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Blinken: US will judge Israeli government on its policies, not its politicians
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration will base its relationship to Israel’s incoming government on the actions it takes, not the people installed in positions of power, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a speech Sunday.
Blinken’s speech, to the conference of the liberal Jewish Middle East policy group J Street, was notable because it offered the first official response to deepening questions about how the White House would work with a Israeli government that includes far-right parties. Until now, sources close to the administration had suggested that the White House could decline to meet with those parties’ leaders.
Blinken said the Biden administration would “continue to unequivocally oppose any acts that undermine the prospects of a two-state solution, including, but not limited to, settlement expansion; moves toward annexation of the West Bank; disruption to the historic status quo at holy sites; demolitions and evictions; and incitement to violence.”
The speech drew criticism from some J Street followers for stopping short of dealing firmly with an incoming Israeli government that they feel is taking aim at some of Israel’s core democratic principles.
“I had zero expectations for Blinken’s speech. And he couldn’t even meet those,” said Richard Goldwasser, a former J Street board member from Chicago, on Twitter. “Pablum on Xanax.”
The theme of J Street’s conference this year was battling anti-democratic forces in Israel and in the United States. Jeremy Ben-Ami, in his opening speech Saturday night, unveiled the group’s new motto, “Pro Israel, pro-peace, pro democracy”; the “pro-democracy” element was new. Ben-Ami drew a contrast with J Street’s main rival, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
AIPAC drew liberal Jewish criticism after its launch last year of political action committees that back an array of candidates, ranging from progressive to far right. It has also declined to comment on the likely inclusion in Netanyahu’s government of far right extremists, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, a disciple of the late racist rabbi Meir Kahane.
“So rather than focusing on defeating the white nationalists and the election deniers, with whom most of Jewish America has nothing in common, they instead are spending tens of millions of dollars to defeat liberal and progressive candidates who may or may not have once in their lives uttered a critical word about Israeli policy,” Ben-Ami said. “Organizations that failed to call out the Ben-Gvirs and the [Bezalel] Smotriches of Israel while endorsing the Jim Jordans, the Andy Biggs, the Scott Perrys here in the U.S. do not speak for us.”
Perry of Pennsylvania, Biggs of Arizona and Jordan of Ohio have all to varying degrees endorsed the election lies by President Donald Trump that spurred the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
J Street’s conference was focused on democracy in the United States at times to the exclusion of the issue that founded the organization in 2008, Israeli-Palestinian peace. In a 30-minute keynote speech Saturday night, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Jewish Democratic congressman from Maryland known for his constitutional expertise, barely mentioned Israel.
“I know that you know what it means to be pro-Israel and pro-peace,” Raskin said. “And I want to just discuss for my time with you tonight what it means to be a pro-democracy American in 2022 in a rather frightful world where so many people have turned to propaganda and conspiracy theory and disinformation and fanaticism and authoritarianism.” He was interrupted multiple times by applause.
AIPAC mocked J Street for its absence of conventional pro-Israel content. “Not a word of praise for Israel,” the organization said in a tweet attached to a photo of Ben-Ami speaking at the conference. “Not a single recognition of Israel’s achievements or value. Not a single embrace of the Israeli people.”
Noa, the Israeli singer-songwriter, also appeared on Saturday night, singing songs that had been penned by Palestinian-Israelis. She likened the relationship of the Jewish Diaspora to Israel to that of a mother to a daughter, saying that mothers need to look out for the children, whatever tensions may arise.
“The Jewish people needs to help the maturing child,” she said, reflecting a theme that it repeated itself throughout the conference: that a voice like J Street was especially needed at a time of crisis in its democracy. “The worst thing we could do is walk away,” said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the director of T’ruah, a rabbinic human rights group.
Blinken did speak about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reflecting the pessimistic mood in the room but saying that he believed progress could still be achieved.
“I know that many people are disillusioned,” he said. “Many people are frustrated. We’ve been trying to get to a two-state solution for decades, and yet it seems that we’ve only gotten further away from that goal. But we cannot afford to give up hope. We cannot succumb to cynicism. We cannot give in to apathy. It’s precisely when times are difficult — when peace seems even further from reach — that we’ve simply got to work harder, that we must continue to pursue whatever openings we can to show that progress is still possible.”
