Is Israel in trouble with American progressives? - opinion

• Published date: 29 September 2021
• Author: DOUGLAS BLOOMFIELD

The squad's votes were critical because Republicans were prepared to vote against the entire bill, including Iron Dome, notwithstanding their attempts to exploit the situation by branding all Democrats as hostile to the Jewish state.

Two days later, thanks to quick moves by Democratic majority leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), a standalone bill providing $1 billion for Iron Dome passed 420-9. The only opponents were eight left-wing Democrats and one Republican libertarian. The Senate hasn't acted yet, but easy passage is expected.

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It was a dumb fight to pick. Iron Dome is a defensive weapon that saved thousands of Jewish and Arab lives in last May's fighting by intercepting missiles fired indiscriminately at civilian targets by Hamas and Islamic Jihad (more than 20 Palestinians were killed or injured by Hamas missiles that fell inside Gaza).

The squad provided an irresistible opening for Rep. Elise Stefanik to brand them "the Hamas Caucus."

Conservative columnist Marc Thiessen added, "When you vote to let terrorists kill Jews, that is antisemitism."

A vote of 420-9 is impressive, especially when it involves giving $1b. worth of missiles to the country with the highest standard of living in its part of the world, one equal to West European countries. The jolt of having to pull the measure initially sent shock waves through Israel and its friends.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, instead of shrugging off the incident as a mere procedural problem, appeared to panic, sending its network to the barricades shrieking that "Extremists in Congress are playing politics with Israeli & Palestinian lives." It was a sign of fear and weakness.

AIPAC, despite boasts of large student turnouts for its conventions, remains dominated by older, more conservative and wealthier leaders at a time when American Jewry and the Democratic Party, which most Jews support, are moving Left and away from the Israel of their fathers and grandfathers.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was just in the US preaching a return to bipartisanship. The damage done by his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, did not go away when he left office (especially since he keeps stoking the partisan fires), and Bennett will need more than soothing words.

That could be a problem because Bennett himself is a hardliner espousing policies that have divided Israel's friends...