Witless in Gaza

In Praise of Chuck Schumer

As a politician, Chuck Schumer has always been a profile in caution. How cautious? Let me tell you a story—and I hope the Senator doesn’t mind, because it involves an off-the-record conversation we had a long time ago. It was 1987. Al Gore, running for President, had just admitted he smoked marijuana when he was a student at Harvard. The media were, suddenly, all over it: Every politician was being asked if he or she had partaken. Schumer, then a Congressman, called and asked me how I would handle it. (This is not exactly a newsflash, but I had inhaled.) I said, “There are two possible responses. The first is, ‘Didn’t everybody?’ And the second is, ‘None of your goddamn business.’”

“I’ve got a problem, though,” said Schumer, sheepishly. “I never did.”

Classic Chuck. He had been a law student, intent on a career in politics. He didn’t want to do anything illegal. And that has been Schumer ever since—he rides the middle rail of the Democratic Party honorably, neither left nor right. He is a certain sort of politician: a leadership sort, known for two things—his ability to raise money for other pols and for his ability to negotiate reliably. A Republican Senator from the South once said to me when the sometimes erratic Harry Reid of Nevada was the Democratic Leader, “We can’t wait till Chuck Schumer takes over. We can work with him.” (For younger readers, this was in the ancient days when even conservative Republicans would find ways to work with even liberal Democrats on issues of mutual interest.)

Schumer was known for another thing: his steadfast support for the State of Israel. We had some disagreements about that. I was less steadfast than he. We disagreed on the Iran nuclear deal pursued by President Obama. He—privately—cited sources in the Israeli military, who said it was a bad deal; I—publicly—cited sources in Mossad who were in favor of it.

So, Chuck Schumer launching on Benjamin Netanyahu this week was very much out of character—and extremely important. His speech was excellent. As reported in the New York Times,

Schumer said that Netanyahu had “lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel”; that he had allied himself with extremists who were “profoundly irresponsible and self-destructive”; and that as a result he was “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”

This is a very big deal. It sends a message not only to Bibi, but also to powerful American Netanyahu-apologists like AIPAC. It says that this is an existential crisis for the State of Israel, one that needs to be addressed now.

Republicans took the opportunity to grandstand against Schumer, of course. It is an embarrassing reality that the right-wing evangelical base has long supported Netanyahu—I remember them coming over to Israel in droves for Bibi rallies in 1996, when he ran for prime minister—and they do this for the most horrific of reasons: They are rooting for Armageddon, the End of Days battle when the forces of righteousness, led by Jesus, will confront the forces of evil…and the righteous will be spirited up to heaven in an event called The Rapture. (By the way, another group of religious fanatics, who are Shi’ite, also believe in Armageddon: they think the forces of righteousness will be led by the mysterious 12th Imam.)

The Republicans said that Schumer is interfering in Israeli politics—as if Netanyahu hasn’t interfered in American politics on a regular basis for the past 20 years, including his speech to Congress during the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. As if Netanyahu, a Trumper, isn’t interfering right now. He is pushing Joe Biden to the limit, weakening him on an issue where Biden has been correct and courageous.

There is a bifurcation among supporters of Israel in the United States. It played out on the pages of the New York Times this Wednesday, in dueling columns by Tom Friedman and Bret Stephens. Friedman has long been a voice for moderation; he is very, very frightened about this moment—convinced, as Schumer is, that the bludgeoning of Gaza is causing Israel tremendous damage in the world, at the very moment when a regional peace with its former Arab enemies seemed possible.

Stephens, a Neo-Conservative, seemed to be playing defense. He tried to defend his position—full speed ahead in Gaza—in an imaginary conversation with someone like Friedman or Schumer, or me. (By the way, I’d love to read a real conversation between Friedman and Stephens.) It wasn’t a very convincing performance. It lacked perspective. It didn’t address the fact that Netanyahu and the Israeli right had pursued the most cynical policy imaginable for the past ten years: quietly supporting Hamas in Gaza, quietly undermining the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. This, alone, is ample grounds for his dismissal by the Israeli people.

Israeli certainly had the right to go after Hamas after October 7. Indeed, Israel had the right—and the obligation—to go after Hamas in the years before that, as the terrorists built their army of an estimated 30,000—!—fighters in plain sight. If Israel had conducted this war with a modicum of humanitarian sensitivity, it would also have the right to finish the job in Rafah. But before this goes any further, Israeli has to provide a convincing endgame—a vision of a future that does not involve the creation of an Israeli-policed Bantustan in Gaza, a plausible vision of a two-state solution that excludes both Hamas and the insane Jewish extremist settlers on the West Bank. It is admittedly a very long shot, but it is the only shot. And there is an iron clad pre-requisite for the process to begin: Bibi Netanyahu has to go.

Thanks to Chuck Schumer for the courage to stand for sanity in the region.

Biden Mensch, Trump Pig

Donald Trump’s outrage of the week was truly outrageous: He mocked Joe Biden’s stutter…and his audience of morally defective fools laughed with him. Despicable understates the case. The man is a sociopathic beast. We can never forget that. We can never normalize it.

Happily, Biden provided a moving antidote in Wisconsin yesterday. He spent time with a stuttering child who had sent him a letter. This is also something we can never forget: Whatever you feel about his policies, Biden is a mensch, a decent, empathetic human being. A kind man who has suffered in ways that are unimaginable—the loss of his first wife and daughter, the loss of his son Beau, the very public embarrassment of his son Hunter. His humanity is a gift at a time when we need constant reminders of our own. I hope it will be a political advantage as he campaigns against this monstrous villain.

Another Fun Podcast

Bill Kristol had me as a guest on his regular podcast Conversations. I’ve known Bill just short of forever and always respected his intellect and humanity, even when we disagreed. We find ourselves on the same side now, which I find very comforting:

 https://conversationswithbillkristol.org/conversation/joe-klein-can-the-democrats-get-their-act-together/

And Furthermore…

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