Without American support, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told the NY Times’ Annie Karni on Tuesday, Israel’s “future could well be over.”
The interview, titled, “‘Part of My Core’: How Schumer Decided to Speak Out Against Netanyahu,” followed the Senate majority leader’s outrageous suggestion the week before that the only avenue open to Israel includes new elections and the removal of PM Benjamin Netanyahu from office as if he were El Presidente of some banana republic, Schumer struck a decidedly yenta tone:
“This is so part of my core, my soul, my neshama,” he said, mentally toweling himself after his brave bout. “I said to myself, ‘This may hurt me politically; this may help me politically.’ I couldn’t look myself in the mirror if I didn’t do it.”
“It came from here,” he said, pointing at his gut.
And then he told his first lie. Pretending he and us were living in a world where the Internet wasn’t recording everything that he had said a week ago, Schumer told Karni he meant “to say you can still love Israel and feel strongly about Israel and totally disagree with Bibi Netanyahu and the policies of Israel.”
That one goes without saying, and no one had ever suggested it wasn’t true. But what Schumer did say was:
“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me the Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7th. The world has changed radically since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past. Nobody expects Prime Minister Netanyahu to do the things that must be done to break the cycle of violence, to preserve Israel’s credibility on the world stage, and to work towards a two-state solution. At this critical juncture, I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel.”
This was not about a disagreement between friends, this was a call for a coup d’état – something America has been doing to its friends and allies since the Battle of San Jacinto of 1836 when Texas regime-changed a hefty chunk of Mexico.
Schumer eventually acknowledged that he couldn’t really interfere in a thriving democracy’s business (Phew), and conceded that “Bibi could prevent any election until 2026,” that’s November 2026, should Netanyahu’s cabinet not collapse under its own weight earlier. But instead of marveling at the stability of Israel’s coalition government, Schumer wants to bring it down, because, he says, “I worry under his leadership, Israel would become such a pariah in the world and even in the United States, because I look at the numbers and they’re rapidly decreasing. I had to speak out before it erodes.”
Is the Senate majority leader aware that a country’s democratic elections are not driven by the support its politicians are receiving in foreign countries? Indeed, in some countries being loved elsewhere usually means not being loved at all at home. Jimmy Carter was one of the most beloved US presidents around the world. He lost by a landslide, as the incumbent.
WHAT ARE ISRAEL’S OPTIONS?
And then Schumer said that without American support, Israel’s “future could well be over.”
Let’s unpack that one. What are the options for Israel in its relationship with the United States? It could be (a) a patron-vassal relationship, whereby the big decisions are made in Washington, DC, and carried out obediently in Jerusalem; it could be (b) a trade partnership and general alliance; (c) the US could be neutral regarding Israel, not giving but also not receiving favors; and (d) the two countries could be enemies.
Under the Biden administration, it appears that all four options are being exercised at once: at times, as in President Biden’s visit immediately following October 7, the two countries are the very best of friends and allies; and then, when Israel is pursuing its independent strategy of responding to the Hamas atrocities, the White House demands complete obedience or else; mutual neutrality is being advocated by a growing number of Republican lawmakers who object in principle to any kind of foreign aid, and will not accept the current level of aid with is nearing $5 billion for the year; and finally there’s the enmity, which has taken over a growing portion of the Democratic party in the House, but recently also in the Senate and, alas, the Oval Office.
The fact that the administration has unleashed the most senior Jewish politician in the country against Israel suggests that things are not going to get better between now and November 5, 2024. The vast majority of Israelis (99 out of 100 MKs) are steadfastly opposed to a two-state solution. After 150 years during which every time the Arabs were invited to share Eretz Israel they started murdering their Jewish neighbors have taught said neighbors to curb their expectations.
There will not be peace with the “Palestinians” because they are infested with the replacement doctrine. Indeed, while Christianity admits that the Jews were there first, and Christians study the Jewish Bible faithfully – Islam is all about denying the Jews’ claims to the land and even to the origins of monotheism. This used to be a point of contention among Israelis, but no more. Only a political fringe still advocates two-state and entertains messianic dreams about peace between Arabs and Jews.
Under these circumstances, the direction Israeli leaders should pursue is to follow Chuck Schumer’s advice and advocate the removal by democratic means the current executive of America. To borrow his reasoning: At this critical juncture, I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel.
Vote Trump.
