Changing on Israel, Democrats Turn Toward Iran

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There was a time in American politics — stretching all the way back to Harry Truman — when political and financial leaders in the Jewish community were staunch supporters of the Democratic Party. Especially the national Democratic Party in presidential elections. This was because of solid Democratic support for Israel.

As time went on, and Democrats moved left with respect to higher taxing and spending policies, their presidential coalitions held up because of Jewish supporters of Israel. Republicans were suspect because many of the party’s backers belonged to country clubs and other exclusive groups that wouldn’t accept Jewish members.

Even worse, there was a kind of unspoken, subterranean view that big oil companies were always in bed with the GOP, while doing business with Israel’s Arab enemies in the Middle East. In my professional lifetime, I remember this scenario. Never liked it.

I’m happy to report, though, that things are changing in a big way. On Tuesday, the Democratic-run House blocked a bill that would have imposed sanctions on foreign entities known to have provided financial assistance to the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hamas.

A chap named Brian Mast, a Republican member of the House from Florida, sponsored the measure. “Under my bill, the United States will sanction these groups that are supporting terrorism,” Mr. Mast said in a floor speech. “Or if we do not pass this bill, we will not stand together to sanction these groups that are enabling this terrorism.”

Democrats then blocked the bill, and on party lines, by a vote of 217 to 209. Tragic. Tragic that the Democratic majority is moving against Israel and in favor of Iranian-backed terrorists. Tragic that there isn’t total bipartisan support for backing Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East. And certainly America’s greatest ally in that region.

And maybe our best friend in the world. Yet you’ve got Democrats, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib, who publicly denounced Israel as promoting racism under an apartheid system.

Here’s what Congresswoman Tlaib said to MSNBC: “This is an apartheid system…We need to stop and look at the fact that our own country is enabling it with billions of dollars every year being issued to Israel, even though they are promoting racism and dehumanization.”

She’s trying to argue that Israel is not really a democracy, but is more like South Africa many years ago. Nonsense. Utter nonsense. In a great column, my friend Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review magazine, notes that Israel is a democracy that affords its Arab citizens full rights.

They vote in elections. Arab parties sit in the Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. There are Arab justices on the Supreme Court of Israel. Contrast that with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, who is still serving a four-year term, that began about 15 years ago and keeps canceling new elections.

On two occasions in 2000 and 2008, Israel actually offered the Palestinians their own state. But, of course, Palestine, Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, and other terrorist groups want to wipe Israel from the map. Their movement is slowly taking over the Democratic Party.

A recent poll by the Trafalgar Group, which has an excellent record in recent presidential elections, queried Democrats on who is most to blame for the current violence in israel. Some 38.5% of these Democrats blamed Israel. Only 15.5% blamed Hamas.

To me, that is extraordinary, unbelievable. In the same poll, when Republicans were asked who is most to blame for the current violence in Israel, 42.5% blamed Hamas, 14.6% blamed Iran, 10.5% blamed the Palestinian Authority, and only 12.5% blamed Israel.

I am proud to say that I worked in the Trump administration, which unequivocally and unambiguously supported Israel. President Trump completely changed the map, and the American strategy toward the Middle East. Yet the current administration is criticizing that work.

Here’s what the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said: “Aside from putting forward a peace proposal that was dead on arrival, we don’t think they did anything constructive, really, to bring an end to the longstanding conflict in the Middle East.”

Moving away from the discredited idea that the Palestinian-Israel conflict is the key issue in the Mideast and instead working with our Gulf State Arab allies to align with Israel in terms of trade, investment, energy, and commerce.

At last count, six Arab states joined with Israel and America to form the Abraham Accords. Had Mr. Trump been reelected, Saudi Arabia, which fairs the Abraham Accords, would probably have formally joined, along with others.

I just want to weigh in not only about my own support for the Abraham Accords but to note the political realignment spawned by President Trump with respect to Republican support for Israel in place of what used to be rock solid Democratic support for Israel.

This is a change. Again, I’ll say we really should have bipartisan American support for Israel with no support for terrorist Iran’s backing for other terrorist groups. There should be no room for that in our politics, but then again, free speech is free speech. So it pays to understand the change that has taken over the Democratic Party.

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Adapted from Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox News.


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