Op-Ed
Discriminatory policies risk Israel's longtime bipartisan U.S. support
By Rebecca Vilkomerson
DECEMBER 16, 2015, 5:00 AM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently been trying to mend
some fences in Washington - particularly with liberal Democrats. Speaking at
the progressive Center for American Progress last month, he put it bluntly:
"It's vital to understand how important it is for me that Israel remain an
issue of bipartisan consensus in the United States."
Unconditional support for Israeli policies used to be the norm in Washington
from both parties. But no more. New polling by the Brookings Institution
shows how deep the partisan divide has become.
Asked about the current outbreak of violence in the region, a plurality of
Democrats, 37%, blamed continued Israeli occupation and the expansion of
Jewish settlements; 35% blamed the absence of serious peace talks. Even more
telling: 49% of Democrats in the poll recommended imposing economic
sanctions or taking other serious action in response to Israel's continued
settlement building.
As for Republicans, 40% blamed Palestinian extremists for the current spate
of violence.
The reality is that Israel has the upper hand in this situation, and that's
evident in the casualty counts: over 100 Palestinians killed and 10,000
wounded since Oct. 1, compared with 19 Israelis killed and 165 wounded.
In the West Bank, Israel conducts violent raids in hospitals, restricts
access to water and controls Palestinian freedom of movement. Israel also
turns a blind eye to violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers, who
now number nearly half a million. Gaza, which the international community
still considers occupied territory because of how Israel controls its
borders, is in the midst of a serious humanitarian crisis.
Liberals in the United States are becoming more aware of these problems and
of Israel's record more generally. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab
Minority Rights in Israel, maintains a list of more than 50 laws that
discriminate against non-Jews in Israel, including laws that allow the state
to confiscate Palestinian land for public purposes and laws that deny state
funding to institutions that teach about the Nakba, the 1948 exodus from
Israel when perhaps 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from
their homes. Israel is currently considering a bill that would require
representatives of NGOs that receive foreign money to wear special badges to
identify them in the Israeli parliament. The government has arrested
Palestinian citizens of Israel for posts they write on Facebook, demolished
homes and stripped social services from relatives of violent attackers.
These are policies that should outrage progressives, so it's no wonder
Netanyahu is losing traction with Democrats. A Gallup poll in February 2015
found that the percentage of Democrats sympathizing with Israel more than
Palestinians had fallen 10 points, to 48%, over the previous year.
Israel's billions of dollars in military aid are still sacrosanct in
Washington - but the cracks in the consensus are showing.
In July, when the Palestinian village of Susiya was under immediate threat
of being razed by Israeli authorities, Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Menlo Park) and
10 other Democratic representatives urged Secretary of State John F. Kerry
to intervene. In June, 19 representatives sent Kerry a letter asking him to
take up the issue of Palestinian children in Israel's military detention
system.
American labor unions, a backbone of the Democratic Party, might be the next
group to take up Palestinian rights. In September, the United Electrical
workers became the first national union to endorse a boycott, divestment and
sanctions against Israel. Last month, the Connecticut branch of the AFL-CIO
voted to encourage the national AFL-CIO to endorse the boycott movement as
well.
As opinions shift among the Democratic base, U.S. officials increasingly are
willing to risk criticizing Israel more bluntly. Last month, Kerry visited
Israel hoping to initiate steps that might calm the current violence.
Netanyahu had the gall to demand international recognition of Israel's
settlement blocs in the West Bank before he'd dial back the military
crackdown.
The White House's response was, for once, an assertive no.
This new firmness suggests the administration knows how many Democrats find
Israeli policies unacceptable. As Israel continues to hurtle down an
anti-democratic path, its chances of regaining bipartisan support in the
U.S. fade in the distance.
Rebecca Vilkomerson is executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace.
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