The results of the Nov. 4 midterm elections validate Israel’s policy of courting both Republicans and Democrats when it comes to issues such as Iran’s threats of genocide. Yet the Israelis this week found themselves being berated for wooing both parties—and the criticism came from a U.S. official who, ironically, once argued that intervening against genocide would hurt her party in that year’s midterm elections.
Just two days before the midterm races, National Security Adviser Susan Rice reportedly said the reason she has still not met with Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer—who was appointed 16 months ago—is that “he’s too busy traveling to Sheldon Adelson’s events in Las Vegas.” According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, Dermer’s action “served to prove to Obama’s aides” that Dermer is “a sympathizer with the red, Republican side.”
The reference was to Dermer’s speech at a Republican Jewish Coalition event in March. For the past year, Israeli officials, including Dermer, have been trying to persuade Democrats and Republicans alike that Iran’s threats of genocide against Israel are serious and that Teheran should not be permitted to continue building nuclear weapons.
Presumably, if the National Jewish Democratic Council decided to invite Dermer, he would speak to them too. Maintaining friendly relations with both parties has been a cornerstone of Israeli and Zionist policy going back to the days before Israel even existed. In 1944, Jewish activists (led by Prof. Benzion Netanyahu, the father of the current prime minister) helped convince the Republican Party to include in its platform a first-ever plank calling for the rescue of Europe’s Jews and creation of a Jewish state. Other Jewish leaders then persuaded the Democrats to match that pledge in their own platform. Bipartisan support for Zionism and Israel has been an integral part of American political culture ever since.
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