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British PM denounces ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans at upcoming Aston Villa soccer match
The British government is reviewing a decision to bar Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a major soccer match next month over what local police had said were security concerns.
The Aston Villa Football Club announced the ban on Thursday, saying in a statement that the Security Advisory Group responsible for issuing safety certificates for the matches at the team’s Birmingham stadium, Villa Park, had made the decision.
“Following a meeting this afternoon, the SAG have formally written to the club and UEFA to advise no away fans will be permitted to attend Villa Park for this fixture,” the club said, referring to the Union of European Football Associations. “West Midlands Police have advised the SAG that they have public safety concerns outside the stadium bowl and the ability to deal with any potential protests on the night.”
The Villa Park announcement swiftly drew an uproar from a wide array of voices who said the police were abdicating their responsibility.
“This is the wrong decision,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement. “We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”
The local police said their assessment reflected the sweeping violence that unfolded around a Maccabi Tel Aviv-Ajax match in Amsterdam last year, exactly one year before the Nov. 6 match planned for Villa Park. Dutch, Israeli, European and U.S. officials all denounced the Amsterdam violence, which followed rising tensions that included provocations by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, as antisemitic.
Sporting events involving Israeli teams have drawn protests and disruptions during the war in Gaza, which entered a ceasefire last week. Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated against Israel’s participation in a World Cup qualifying match in Norway this week, and earlier this month a Canadian tennis match was played in an empty stadium over concerns about disruptive protests against Israel.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism, a nonprofit, said it would pursue legal action against the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.
“We will do whatever it takes to overturn this pernicious ban which has humiliated and angered the whole country,” it said in a statement. “Britain is increasingly waking up to the extremism in our midst but now we must all fight the instinctive appeasement within the authorities and our law enforcement.”
Now, the prime minister’s office is closely involved in conversations aimed at reversing the ban, which was announced the same day that Starmer announced new funding to protect Jewish communities, allocated in the wake of the deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur.
“We cannot have a country where we have to tell people to stay away from an event because they can’t be protected or they may be a victim of racism,” a spokesperson told the BBC.
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Trump: ‘If Hamas continues to kill people … we will have no choice but to go in and kill them’
(JTA) — President Donald Trump appeared to threaten violence against Hamas in Gaza on Thursday as he responded to reports that Hamas was executing Gazans following the ceasefire with Israel that Trump brokered last week.
“If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday, concluding with a trademark flourish: “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Soon after, he clarified that he did not mean the United States would enter Gaza. “Somebody will go in … It’s not going to be us,” he told reporters, adding, “There are people very nearby that will go in, they’ll do the trick very easily, but under our auspices.”
Trump has previously said he would endorse Israeli operations in Gaza when Hamas did not meet his demands. He had said earlier in the week that he was not bothered by early reports of Hamas violence, saying that the United States had given the group a leash to “stop the problems” in Gaza for a period of time. But as clans within Gaza called out for help, he and other U.S. officials have shifted their tone.
“We strongly urge Hamas to immediately suspend violence and shooting at innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza – in both Hamas-held parts of Gaza and those secured by the IDF behind the Yellow Line,” Brad Cooper, the U.S. Navy admiral who commands operations in the Middle East, said in a statement on Wednesday. “This is an historic opportunity for peace. Hamas should seize it by fully standing down, strictly adhering to President Trump’s 20-point peace plan, and disarming without delay.”
Cooper said the United States remained optimistic that the ceasefire would hold despite the violence.
Thursday was the first day since Hamas was required under the terms of the ceasefire to free all hostages that it did not release any, after releasing all 20 living hostages on Monday and nine deceased hostages over three days. Hamas says it needs heavy machinery to be able to extricate the 19 remaining deceased hostages, but Israel, which says it has intelligence about the locations of many of the bodies, disputes the claim.
The post Trump: ‘If Hamas continues to kill people … we will have no choice but to go in and kill them’ appeared first on The Forward.
