Conditional Support for Israel?

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, recently called Israel “a racist state.”  Rep. Ilhan Omar said, “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the US, Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.”  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as other members of the left-wing “Squad” and regularly write anti-Israel tweets with little pushback or consequence.

They’re not the only ones in Congress who cozy up to the anti-Israel side.  “F*** Zionism.  And F*** you too, France,” wrote CAIR’s National Strategic Communications Director and Chicago chapter director Ahmed Rehab in 2019, after the French parliament adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.  In 2021, numerous far-left politicians participated in CAIR-Chicago’s annual fundraiser; Illinois’s Senator Dick Durbin praised the organization as the “leading Muslim community organization in the area,” and claimed it had also “been at the forefront of so many issues, protecting civil liberties, informing your voters, providing services to the community.”

Why do our politicians, specifically our Democrat ones, pander to those who seek Israel’s destruction and then; aren’t we “strategic” allies?  If Israel goes, won’t America follow?  How much longer does Israel (and then America) have if we don’t lay down red lines that dare not be crossed?  In a world where everything is seemingly fungible or expedient, “never say never” means little.   Israel’s population is just under 10 million; the Middle East as a whole is over 400 million.  We see support for Israel grow and then wane, depending on the price of oil and how united the opposition is.

If a certain faction of our policymakers treat solemn oaths as violable, it stands to reason that nothing is sacred—certainly not American tradition and heritage. Turns out that “unbreakable bond” can be broken, when you have Democrats and the regressive left at the helm of the government.

President Trump’s Abraham Accords only came to pass as a consequence of his own policy change, which severed the link between the normalization of Islamist nations as being a solution to the Palestinian problem.  In the past, Palestinian National Authority (PNA) president Yasser Arafat and his successors had numerous opportunities to facilitate peace with Israel.  However, it was never in the interest of militant groups such as Hamas, or countries like Iran, to allow that to come to pass.  While Trump’s delinking led to immediate peace with several Arab countries, the Abraham Accords are now moribund under Joe Biden.

I lived and worked in Israel before and during the Persian Gulf War.  The divide between Israel and the rest of the Middle East is more than geographic: Israel is the only democratic nation in the region; it has survived despite the long odds against it; and it is the only homeland in the world for the Jewish people. The area of Israel is 8,550 square miles, including all the disputed areas.  For perspective, Israel is about the size of New Jersey, one of the smallest states in our Union.  The width of Israel at its narrowest point is only six miles wide.  That has been used to Israel’s detriment through numerous invasions and wars.  Israel is tough to defend.

Culturally, Israel may have changed a bit since I was there.  However, between people I know still in-country, plus what anyone can read in open stacks, the narrative reflects that the hostility between Israel and the Palestinians continues at a fever pitch.  Israel is democratic; the Palestinian territories are not.  And the Iranian-funded Hamas, the terrorist group that calls for the annihilation of Israel and the death of every Jewish man, woman, and child, still controls the Gaza Strip to the west.

The West Bank is nominally controlled by the PNA, which is an apparatus of Arafat’s historically violent Fatah party.  (Arafat was formerly the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and was the first president of the PNA.)  Arafat was both a nationalist and a socialist, and today’s PLA is primarily run on a socialist model.

It is essential to understand why Israel, which admittedly has socialist roots, and the Palestinian territories are culturally and radically different.  It is as if you lived in New York City and crossed the Hudson into Haiti.  It’s that extreme of a difference, and it is the root of the disaffection.  Palestinian children are taught that Israel is an abomination in Allah’s eyes and that its destruction will please him.

In nearby Tehran, Iranian Mullahs debate how and when nuclear fire will purify Israel.   The unthinkable to Western democracies is very thinkable in Iran.  America’s, and much of Europe’s calculations, are fatally flawed by a belief that Iran will inevitably act in its own self-interest and not risk annihilation if a nuclear strike on Israel were to happen.

The former JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) was a creation of the Obama Administration, but was never ratified by Congress.  It would have allowed Iran to acquire nuclear weapons eventually.  Iran ran circles around us by restricting how we could police the agreement, allowing Iran to continue its nuclear program and secretly develop IRBMs and ICBMs.  Worst of all, Obama’s poor leadership allowed the reign of terrorism to continue unabated.  We even funded all of this with the release of $150 Billion, which included the hush-hush delivery of pallets of cash totaling $400 million directly to Iran as a last-minute requirement—and this was just the first installment.  Obama’s actions proved to Iran’s government and people, the West was weak.

A quick review of where we are with Iran today looks much like we were before.  Iran is hijacking ships in the Straits of Hormuz, testing new delivery systems for a future atomic bomb, developing highly enriched fissile material, and fighting a proxy war in Yemen; it seeks to continue destabilizing the rest of the Middle East, calculating evermore ways to destroy Israel in a blinding flash.  Why would we believe otherwise?

Through a lack of vision, leadership, and competing interests, our country is divided; we are unsure of ourselves and our standing in the world.  Our enemies across the globe understand this is a unique time in history because…America is so vulnerable.  To borrow an old adage: “Never interfere with an enemy while he’s in the process of destroying himself.”

We face no greater enemy than ourselves.  Our political process is rudderless, whether for political gain, individual vanity, or greed.  Without a quick course correction, we may soon face existential challenges of our own making.  With the deliberative process and our leadership broken, we flail about seeking to calm the water in whatever manner is easiest to gain essential support, no matter how debased the process becomes or how temporary the outcomes.

Israel exists only by the grace and suffrage of the United States of America.  If, or when, the day comes that our country’s divisions, already clearly visible, embolden an enemy enough, Israel will cease to exist in that blinding flash of light.  I can already hear the cheers from some portions of the world.  But that delight will be short-lived.  Israel possesses a failsafe that guarantees their retaliatory might in submerged ballistic submarines, carefully protected missile silos, and other unidentified means to punish the world.  This second holocaust, made in much the same way as the first, can and will happen when the world again averts its eyes.  Only this time, tens or hundreds of millions would pay for their disinterest.

I can already hear those who will say, “If I had only known….” We already know.  If this comes to pass, Iran meant what it said; the entire world is up for grabs. Why would so many disbelieve?  

God Bless America!

Allan J. Feifer—Patriot, Author, Businessman, and Thinker.  Read more about Allan, his background, and his ideas to create a better tomorrow at www.1plus1equals2.com.