Ties between US, 'pariah' Israel at 'tipping point' -- Emanuel

Rahm Emanuel: Pro-Israel Democrat can win White House in 2028 but only if ‘status quo’ changes

In speech at Tel Aviv University, veteran politician calls for ending ‘American taxpayer’s subsidy of Israel’s defense budget,’ says declining support for Jewish state not confined to Democrats

JTA — Democrats can win the White House in 2028 without cutting off Israel, but only if the “status quo” rules of the alliance between the two countries change, veteran politician Rahm Emanuel said at Tel Aviv University Wednesday.

Emanuel made the comments in response to a question from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. He stressed that the “status quo” in which “you can’t say anything negative and there is an implicit endorsement” of Israel is unacceptable.

Emanuel, most recently the US ambassador to Japan, is considering a presidential run in 2028. He is a former US congressman from Illinois as well as a former Chicago Mayor who served as White House Chief of Staff under president Barack Obama.

His trip has garnered media attention given that his ideas on Israel could signal the direction of his party on the issue, particularly as they come from a Jewish politician with close ties to the country. Emanuel once volunteered as a civilian with the Israeli army and his father was an Israeli citizen.

At a time when support for the Jewish state is increasingly unpopular at the ballot box, Emanuel delivered a public address highlighting his deep ties to the country and disavowing pro-Palestinian protestors who have called for Israel’s destruction.

He took issue in particular with those among the anti-Israel protesters who supported the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken captive.

“For those that paraded, celebrated and cheered on October 8, what happened on October 7, your moral bankruptcy speaks louder than any words today,” he said in his speech. The line hadn’t appeared in his prepared remarks, which the JTA obtained on Tuesday.

“Those chanting ‘from the river to the sea’ need to hear this loud and clear: they will never have their way,” said Emanuel, who equally condemned Israelis and Jews who are pursuing a vision of Greater Israel, in which a Jewish state rather than a Palestinian state would fill the entire stretch of land.

“Both are fantasies chanted by fanatics,” he said.

Emanuel said he came as a friend to warn Israel that its alliance with the United States is at a “tipping point” due to the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has led the country to a “dead-end” that has turned the Jewish state into a “pariah” nation.

“Israel has failed to convert its military wins into strategic advantages,” Emanuel said in the speech, noting that the country has “lost Europe” and its support in the US is plummeting.

Pushing back at concerns regarding growing opposition to Israel within his Democratic Party, he said Israel had an American problem, not a partisan one.

A Pew Research Center Poll published in April found that 60% of Americans had an unfavorable view of Israel, but its standing was worse among Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents, where 8 out of 10 had negative views about Israel.

A survey released Tuesday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has 44% approval among US Jews, compared with 32% who approve of Netanyahu.

Emanuel highlighted his deep connection to the Jewish state and his family’s sacrifice in bringing about its creation, noting that his uncle, who was a member of the pre-state underground, is buried on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives. His father, Benjamin, was born in Jerusalem in 1927 and fought in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence before immigrating to the United States, where he raised his family in Chicago.

Emanuel recounted Israel’s history of overtures in the name of peace, explaining that he understands Israel’s cynicism regarding any future arrangement with the Palestinians since Israel’s past offers of Palestinian sovereignty in exchange for security were frequently met with violence.

“I understand why, even if you oppose the Netanyahu government, you’re so prone to dismiss criticism from the outside world,” Emanuel said in the speech, arguing that a “corrupt Palestinian leadership has never lived up to the Palestinian people’s legitimate aspirations for sovereignty and self-determination.”

Still, Israel’s future can’t be “held hostage to a past defined exclusively by recriminations,” he said, as he urged Israel to embark on a path that pairs military and diplomatic efforts, rather than relying solely on military prowess.

“Israel will be alone if its leaders choose to attempt to annex the West Bank,” Emanuel said.

“America will not and cannot be complicit or complacent in that endeavor,” he wrote, explaining that it has erred in the past by “blindly and silently” supporting Netanyahu’s government.

He blamed as “our mistake” America’s assumption that “the best thing Washington could do for Jerusalem was to blindly and silently stand behind your government, without conditions, without demands, and without consequences.” That path has led to policies, including Israeli extremists terrorizing West Bank Palestinians and Gazans suffering from a lack of food, that means “Israel has never been so isolated,” a situation that he called “a countdown clock” for the country’s security.

He called for an end to the “American taxpayer’s subsidy of Israel’s defense budget,” maintaining that Israel should buy US arms with the same financial terms and restrictions as every other ally “that abides by our laws.”

Emanuel also laid out a broad-based two-state solution, though he did not spell out prescriptions for divisive issues such as the future of Jerusalem or using the pre-1967 lines for determining the borders of a Palestinian state.

Emanuel did not mention the US-based political advocacy group J Street in his speech, but he picked up on the 23-state policy idea that J Street put forward last year, involving 21 Arab states, alongside Israeli and Palestinian ones, that would include recognition of Israel by the Arab League.

A centrist Jewish Democrat embracing a policy promulgated by J Street, a group founded in 2008 to counter the influence of what was then the mainstream pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, illustrates the degree to which the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and its credo of creating a bipartisan consensus of support for Israel has eroded.

The regional integration he is promoting, Emanuel said, would allow for Israel and the larger Middle East to become a technological and transit hub for trade between Europe and India.

To achieve this regional peace, Emanuel continued, the Arab states would have to support a Palestinian governing entity that would accept the historic Jewish connection to Israel, stop teaching its children to hate Israel and end the “heinous practice” of financially rewarding terrorists who kill Jews.

Israel, he said, would have to halt unilateral actions in the West Bank, stop nurturing harmful organizations and support “real partners in pursuit of peace.”

This scenario rests on a three-part US policy in the region that would leverage the Arab world’s desire for stability, Israel’s need for security and Palestinian demands for sovereignty, Emanuel said.

“The political benefits for all parties would be far greater than a two-state solution could ever offer. But to get there, everyone would need to make good on their piece of the bargain,” he said.

Netanyahu, he added, “cannot fight indefinitely against a world that has stopped believing you have the right to fight. You must instead find a new sustainable path to peace, security and prosperity.”

Alternatively, he said, the United States would stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with Israel as it pursued peace and security.