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At debate, Cuomo and Mamdani clash over Israel in pitch to Jewish voters
Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo clashed sharply over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Thursday night, in the first televised debate for New York City mayor, their first major showdown since the young democratic socialist stunned the former governor in the Democratic primary. And a Yiddish slang term even made its way into the heated back-and-forth.
Days after the implementation of a ceasefire in Gaza, many of the two candidates’ early exchanges centered on Mamdani’s critiques of Israel, positions that have roiled New York’s Jewish community — the largest outside of Israel. Beginning with the primary, Mamdani has faced scrutiny for refusing to outright condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada,” calling the Gaza war a “genocide,” and pledging to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited the city.
Commenting Thursday on the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Mamdani clarified earlier remarks he made about having no opinion on whether or not Hamas should disarm as part of a post-war deal.
“Of course, I believe that they should lay down their arms,” Mamdani said. But he declined to welcome or credit President Donald Trump’s administration for brokering the ceasefire that ended the fighting and secured the release of the remaining living hostages.
Mamdani also appeared to draw a moral parallel between Hamas’ disarmament and Israel halting strikes on the enclave. “Calling for a ceasefire means ceasing fire,” he said. “That means all parties have to cease fire and put down their weapons.” A real peace, he continued, must address “the conditions that preceded this, conditions like occupation, the siege and apartheid.”
“That means ‘from the river to the sea,’” Cuomo countered, in an effort to suggest that Mamdani’s rhetoric mirrored the popular pro-Palestinian protest slogan that many Jews view as a call for the destruction of Israel. Cuomo also wrongly claimed that Mamdani refused to condemn Hamas. “I have denounced Hamas again and again,” Mamdani said. “It will never be enough for Andrew Cuomo, because what he is willing to say, even though not on this stage, is to call me, the first Muslim on the precipice of leading this city, a terrorist sympathizer.”
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, who took center stage without his signature red beret, was largely ignored by the two leading contenders. That didn’t stop Sliwa, who has his own history of controversial remarks about Jews, from inserting himself into the debate.
“Jews don’t trust that you are going to be there for them when they are victims of antisemitic attacks,” the Republican candidate told Mamdani.
Mamdani’s Jewish appeal
Since his surprise victory in June, Mamdani has redoubled his outreach efforts in the Jewish community, including by celebrating Sukkot with Orthodox leaders.
Still, Mamdani faces hurdles with the Jewish electorate. A recent Quinnipiac poll showed Mamdani trailing Cuomo by 31 points among Jewish voters, while maintaining a double-digit lead citywide. Just 22% of Jewish voters view Mamdani favorably, while 67% hold an unfavorable opinion.
The survey found that a plurality of likely voters share Mamdani’s views on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
At the debate, Mamdani repeated past statements about his commitment to protect Jewish New Yorkers. He also reaffirmed his recognition of Israel — though not as a Jewish state. That seemed to resonate with more liberal and progressive Jews. Mamdani has been endorsed by local Jewish elected officials, including Brad Lander, the city comptroller and Rep. Jerry Nadler, co-chair of the congressional Jewish Caucus. Addressing members of Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn last week, Mamdani said, “I’m going to have people in my administration who are Zionists, whether liberal Zionists, or wherever they may be on that spectrum.”
Ahead of the debate, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue said in a video statement that Mamdani’s long-standing rejection of Zionism is an example of “rigid ideological commitments that delegitimize the Jewish community and encourage and exacerbate hostility towards Judaism and Jews.”
Cuomo’s Yiddish
During Thursday night’s debate, Cuomo also deployed a Yiddish slang term when debating which of the candidates would most effectively stand up to President Donald Trump.
“He can’t stand up to Donald Trump, who’d knock him right on his tuches,” Cuomo said, wagging his finger at Mamdani and using the Yiddish term for behind.
Cuomo once described himself as the “Shabbos goy” of New York’s Jewish community — the same term his father, former Governor Mario Cuomo, once used, referring to a non-Jew who performs certain tasks for Jews on the Sabbath.
The former governor, who is backed by some Orthodox voting blocs, suggested that many of his Jewish supporters view Mamdani as antisemitic. “It’s not about Trump or Republicans,” he told his chief rival. “It’s about you.”
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