Chicagoland Pro-Israel Political Update
A newsletter for people willing to think for themselves
October 14, 2018
A wave of staunchly pro-Israel Democratic candidates are running for Congress for the first time this November. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) explains what to expect if the Democrats regain control of Congress. (Hint: it's good.)
Nikki Haley announced that she will step down as ambassador to the U.N. What she did that was good was not new, and what she did that was new was not good.
The University of Michigan disciplined one of the professors who denied a letter of recommendation to a student seeking to study in Israel and dealt with the controversy over a campus speaker who compared Netanyahu to Hitler.
Tom Nichols is the latest prominent conservative to leave the Republican Party.
Plus Leonard Cohen's newly published poem, Kanye West is Not Picasso
, and the funniest and most upbeat campaign ad of the season.
It's not too late to RSVP for Abby Finkenauer tonight in Highland Park. We just found out that Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) will be joining us. Abby is part of the wave of pro-Israel Democrats running for the first time this cycle. Don't miss the NSS Beth El candidate forums this morning and next Sunday morning in Highland Park. Details on these events are beneath the Video Clip of the Week.
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Friends,
Let's start with some good news. Pro-Israel legislation continue to pass in Congress with overwhelming bipartisan majorities. I've met with or hosted events for several Democrats who will enter Congress firmly supporting a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, including Lauren Bauer (FL), Mikie Sherrill (NJ), Dan Kohl (WI), Ken Harbaugh (OH), Sean Casten (IL), Betsy Dirksen Londrigan (IL), and Abby Finkenauer (IA).
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) said last week that Democrats are committed to protecting our partnership with Israel." Thanks to these and so many other Democratic candidates on the ballot this November, we can rest assured that strong support for Israel will continue when Democrats retake Congress. If you've been told anything to the contrary, you owe it to yourself to read Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA)
Executive Director Halie Soifer's take.
And what about our other issues?
Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) explains what Democratic control of Congress would mean for the country.
Nikki Haley announced that she will step down as ambassador to the U.N. Haley deserves credit for fighting, as she phrased it, the "anti-Israel crap" and for championing the first Security Council statement supporting Israel against terrorism in seven years. Oops! My bad. That was President Obama's first ambassador to the U.N.,
Susan Rice.
But Haley certainly will be remembered for telling the U.N., in person, that "the simple truth is that for as long as Israel has been a member of this institution, Israel has been treated differently from other nations at the United Nations...such unequal treatment not only hurts Israel, it undermines the legitimacy of the United Nations itself...For those states that are quick to promote resolutions condemning Israel, but refuse to recognize when innocent Israelis are the victims of terrorism – what steps will you take to stop treating Israel differently? For those states that passionately denounce the closures of crossings in Gaza as exacerbating the humanitarian situation, but saying nothing of the resources diverted from helping Gaza’s residents to dig tunnels into Israeli territory so that terrorists can attack Israelis in their homes – what will you do to end the double-standard that undermines the legitimacy of this institution?" Oops! My bad again! That was President Obama's second ambassador to the U.N.,
Samantha Power
.
Haley was one of the few members of Trump's administration who could speak cogently and in complete sentences, so she seemed relatively articulate, but the praise lavished on her by the right-wing of the pro-Israel community reveals an astonishing ignorance of support for Israel by previous administrations. As
Ben Rhodes
tweeted, "Samantha Power led efforts at the UN to stamp out Ebola, fight climate change, free political prisoners, and settle refugees. What did Haley do other than isolate the U.S., undermine collective action, and make strongly worded statements about Iran?"
The University of Michigan disciplined one of the professors who denied a letter of recommendation to a student seeking to study in Israel. The
ADL noted that while academic freedom includes the right to criticize Israel, "it should not be at the
expense of students seeking to broaden their academic experiences."
The goal of BDS is not two states for two peoples, but the replacement of a Jewish state of Israel with one binational state, thus eliminating the Jewish state. That's why support for BDS Movement is anti-Israel and why we should not support any politician who does not oppose the BDS Movement (one can argue whether the BDS Movement is per se anti-Semitic, but there is no question that it is rife with anti-Semitism).
What makes the action of these pro-BDS professors even worse, as
Nathan Hersh
tweeted, is that "these professors/instructors are not boycotting Israel, they’re boycotting their students. They’re also betraying academia, which is meant to grow knowledge and foster learning, not inhibit a student’s intellectual exploration for limited—if any—political gain."
To its credit, Michigan
has taken action against one of the professors, and we should urge Michigan to take similar action against the other professor. Michigan also issued a
detailed statement explaining its policies.
Yair Rosenberg explains that Michigan was right to punish the professor and also correctly handled the controversy over a campus speaker who compared Netanyahu to Hitler.
Tom Nichols is leaving the Republican Party.
Nichols has no love for the Democrats. He's still very much a conservative. But
he's leaving
because the "Republican Party, which controls all three branches of government and yet is addicted to whining about its own victimhood, is now the party of situational ethics and moral relativism in the name of winning at all costs."
The fifth in the wildly successful series of events hosted by me and Dana Gordon will feature
Abby Finkenauer (D-IA)
tonight, October 14, in Highland Park. No woman younger than Abby has ever been elected to Congress. Donald Trump asked who Abby was and
Abby told him. Tonight is
your chance to find out. We just found out that Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) will be joining us, so this is an event not to miss.
Abby is
part of of the wave of pro-Israel Democrats running for Congress for this first time in this cycle.
RSVP here or reply to this email. Contributions are not required but will not be declined. Our previous events featured Dan Kohl (WI), Elissa Slotkin (MI), Ken Harbaugh (OH), and Sean Casten (IL).
Meet the candidates and ask your questions at NSS Beth El in Highland Park on Sunday morning October 14 and 21.
Details on these Republican and Democratic candidate town halls
are here.
The Fine Print (in regular type)
: This newsletter usually runs on Sunday mornings. Unless stated otherwise, my views do not necessarily reflect the views of any candidates or organizations that I support or am associated with. My views might not even be my views tomorrow; I reserve the right to change my mind as I learn more, and sometimes I make myself mad too. Intelligent, well-informed people may disagree with me; seek out opposing views and decide for yourself. When I link to an article, it doesn't mean that I agree with everything its author has ever said or that I even agree with everything in the article; it means that the article supports or elaborates on the point I was making. Advertisements reflect the views of the advertisers, not necessarily of me, and advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their advertisements. I read, value, and encourage replies to my newsletters, but I don't always have time to acknowledge replies or to engage in one-on-one discussion. Don't expect a reply if your message is uncivil or if it's clear from your message that you haven't read the newsletter or clicked on the relevant links.