ally Israel, saying in a campaign speech that the country’s defense minister was “a jerk.” Trump also said Hezbollah, another designated terrorist group in Lebanon is “very smart,” angering U.S. and Israeli officials alike.
“It’s well beyond the pale for me,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday. Israeli communications minister Shlomo Karhi said it was “shameful that a man like that, a former U.S. president, abets propaganda and disseminates things that wound the spirit of Israel’s fighters and its citizens.”
Meanwhile, Democrats and liberals fought among themselves, with pro-Palestinian rallies in cities and campuses around the country drawing criticism from those who saw the actions as dismissive of Israeli victims.
Tlaib – a frequent target of Republicans who have called her antisemitic – issued a statement saying she grieves the deaths of both Israelis and Palestinians in the attack. But she also made a point of addressing the grievances of the Palestinians, noting, “As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue.”
That led her Michigan colleague, GOP Rep. Jack Bergman, to file a censure resolution against Tlaib on Wednesday.
Some progressives are pushing back at fellow members of the Democratic Socialists of America, who have been holding pro-Palestinian rallies just days after the Hamas attack.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat and a member of the organization, denounced the “bigotry and callousness” of the Times Square rally, saying it “did not speak for the thousands of New Yorkers who are capable of rejecting both Hamas’ horrifying attacks against innocent civilians as well as the grave injustices and violence Palestinians face under occupation.”
Another ally of the group, Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan, renounced his membership this week, saying the group was “unwilling to call out terrorism in all its forms.”
While the language is heated and often hateful, it’s still likely Congress will come together to help its longtime Middle Eastern ally, says American University professor Jordan Tama, author of the book “Bipartisanship and U.S. Foreign Policy: Cooperation in a Polarized Age.”
“Some are using really over-the-top rhetoric to try to score political points against the Biden administration. But at the same time, on the substance of U.S. policy – in terms of what the United States should be doing – there’s not much of a gap” between the two parties, Tama says.
When Congress – now at a standstill since Republicans cannot agree on a speaker – is presented an aid package to help Israel, “There will be broad support” for it, Tama says. That is, of course, “if the House starts operating again,” he adds.
Source: US News