Principles for the American Center-Left on Israel
There are things maybe we can mostly start to agree on
As I continue to experiment with this substack, I’m going to end up with some combination of broad reflections, immediate news analysis, and some Middle East wonkery. Today’s piece is very much in the “broad reflection” category. It builds on my first post about the debate on Israel, which concludes that
What is necessary today is a concerted effort to rebuild a unified vision on the American center-left that can bridge the growing gap between American Jews and their traditional political allies.
Here are some initial thoughts/principles based on today’s moment on what that consensus can look like.
Disclaimer: You probably won’t like some of this. The more I read it, the more convinced I am that there are things in here that will make different people on all sides mad. You don’t have to agree with everything and probably won’t. I’m still working though this myself, and I’m sure there are many improvements that can be made. But I hope the responses can be in the form of constructive dialogue.
Israel has a right and necessity to exist as a secure, Jewish and democratic state. Judaism is a religion, but given hundreds of years of antisemitism and exclusion of Jews in other nations where they lived, culminating with the holocaust, it also became a national and ethnic identity. The global surge of antisemitism over the past few years is another reminder of why Jews need a homeland of their own. Even if one disagrees with the way the State of Israel was founded or the displacement of Palestinians in 1948 and 1967, the reality of today is that more than 7 million Jews live in Israel making up 70% of the population. Displacing them is neither realistic or would be an act of ethnic cleansing.
Palestinians have rights to freedom, security, and prosperity. At the same time we can acknowledge that Palestinians, who make up half of the population between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea deserve their own rights. Many of them were displaced in 1948 and 1967 - some fled of their own accord and some were forcefully displaced by Israel and poorly treated by the Arab States. In my view, the only realistic solution for Palestinians to achieve these rights and Israel to be Jewish, democratic and secure is a two-state solution. But we are so far away from that right now, that the emphasis needs to be on what more can be done to get Palestinians their rights today including pushing back on the measures being undertaken primarily by the Israeli government including expansion of settlements, threats of annexation, violence by extremists that goes unpunished. It also means pushing for reform for a corrupt, authoritarian Palestinian Authority, which has failed its people.
The October 7th attacks were a horrific atrocity committed by Hamas and the hostages should be released now. 1,100 Israeli civilians including many women and children as well as 300 IDF soldiers were murdered in an attack that triggered the war in Gaza. There is simply no justification for this. One can express sympathy for the Palestinian cause and the suffering they have faced over generations. But none of that begins to justify or legitimize what happened on October 7th.
Palestinian civilian suffering in Gaza is horrific and must end. More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza including thousands of innocent Palestinian women, children and men and Hamas operatives. This is different than October 7th in that the attacks weren’t designed to target civilians. However, at the same time the consequences and scale of civilian suffering has been tremendous. Hamas is certainly responsible for triggering the war and fighting in such a way that exposed civilians. However, Israel also bears a great deal of responsibility through a combination of incompetence/bureaucracy/carelessness by some and intentionality/maliciousness by others. And we can also say these things while recognizing that the U.S. military has its own history of causing civilian casualties. Ultimately, the most important thing right now is to agree that the war needs to end, the ceasefire needs to hold, and everything possible needs to be done to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and his far right government are a threat to Israeli democracy, Palestinian rights, and the U.S.-Israel relationship. Netanyahu is beholden to the far right elements of his government who he helped bring in and legitimize. They support extremist policies such as the displacement of the civilians population in Gaza and violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Netanyahu himself has pursued a systematic attack against Israeli democratic institutions - especially the judiciary - and has inserted partisanship into the U.S.-Israel relationship by clearly allying himself with Republicans and Donald Trump. Supporting Israel does not mean supporting Netanyahu just as supporting the United States does not mean supporting Trump.
Israel is a valuable ally of the United States. Israel is a militarily reliable strategic partner in the MIddle East that has done important things that are in the interest of the United States whether it be setting back Hezbollah’s military capabilities, destroying Bashar al Assad’s nuclear program, or simply being a reliable partner in an unstable and unpredictable region. Israel has been a technological leader especially in biotechnology and the environment, and the U.S.-Israel relationship has been economically beneficial for both. And The Israeli people (though not this government) also share common democratic values with the American people (though this government either).
There has been a major surge in Antisemitism in the United States since October 7th, and it cannot be tolerated. On the left we have instances, especially on college campuses, of students being physically attacked or isolated and shunned from progressive spheres because they are Jewish and blamed for the actions of the Israeli government. On the right, Donald Trump has implicitly and explicitly given a free hand to right wing antisemites. All of these instances on both sides need to be called out and countered.
Criticism of Israel is not in and of itself inherently Antisemitic and we must protect free speech. People have a right to protest some of the deeply problematic actions of this Israeli government and in fact millions of Israelis have protested the actions of their government over the past two years.
Anyway, as I said. This is a first draft. Far from perfect, but hopefully some food for thought.
I agree with everything you've said. It's all common sense and humanitarian.
Pretty much agree with everything you have said. Good luck though - when you make these points in sm commentary, you get a barrage of abuse from both sides telling you how you’re wrong. Chomsky said it best - the loss of rational discourse is an existential threat to western society.