At a time when American politics have become “increasingly polarized,” support for Israel remains “a rare and welcome bastion of bipartisanship,” Josh Block, CEO and president of The Israel Project, wrote in an op-ed published last week in The Sun Sentinel. The Israel Project publishes The Tower.
Block observed that “bills and resolutions demonstrating that support – from annual foreign assistance to supplementary support for critical life-saving systems like the Iron Dome missile defense system – regularly pass both houses of Congress by huge margins. Presidents of both parties have demonstrated support for the special relationship between the United States and Israel.” American presidents have, in fact, expressed their support for Israel for decades, and for a Jewish homeland for centuries, Block added.
The reason that elected leaders in the U.S. back Israel, Block explained, is because “it is good policy and good politics, reflecting American interests and values, bolstered by nearly universal support. As poll after poll demonstrates, their constituents – Americans of all backgrounds, all religions, and all walks of life – support Israel.”
Block was responding to an earlier op-ed by Alexander Soros, who argued that because a recent poll showed that most Floridian Jews did not cite Israel as one of their top priorities in choosing a presidential candidate, it made no sense for Democratic contenders to “veer right” on Israel to attract their votes. Block responded that the reason Israel isn’t a top priority for most Floridian Jews during presidential elections is because “there is so little variance in positions on Israel by the major parties.”
The premise of Soros’ argument is “simply silly,” Block continued, asking which Israeli policies would require Americans to reject liberal values in order to maintain their support of Israel.
Is it Israel’s guarantee of equal rights to LGBT communities? No, that can’t be it. How about Israel’s free press, which is notoriously critical of its own government and raucous democracy? Does Israel’s independent judicial system, which is unmatched in the Middle East, and which ensures that within the Jewish state the rule of law remains paramount raise red flags for liberals? Do progressives take issue with equal rights for women, freedom of worship for all religious groups or the fact that Israel’s parliament is open to all, as evidenced by its 17 Arab members? Could it be the fact Israel has set up field hospitals on its borders to treat wounded Syrian refugees bombed and gassed by their Arab brothers? It seems unlikely.
“There is absolutely no discord between liberal values and support for Israel,” Block pointed out. “There is, however, an effort to foment such discord, and that is what is truly dangerous.”
A trove of secret documents leaked last month from the Open Society Foundation (OSF) — a network founded and led by George Soros, Alexander’s father — detailed the organization’s extensive efforts to “fund hateful Palestinian and radical anti-Zionist Israeli groups as part of a broad strategy to fight Israel’s ‘racism’ and ‘influence Congress, reporters and government officials,'” Block wrote. The campaign is “remarkable” in its scope and efforts “to cover its tracks,” Block added.
Block noted that the elder Soros also previously expressed his antipathy towards the Jewish state, saying in an interview, “I don’t deny the Jews their right to a national existence – but I don’t want to be part of it.”
“Jewish voters in Florida – and voters of all backgrounds around the country – don’t base their votes on a candidate’s position on Israel,” Block agreed. “But that’s not because support for Israel isn’t important. It’s because support for Israel is fundamentally important to both Democrats and Republicans. Dark money efforts to undermine it, such as those undertaken by this Soros-funded and Soros-directed effort, are the real threat to our democracy.”
[Photo: The Israel Project / Flickr ]