“You have to finish up your war… You gotta get it done.”
Donald Trump in an interview with the right-wing Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom in late March
“As we look to the future, the only real solution to the situation is a two-state solution over time… There is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and democracy. There is no other path that guarantees ... that Palestinians can live in peace [with] dignity.”
Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, also in March
Despite his and his son-in-law’s forays toward wealthy Arab oil states, Donald Trump’s “follow the money” instincts do not include other Arab states and most certainly show no concern for Palestinian civilians. With most evangelicals committed to a Second Coming/The Rapture biblical belief, requiring a “war to end all wars” in the Middle East (Armageddon) based on a mega-powerful Israel, Trump has their and old-line Jewish communities all locked up on a unilateral “whatever Netanyahu wants” policy. “Finish the job” Trump has no issue with civilian deaths pursuing the “total eradication” of Hamas. Biden has no chance of pulling these voters to his side.
Biden can, however, lose critical and traditional support from younger voters, including many Jews, by his unwillingness to limit, control and even stop shipments of munitions to Israel which he absolutely knows will be deployed against innocents. Token gestures, to limit some weapons and a small effort to deliver food and medical supplies to Gaza by sea via a makeshift naval pier, have not moved the needle much for Biden.
It just might be too late to get those younger voters back; too many innocent Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks. Walking a middle ground has also made expensive campaign dinners, usually including major older, traditional Jewish Democrats, problematical for Biden. While overseas issues, where the United States is not itself a combatant, are seldom “deciders” in general elections, given the razor thin difference between the presidential candidates’ polling numbers, this year, Biden’s middle ground seems to be a no-win stance. While these angry traditional Dem voters are unlikely to support Trump, their not voting for Biden could be fatal to his reelection chances.
As Tracy Wilkinson, writing for the June 15th Los Angeles Times notes: “[Biden] has not gone as far as President Obama, for example, who insisted Israel freeze construction of settlements in areas claimed by the Palestinians… But when push comes to shove, Biden has sided with Israel, declining to significantly hold back military aid and vetoing United Nations measures opposed by Israel, including a recent one to formally recognize a Palestinian state… Even so, Biden — like most past U.S. leaders — has sought to maintain some balance and support for Palestinians and to present the United States as a potential mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“By contrast, Trump was the first U.S. chief executive who gave near-absolute, unconditional support to Israel, handing the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu everything it asked for and then some… Trump moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the disputed capital of Jerusalem, the first major country to do so… As president, Trump also endorsed Israeli control of the Golan Heights, a contested fertile plateau that Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. He did so without concessions from Israel…
“Trump was so popular among right-wing Israelis that Netanyahu used him as he campaigned for reelection, adorning cities across Israel with huge posters of the two men together. [see above photo] A Jewish settlement in the West Bank named itself after Trump.” Trump easily supported Netanyahu’s rejection of a two-state solution. Yet, the West Bank settlements, now an Israeli rightwing cause célèbre, have always been a major barrier to the possibility of an ultimate Israeli/Palestinian peaceful coexistence.
By contrast to Trump’s posture, “The Biden administration took the unusual step Friday [6/14] of blacklisting a group of Israelis implicated in the looting and destruction of lifesaving humanitarian aid destined for Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip after eight months of brutal war… It is only the second time in recent years the U.S. has punished Israeli groups for their violent and sometimes deadly actions against Palestinians… Last year, the State Department announced it was barring U.S. entry to dozens of Jewish settlers who attacked Palestinian villagers in the West Bank, destroyed their properties and attempted to seize their land.” LAT.
Trump simply scoffs at limits to such Jewish settlements, even where Jewish extremists have attacked Palestinian homes and farms, taking such property by force, as Israeli soldiers just stand by and watch. Generally, “Trump has been dismissive of the aspiration of a Palestinian state, although on occasion he has not discounted it completely. He shut down the de facto Palestinian Embassy in Washington and generally refused to meet with Palestinian leaders as president.
“[On the other hand, the] Biden administration has revived long-standing U.S. policy that the Jewish settlements Israel erects in the West Bank are an impediment to peace. Most of the world goes a step further, saying they are illegal. Still, Israel continues to build them, despite protests from the State Department.” LAT But Trump had opened some doors that could have led to a rapprochement between Israel and major Arab states. “To foster closer ties with Saudi Arabia, Trump showed a willingness to overlook the human rights record of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, including the 2018 government-ordered murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“Trump’s crowning achievement was the so-called Abraham Accords, wherein two Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, for the first time recognized Israel and opened diplomatic ties… It was a breakthrough seen as the beginning of a possible new regional diplomatic order. Saudi Arabia did not join the detente but clearly endorsed it, allowing the UAE and Bahrain to act. That left Riyadh as the dangling carrot, which the Biden administration now pursues, and which Trump, if elected, would like to make a priority.” Needless to say, the Gaza war complicated this effort… but this effort gives Trump a diplomatic edge as Biden struggles with his walking that middle lane.
I’m Peter Dekom, and it seems that the divisiveness among Democratic voters over Israel’s massive overkill in Gaza could actually determine a Trump victory and thus an end to American democracy.
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