I never voted for Bernie Sanders. He always reminded me of two old, cynical codgers on the Muppet Show, except he came off as positively angry. He did not seem to have the gift of persuasion, so vital in politics.
But Sanders is dead-on with his attempt to freeze $10.1 billion of the $14.3 billion in additional military aid President Biden has requested for Israel. He would allow aid for Iron Dome, but no more offensive weaponry (https://news.yahoo.com/sanders-presses-biden-deny-israel-180035347.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall).
The Israeli government has aptly demonstrated that it is not to be trusted with any more offensive weaponry. Not from us.
Despite his increasingly clear criticism of how Netanyahu is prosecuting this war, President Biden recently engineered an end-run around Congress to rush 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel, the day after we vetoed the U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Do I wish that resolution had specifically condemned the October 7 attack by Hamas? Yes. Was that omission reason to tolerate the slaughter one more day? No.
We don’t have to be naive about Hamas to understand that Netanyahu’s war on Gazans is only raising the stature of the terrorist organization among Palestinian youth. Hamas might very well refuse to comply with a Security Council ceasefire. That would be one sure way to reverse its recent gain in popularity.
And despite its stated aspirations, Hamas does not pose an existential threat to Israel. With the help of other nations if need be, Israel can defend itself against Hamas attacks without resuming its massacre of Palestinians.
But the imperative must be to undermine Hamas politically.
Anyone who has paid attention to Israel’s wars against Palestinian militants since 1982, and our own “war on terror”, knows that the law of unintended consequences applies superbly. As Arab leaders have warned, Israel cannot destroy Hamas by military means, and anyone who thinks it can does not know what he is talking about.
The only promising course for Israel is to reverse course, and commit fully to a real Palestinian state, beginning with dismantling settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and relocating settlers back to Israel proper.
Netanyahu’s government may not be capable of such a reversal. It might take a new Israeli government to right the ship. So be it. We need to freeze the lion’s share of our aid to Israel to convey the message clearly.
With the Israel lobby enjoying disproportionate influence in American politics for many years, the great majority of lawmakers and Presidents have chosen the path of least resistance. But that path has resulted in policies that are very unpopular in the Muslim world, and decidedly not in our national interest. It has also left Israel with too much military power for its own good, leaving it in no hurry to address Palestinian aspirations.
Get Real with Israel 