What does it even mean to be "pro-America" or "pro-Israel" these days? Here's a very simple answer. It's about two dates. That's all.
It's this simple: If a candidate denies the catastrophic consequences of January 6 or October 7 or the leader's responsibility for it - do not support that candidate.
So now it looks like the Israeli elections might be advanced to September, in order to stage them before the anniversary of October 7. It seems the Kahanist Israeli government believes that if the people are not reminded of that catastrophe, they’ll somehow forget to vote out those who were responsible for it - the ones who still refuse to take ownership.
Good luck with that!1
Meanwhile the crimes perpetrated on January 6 have been expunged from the record in a blizzard of pardons and bogus counter-investigations, as if the coup never happened.
The upcoming elections, in Israel and the US, will all be about the two most infamous dates of the past quarter century, which the governments in power - who also happened to be at the helm when they occurred - want to consign to the dustbin of history: October 7 and January 6.
We cannot allow them - or anyone - to drown out those two dates with so much extraneous noise. And in order to do that, we need to keep things simple. The most important thing is for us not to add to that noise and to deny the autocrats the chance to spin about like Tasmanian devils and send us all into a dizzying, mass dissociative amnesia.
There are many other issues that matter, of course, ranging from immigration to inflation in the US, to the many conflicts Israel is embroiled in, in Iran, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza. But at their core, both elections will be about 1/6 and 10/7 and all that they imply. They will be about how both governments failed to protect their own people, their innocent neighbors and democracy itself.
As Miranda Priestly would say, “That’s all.”
As I explained in my recent “No Kings” speech:
Let me repeat. Nothing else matters.
“No Kings” must be the biggest of big tents, because democracy needs the biggest of big wins this fall, in America and in Israel. Anything that could potentially fracture the unity of this massive, growing movement to unseat the existential threat of Christian White Supremacist Trumpism here and Jewish Supremacist Kahanism in Israel must be handled with extreme sensitivity and care. It doesn’t mean other issues can’t be addressed, just not in a manner that will jeopardize the coalition - and perhaps not right now.
I know that in the context of a war that has taken center stage (as a deliberate distraction), with antisemitism raging and Jim Crow returning with a vengeance, some energy will need to be spent putting out those and other fires.
But we cannot afford division right now.
American Jews who love Israel need to feel comfortable as Zionists while at the same time finding the courage to slide away from an instinctive, knee-jerk allegiance to the government in power. We have to be able to criticize Israel without having to accept a narrative that demonizes the legitimacy of Jewish national self-realization, recognizing that a democratic Jewish state is very much a work-in-progress.
The left is not allowing us to do that, filling the air with such vitriol that can only help our Great Divider. Demonization lurks around every corner, in the guise of slanted opinion pieces2 aggressive marches and relentless verbal attacks, online and on the streets. I face relentless attack on social media - from both sides - and it’s not helping, that is, if the goal is to actually address the problem. Personally, I can certainly handle it (I gladly address anyone seeking real dialogue and summarily block the arsonists). And I get it, especially given the destruction the Bibi-Trump partnership has wrought. The war and all. But on what planet does it help the progressive cause to make Jews feel unsafe in their own synagogues or campuses?
And AIPAC and other apologists for the Israeli far-right are doing democracy no favors either, in their opposition to perfectly moderate candidates who support Israel but have an issue with its current leadership3 and in their support for Jan. 6 deniers, which is, in my mind, a disqualifier, for both the candidate and the organization.
At the most recent “No Kings” rally that I attended, there was just one “Free Palestine” sign, among the hundreds of banners. A little free speech was a small price to pay to have a bigger tent. And no one was offended that I got up there representing the mainstream Jewish community. On the contrary, people craved it. Dozens of people came up to me afterwards to thank me.
There should be a rabbi speaking at all these rallies.
Jews who love Israel need to call out its excesses where needed - and yet, in exchange, our progressive and centrist allies in the “No Kings” movement need to understand the need not to “pile on,” for in doing so they risk unleashing an animus that often runs far deeper and goes back much further than simply responding to current events. And they need to understand that we are important allies, and that pro-Israel Jews have no need to prove our bonafides to anyone.
It is very easy to be both pro-Israel and pro-America, even at a time when both governments have hijacked democracy and are holding it hostage. All we have to do is unite in patriotic opposition to those governments, while embracing the best that the two countries have to offer.
And we need to campaign like hell in advance of the fall.
We need to ignore the noise, at least for now. Hold your nose if candidates aren’t perfect, as long as they have some integrity and will not undermine democracy. And fight off the amnesia!
There can be no litmus tests. Except these:
If a candidate denies the catastrophic significance of January 6 and October 7, do not support that candidate.
If that candidate denies the responsibility of those who were in power on January 6 or October 7, don’t give them the time of day, no matter what else they support.
Those two horrible days will live on in infamy. Their memory should never be allowed to die. If we just remember that, everything else will fall into place.
That’s all.
How could this election not be about October 7?
See for example Hen Mazzig’s response to the New York Times’ op-ed piece alleging systematic rape of Palestinians (including by trained dogs, a neat trick), that appeared on the day of a report detailed sex crimes done to Israelis on October 7. He doesn’t deny that crimes occurred but asks questions worth asking in terms of the coverage.
See below a summary of Steve Sheffey’s critique of AIPAC. You can read Sheffey’s full essay here.
