Jewish writer: A quarter of American Jews consider Israel an apartheid state

A recent opinion poll showed that a quarter of American Jews consider Israel an "apartheid state", and therefore the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is no longer part of the main issues in the United States, but whenever there is an armed conflict between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), there is a mobilization in favor of Israel, unless The remarkable phenomenon is that criticism of Israel is now more visible.

The above paragraph largely summarizes the dialogue that the French website Orient XXI had with Peter Beinart, director of the progressive Jewish magazine Jewish Currents, about the evolution of American and Jewish views of Israel in the United States.

The dialogue stemmed from the announcement of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) - the official pro-Israel lobby in the United States - on March 15, 2022, about the list of recipients of its financial support for the midterm congressional elections next November.

The site indicated that among the winners of this support are 40 Republican candidates who are the most extremist politicians who are still unable to elect Democrat Joe Biden for the presidency, and refuse to distance themselves from the rioters from supporters of former President Donald Trump who seized the Capitol on January 6, 2021. To prevent the inauguration of a new president.

The announcement of support for the aforementioned candidates sparked outrage in the United States, even within the Jewish community.

Richard Haass - a former US diplomat and president of the Council on Foreign Relations specializing in international issues - said that AIPAC's support for American politicians who "undermine democracy" represented a "moral bankruptcy" for the lobby, as described by Abby Foxman - who is the president of the Anti-Defamation League, the largest organization Fighting anti-Semitism in America - AIPAC is "making a sad mistake", and the lobby responded that "now is not the time for the pro-Israel movement to choose among its friends."

Richard Haass: AIPAC's support for politicians who "undermine democracy" in America is a "moral bankruptcy" of the lobby

AIPAC dealt with both parties

In the beginning of his remarks, Beinart mentioned that the United States is a young democracy, and it still carries many social norms from its past, although it has become less white due to immigration laws that allowed the settlement of a large number of non-Europeans, which led to Barack Obama's victory in 2008, but The reaction generated by this process is that if democracy is going to lead to the loss of white supremacy, we don't want it, which led to the election of Donald Trump.

For its part, AIPAC has historically - according to Beinart - been working with the aim of maintaining a bipartisan agreement to support Israel, but the current prevailing climate in the United States has resulted in the Republicans' explicit adherence to the Israeli extreme right, while Democrats officially criticize Israel's settlement policy, and this led to AIPAC's decision Supporter of the camp loyal to the rioters on January 6, 2021 as a result of the growing dispute between the two camps.

Beinart says that part of the Americans lived the moment of Biden's victory officially as a "revolution" even though it was nothing but the election of a new president, while angry Republican Party supporters were convinced that the elections had been stolen from them, and this is why AIPAC's decision to support elected officials who reject the result is important. 2020 presidential election and they refuse to separate themselves from the troubled Trump supporters.

He added that this indicates that AIPAC's dealings with the two parties has ended, and it is now allying with the camp that supports Israel under all circumstances, and does not care about the fact that this camp is leading the battle against democracy in the United States.

American Jews, not American Jews

Beinart says that in this context there is an increasing polarization within American Jews after there was a large "centrist" camp in the Jewish community consisting of Jews belonging to two synagogues, one "reform" and the other "conservative", which do not strictly follow the religious rules of Judaism, and engage in Most of them are American Jews.

He pointed out that the non-religious American Jews are left-wing, and their camp is moving more and more away from Israel, as progressive Jewish youth define themselves as American Jews and not American Jews, unlike the previous generation, and therefore their American identity is stronger than their Jewish identity, not because they hate Israel, but because Israel is not their primary concern, although among them there are still those who clearly know that they are Jews but are among the most vocal critics of Israel.

We have to cross the checkpoint

Beinart warned that among the readers of the magazine "Jewish Currents", which he supervises, there are Jews who have assimilated into the radical left in the broad sense associated with the struggle in favor of blacks, immigrants and the Palestinians, and among them is the "J-Street" movement, which represents those who say "we" Good Jews who want to save Israel from itself."

He considered that this movement that is rising today no longer intends to express itself in the name of "Jewish values", but in the name of universal values ​​and the struggle against racism and colonialism.

Beinart explained that AIPAC has invested heavily in finding allies for Israel among black Americans and achieved some success, but the blacks who visited Israel and went to the occupied territories lived directly the experience of the Palestinians under the occupation. Years ago, elected black Americans who were on a visit to Israel were transferred to one of the checkpoints They were so shocked that they began singing "We'll Cross the Checkpoint" together, which became the most popular American protest song.

Ultra-Orthodox and Evangelical Alliance

Although Beinart believes that the right-wing Republicans have a good chance of winning the midterm elections next November, he does not hide his relative optimism, because the long-term is not in the interest of the right because of the demographic development that is not in the interest of whites or in the interests of the Jewish community in the states A recent opinion poll showed that a quarter of American Jews consider Israel an "apartheid state."

He cautioned that the gravity of events in the Middle East, which made newspaper headlines and the spread of pictures of Israeli forces bombing civilian buildings in Gaza, would deepen the division within the Democrats, noting that the recent war on Gaza forced a permanent supporter of Israel, such as Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, to distance himself from the Israeli bombing.

It seems that the Republicans in their unconditional support for Israel - as Beinart says - are more honest than the Democrats, and therefore AIPAC is no longer dependent on a policy of "bipartisan" support for Israel, which means that many elected Democrats will express completely different opinions than they express today if they feel Changing their attitude toward Israel will not cost them politically, as is increasingly true of some leaders of the American Jewish community.

The director of the Jewish magazine concluded that the main pro-Israel voices today are conservative, pointing to a clear development in the major American media outlets, such as MSNBC, The New York Times and Washington Post. (The Washington Post) and Slate, in which the Palestinians are now presented more appropriately.