Mike Whitney – The Unz Review March 20, 2024

Why did Chuck Schumer call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an “obstacle to peace” and demand new elections in Israel just weeks before an IDF ground offensive in Rafah?

Hasn’t Schumer opposed a ceasefire in Gaza from the beginning? Hasn’t Schumer criticized pro-Palestinian activists and their public protests? Hasn’t Schumer been a champion of the Jewish state for more than three decades in office?

Yes, yes and yes. So, why would he suddenly do an about-face and blast Israel’s leader at the same time the IDF is conducting a major military operation in Gaza? Here’s an excerpt from Schumer’s speech:

It is precisely out of this long-standing connection to, and concern for, the State of Israel and its people that I speak today about what I view are the most pressing existential threats to Israel’s long-term peace and prosperity.

After five months of suffering on both sides of this conflict, our thinking must turn — urgently — I believe that to achieve that lasting peace — which we so long for — Israel must make some significant course corrections…..

If Israel were to not only maintain the status quo, but go beyond that and tighten its control over Gaza and the West Bank, as some in the current Netanyahu administration have suggested — in effect creating a de facto single state — then what reasonable expectation can we have that Hamas and their allies will lay down their arms? It would mean constant war.

On top of that, Israel moving closer to a single state entirely under its control would further rupture its relationship with the rest of the world, including the United States. Support for Israel has declined worldwide in the last few months, and this trend will only get worse if the Israeli government continues to follow its current path…. Full text of Senator Chuck Schumer’s speech: ‘Israeli elections are the only way’, Times of Israel

Repeat: “Israel must make significant course corrections”?

So, Schumer is not only calling for new leadership, he’s also demanding that Israel abandon its current strategy?

That’s shocking, but can we trust what Schumer is saying? Does he really regard “the creation of a de facto single state” as an “existential threat” to Israel or is he using it as an excuse to conceal his real intentions?

Journalists at Politico—Hailey Fuchs and Elena Schneider—think Schumer is hiding something. They think his views are shaped by his politics which are preventing him from being completely honest. Here’s how they summed it up in a recent article:

[AIPAC] recognizes that Schumer has a left flank problem just like the Israel lobby has a left flank problem,” said one Democratic consultant who works with major Jewish donors, granted anonymity to discuss the issue candidly. “You stick with the guy who’s always been with you, but you also let him have the breathing room to say what he needs to say if it helps him with his left flank.”….

AIPAC is also sophisticated enough to know that its relationships with Democratic leadership depends on whether those leaders can maintain the support of voters, said one former Democratic Senate aide who has worked with AIPAC. Schumer’s relationship with AIPAC has always been “strong, resolute, frank and open,” the person added. Schumer’s Israel rebuke leaves AIPAC in a delicate position, Politico

This analysis is partly true but misses the larger point. Yes, Schumer does have to pander to a Democratic base that is sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, but there’s more to it than that. Schumer thinks that Netanyahu is dangerously off-track and that his arrogant, go-it-alone attitude is intensifying Israel’s global isolation while angering its biggest ally, the United States. As he puts it:

Israel moving closer to a single state entirely under its control would further rupture its relationship with the rest of the world, including the United States.

The idea that Israel can simply thumb its nose at the Biden administration and go charging into Rafah “guns blazing” is a grave miscalculation that is putting enormous strain on US-Israel relations and is bound to undermine Israel’s prospects for the future. That’s why Schumer decided it was time to roll out the heavy artillery and send Bibi a message he’d understand. And the message was accompanied by a blunt directive from the White House to send a senior-level delegation of “military, intelligence and policy officials to Washington to hear U.S. concerns and lay out an alternative approach that will not include a major ground invasion.”

Does that sound like “the tail wagging the dog” to you?

No, me neither. What it sounds like is that Biden and Co. are fed up with Netanyahu’s antics and have decided to reel him in a bit. Bottom line: Netanyahu does not have a green light to implement his plan to send ground troops into Rafah. Not yet at least. He needs to discuss the matter with Biden and reach a mutual agreement to go forward or abandon the plan altogether. What Schumer’s speech indicates, is that relations between Bibi and Washington have deteriorated to such an extent that the Israeli leadership must be taken by the lapels and shaken out of their stupor so they see how bad things really are. Schumer’s presentation was just the first of many ‘wake-up calls’. Here’s more:

As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me:

The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7. The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.

Nobody expects Prime Minister Netanyahu to do the things that must be done to break the cycle of violence, preserve Israel’s credibility on the world stage, and work towards a two-state solution..…

At this critical juncture, I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel, at a time when so many Israelis have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government.

I also believe a majority of the Israeli public will recognize the need for change, and I believe that holding a new election once the war starts to wind down would give Israelis an opportunity to express their vision for the post-war future.

Of course, the United States cannot dictate the outcome of an election, nor should we try. That is for the Israeli public to decide — a public that I believe understands better than anybody that Israel cannot hope to succeed as a pariah opposed by the rest of the world….

