In the wake of the anti-Israel protests that have been fracturing the Democrat base, the expected collapse of Democrat support for Israel is beginning.
As Ed wrote earlier today, the Biden Administration is signaling that its support for Israel is waning, although they insist that it isn’t. They have walked back their tweet that suggested Israel was committing atrocities and that a “permanent” cease-fire should be on the table.
Hamas unleashed a terrorist attack because they fear nothing more than Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace.
To continue down the path of terror, violence, killing, and war is to give Hamas what they seek.
We can’t do that.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 28, 2023
“To continue down the path of terror, violence, killing, and war is to give Hamas what they seek.” To my ears, this sounds like Biden is saying that Israel is engaged in terror, violence, killing, and war.
Whether you read it that way or not, it was clear that Biden was suggesting that the war had to stop prior to the elimination of Hamas. While the White House has walked this back, other Democrats are clearly pushing in this direction.
The latest example comes from more than a dozen Democrat Senators who met with Biden at the White House to express their reservations about the level of US support for Israel.
Dem senators tell White House any further assistance to Israel ‘must be consistent with our interests’ https://t.co/9JL0aG8gas
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 29, 2023
On its face, the demand that US support for Israel should be “consistent” with US interests is simply a restatement of the obvious, but clearly, the message is something else: US support for Israel is not consistent with US interests.
That’s rich since the US is bending over backward to aid Iran by reducing sanctions and transferring funds to Iran, whose leaders keep shouting, “Death to America!”
More than a dozen Democratic senators visited the White House this week, where they discussed the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the impact it has had on Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and what steps the Biden administration would take after the temporary cease-fire expires.
U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Jack Reed, D-R.I., were joined by over a dozen of their Democratic colleagues for a meeting with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday. The named lawmakers then released a statement on Wednesday detailing what was discussed.
According to the statement, the senators condemned the brutal terror attacks by Hamas, expressed support for funds to immediately replenish Israel’s defensive systems, and tasked the White House with detailing its plan to support Israel in a way that advances U.S. interests.
“We continue to support additional assistance to Israel in the aftermath of the brutal Hamas attacks – but we are all in agreement that this assistance must be consistent with our interests and values and used in a manner that adheres to international humanitarian law, the law of armed conflict, and U.S. law,” the Democrats said.
They added: “We need to find a better path toward helping Israel achieve legitimate military and security objectives. U.S. assistance has never come in the form of a blank check – regardless of the recipient.”
It’s pretty clear what they mean: they agree with the progressive criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war, and they want Biden to pressure Israel to change paths, likely to a cease-fire with Hamas before its destruction.
Cracks in the coalition to support Israel have been evident for a while now, and the pressure on Biden will get stronger as we get closer to the election. Democrats are worried that the progressive wing of their party is breaking with Biden’s policy and that it will cost them in the next election.
Jews are, in the end, not that electorally important to Democrats, while young progressives are a key part of their base. While Jews have voted with Democrats consistently, they are concentrated in Blue areas (except Florida, which is now firmly Red anyway).
If it sounds cynical to focus on electoral politics, that’s because it is. Israel clearly has the moral high ground here, but Democrats have been squishy on Israel for a while now, and progressives have developed a genuine hatred for the Jewish state. Combine those two factors, and you have to predict that Democrats will begin to flake off.
What’s not clear is whether Biden has the power to stop Israel from eliminating Hamas, which is obviously an existential threat to the country. In most cases, US pressure would be determinative, but in this one, it likely will not be. Biden may have little choice but to continue supporting Israel as long as he can. The alternative may be a break with Israel, which would shatter the Democrat coalition as older Democrats still support the country.
These are the fruits of pushing the DEI ideology, which has labeled Israel an oppressor and, hence, always wrong.
It’s disgusting, but there it is.
Read the full article here