Democrats increasingly skeptical of Israel put pressure on Biden

WASHINGTON President Bidens carefully worded the statement on Monday supporting a ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinians, which came amid mounting pressure within his own party for the United States to take a more skeptical stance towards the one of their closest allies.

Mr Bidens urging an end to the fighting at the end of a summary of a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed a drumbeat of calls from Democratic lawmakers across the ideological spectrum for his administration to stand down. speaks out strongly against the escalation of violence. It reflected a different tone from that which members of Congress have spoken in past clashes in the region, when most Democrats reiterated their strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself and called for peace, without openly criticizing. his actions.

The push is the strongest from the forceful progressive wing of the party, whose representatives in the House, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have drawn attention in recent days for accusing Israel of gross human rights violations. man against the Palestinians and run an apartheid state. . But their intensity has masked a calmer, concerted shift among more mainstream Democrats that may ultimately have more ramifications.

Although they have no plans to end the United States’ close alliance with Israel, a growing number of Democrats in Washington say they are no longer willing to let the country go for its harsh treatment. Palestinians and the spasms of violence that have defined the conflict for years.

Highlighting how skepticism around the Gaza campaign had spread to some of Israel’s biggest supporters in Congress, New York Representative Gregory W. Meeks, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said On Monday to Democrats on the panel that he would ask the Biden administration to delay a $ 735 million tranche of precision-guided weapons to Israel that had been approved before tensions in the Middle East erupted.

Meeks, a fixture at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, the most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, called an emergency meeting of Democrats on the Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday evening to discuss the postponement of the weapons package, according to a person familiar with the meeting who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal discussions. This came after a number of Democrats expressed concerns over sending American-made weapons to Israel at a time when it bombed civilians, as well as a building that housed news organizations, including the Associated Press, an American news agency.

A day earlier, 28 Democratic senators, more than half of the party caucus, issued a letter publicly calling for a ceasefire. The effort was led by Senator Jon Ossoff, Democrat of Georgia and, at 34, the face of a young generation of American Jews in Congress. As Republicans made statements blaming Hamas activists squarely, the Democrats’ call required both sides to lay down their arms and Mr. Biden to weigh in to demand it.

Another sign of developments this weekend came from Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey and chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations. Menendez is known as one of Israel’s most staunch allies in the Democratic Party, as he opposed President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal with Iran on the basis of the Israeli opposition.

Yet on Saturday, as the death toll rose in Gaza and southern Israel, Menendez issued a stern statement saying he was deeply troubled by the Israeli airstrikes which had killed Palestinian civilians and the tower housing medias. He demanded that both sides abide by the rules and laws of war and find a peaceful end to the fighting that has killed more than 200 Palestinians and 10 Israelis.

In response to the thousands of rocket attacks fired by Hamas against civilians, Israel has every right to defend itself against terrorists determined to wipe it off the map, Menendez said. But no matter how dangerous and real this threat may be, I have always believed that the strength of the US-Israel relationship flourishes when it is founded on the shared values ​​of democracy, freedom, pluralism. and respect for human rights and the rule of law. .

Democrats who had been the most vocal in their criticism of the Israeli government said they intended to send a message to the president as he considered how to handle the escalating tensions: no longer find the same support in his party.

It didn’t work, Representative Mark Pocan, a progressive Democrat from Wisconsin, told a top adviser to Mr Biden late last week, he said in an interview on Monday. Were going to advocate for peace in a way they may not have traditionally heard.

Republicans and AIPAC were quick to warn of any perceived weakening of the United States’ commitment to Israel. When Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, who represents the most Jewish neighborhood in the country, led a group of 12 Jewish House Democrats in a letter On Friday, which supported Israel but also said Palestinians should know that the American people value their lives as we do Israeli life, AIPAC worked quietly behind the scenes to discourage lawmakers from signing.

Republicans also saw a political advantage in trying to use the more extreme statements of the Progressive Democrats to try to alienate Jewish voters from the party.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader and a staunch supporter of Israel, condemned Ms. Ocasio-Cortez on Monday for her description of Israel as a Apartheid state and urged the president to leave no doubt about America’s position.

The United States must stand firmly behind our ally, McConnell said, and President Biden must stand firm against the growing voices within his own party that create a false equivalence between terrorist aggressors and a responsible state defending itself. .

Few Democrats in Congress have gone this far. But in recent years, many party members have changed their approach.

Much of the change can be attributed to the debate over the Iran nuclear deal, when Mr. Netanyahu, Israel’s right-wing leader, made a concerted effort to fit into US domestic politics to kill the pact drafted by Mr. Obama. He described support for the deal as a betrayal of Israel and worked to drive a wedge between Republicans and Democrats on the issue. Mr. Netanyahu’s close alliance with Mr. Obama’s successor, Donald J. Trump, has only deepened this partisan divide.

But the difference in tone also reflects a broader shift within the Democratic Party over the past decade. As Democratic and Liberal voters have organized themselves more consciously around concepts such as fairness and systemic discrimination, their push for more liberal political positions on immigration, policing and law enforcement. Gun violence at home has reshaped the way many view the conflict in the Middle East and the violence it produced.

Reflective support for Israel’s right to self-defense or calls for the return of Israel and the Palestinian authorities to the negotiating table are now seen by many on the left as the linguistic equivalent of our thoughts and prayers towards the victims. of the latest mass shooting, said Jeremy Ben-Ami, chairman of J Street, a pro-Israel liberal advocacy group that has worked for years to shift the debate as a counterweight to AIPAC.

This is not enough anymore, he said in an interview. What the United States is doing essentially amounts to international immunity to Israel.

The momentum arose last week after Ms Ocasio-Cortez pounced on Andrew Yang, the top New York mayoral candidate, for issuing a statement last week alongside the people of Israel.

Quite shameful for Yang for trying to show up at Eid event after sending overwhelming statement of support for strike killing 9 children, Ms Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter. (Mr. Yang later released a new statement saying his first one was too simplistic and failed to recognize the pain and suffering on both sides.)

This has left some of Israel’s most vocal traditional allies in the party in a difficult position.

Aware of the crossed currents in his party and his home state, where he risks re-election next year, Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer of New York has remained largely silent since the fighting began. Like Mr. Menendez, Mr. Schumer voted against the Iran nuclear deal and he represents the country’s largest Jewish population, ranging from secular progressives to politically conservative Orthodox communities.

In response to a question by a reporter on Capitol Hill on Monday, Mr Schumer said: I want to see a ceasefire concluded quickly and mourn the loss of life.