If Prime Minister Netanyahu’s current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down, and continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing US standards for assistance, then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course. Full text of Senator Chuck Schumer’s speech: ‘Israeli elections are the only way’, Times of Israel

This is extraordinary. Schumer is threatening Netanyahu point-blank with political retaliation if he doesn’t step-in-line and align Israel’s policies with US interests. If any other US senator blurted out a comment like this they’d be looking for job by the end of the day. It just goes to show how trusted Schumer is among the powerful Jewish organizations in the US. Here’s more:

The United States’ bond with Israel is unbreakable, but if extremists continue to unduly influence Israeli policy, then the Administration should use the tools at its disposal to make sure our support for Israel is aligned with our broader goal of achieving long-term peace and stability in the region. Full text of Senator Chuck Schumer’s speech: ‘Israeli elections are the only way’, Times of Israel

Schumer’s comments go way-beyond a mere slap on the wrist. This is an ominous but straightforward warning to the fanatics in the Netanyahu government that they’d better get their act together pronto and take steps to align their policies with those of the United States or there are going to be dire consequences.

Surprisingly, the one pundit that seems to understand what Schumer’s speech was really all about is New York Times columnist Tom Friedman who summed it up like this:

What has gone so haywire in the U.S.-Netanyahu relationship that it would drive someone as sincerely devoted to Israel’s well-being as Chuck Schumer to call on Israelis to replace Netanyahu — and have his speech, which was smart and sensitive, praised by President Biden himself as a “good speech” outlining concerns shared by “many Americans”?

Israelis and friends of Israel ignore that basic question at their peril. What Schumer and Biden Got Right About Netanyahu, New York Times

Friedman is right. Relations between Israel and the US have gotten so bad that it takes a die-hard loyalist like Schumer put Bibi on notice that he’s on thin ice. And the reason he’s on thin ice is because his bloody rampage in Gaza has run roughshod over Washington’s broader regional strategy which involves the economic integration of critical nations from India to Israel. Here’s more from Friedman:

Why has Netanyahu become such a problem for the U.S. and Biden geopolitically and politically?

The short answer is that America’s entire Middle East strategy right now — and, I would argue, Israel’s long-term interests — depends on Israel partnering with the non-Hamas Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah, in the West Bank, on the long-term development needs of Palestinians and, ultimately, on a two-state solution. And Netanyahu has expressly ruled that out, along with any other fully formed plan for the morning after in Gaza…

Hamas’s attack was designed to halt Israel from becoming more embedded than ever in the Arab world thanks to the Abraham Accords and the budding normalization process with Saudi Arabia. Consequently, Israel’s response had to be designed to preserve those vital new relationships. That could be possible only if Israel was fighting Hamas in Gaza with one hand and actively pursuing two states with the other.

This war had a major regional component. Israel very quickly found itself fighting Hamas in Gaza and Iran’s proxies in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq. The only way Israel could build a regional alliance — and enable President Biden to help line up regional allies — was if Israel was simultaneously pursuing a peace process with non-Hamas Palestinians. That is the necessary cement for a regional alliance against Iran. Without that cement, Biden’s grand strategy of building an alliance against Iran and Russia (and China) stretching from India through the Arabian Peninsula across North Africa and up to the European Union/NATO is stymied. No one wants to sign up to protect an Israel whose government is dominated by extremists who want to permanently occupy both the West Bank and Gaza….

If Israel fights a war in Gaza with many civilian casualties — but offers no political hope for a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians — over time it obscures people’s memories of the horrors of Oct. 7 and their support for Israel in its wake. That makes it increasingly difficult for even the most pro-Israel American figures — like Schumer — to continue to back the war in the face of the enormous international and domestic costs.”

For all of these reasons, and I cannot say this loudly enough, Israel has an overriding interest in pursuing a two-state horizon. What Schumer and Biden Got Right About Netanyahu, New York Times

Perfectly summarized.

The media fails to report on the critical events that took place before the October 7 attacks that revealed Washington’s regional strategy. As it happens, the Biden team had been developing an expansive plan aimed at countering China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Check out this excerpt from an article at the Times of Israel:

US President Joe Biden and his allies on Saturday announced plans to build a rail and shipping corridor linking India with the Middle East and Europe, an ambitious project aimed at fostering economic growth and political cooperation.

“This is a big deal,” said Biden. “This is a really big deal.”

The corridor would help to boost trade, transport energy resources and improve digital connectivity. It would include India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Israel and the European Union, said Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser.

Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the project during the annual Group of 20 summit of the world’s top economies. It is part of an initiative called the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment.

“We think that the project itself is bold and transformative, but the vision behind the project is equally bold and transformative, and we will see it replicated in other parts of the world as well,” Sullivan said….

The rail and shipping corridor would help to physically tie together a vast stretch of the globe, improving digital connectivity and enabling more trade among countries, including with energy products such as hydrogen. Although White House officials did not set a timeline for its completion, the corridor would provide a physical and ideological alternative to China’s own nation-spanning infrastructure program. Biden unveils US-backed transport corridor to link India to EU via Mideast, Israel, Times of Israel

There it is in a nutshell: A “bold and transformative” infrastructure project extending from India to Israel creating a high-speed transport corridor for energy, retail goods and natural resources. This is how Washington wants to slow China’s meteoric growth and preserve its grip on global power into the next century. There’s only one drawback: Netanyahu’s killing-spree in Gaza has put the kibosh on the entire plan.

Schumer knows all of this. He also knows that that if Israeli policy continues to conflict with US vital interests, there’s going to be an acrimonious divorce that will result in Israel losing its greatest ally and benefactor. That’s why he wants to dump Bibi and replace him with someone who will work collaboratively and cooperatively with the US. It’s not a question of patriotism, it’s a matter of survival…. Israel’s survival.

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