Emanuel denounces Israel’s leaders

Rahm Emanuel, a longtime defender of Israel,
warned Wednesday that the country has become increasingly isolated
as its leadership has turned it into a “territorial pariah,”
in a speech at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday.
Emanuel’s condemnation of Israel’s leadership shows how far centrist Democrats have shifted away from historical support of Israel,
three years after the war in Gaza began.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has curried favor with Trump and the Republican Party, Israel’s standing with the Democrats has plummeted.
About 58% of Democrats say the U.S. is “too supportive” of the Israelis, according to a new survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research
-- up from 45% in January 2024.
Roughly half of Democrats believe that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza, a charge Israel vehemently denies.
Jewish adults, who overwhelmingly skew Democratic, have a more favorable opinion of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel, than of Netanyahu, the poll found.
“You cannot fight indefinitely against a world that has stopped believing you have the right to fight,”
Emanuel told a packed auditorium of students and supporters in a speech hosted by the university’s Center for the Study of the United States.
“You must instead find a new sustainable path to peace, security, and economic prosperity.”
Emanuel offered tough love for Israel to “bust it out of its strategic pariah status,”
focused on strengthening Israel’s diplomatic ties with Arab states and economic ties with the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor,
to provide an economic alternative to China’s sprawling multinational infrastructure program.
Specifically, he wants to end U.S. subsidies to Israel’s defense budget,
arguing the country should pay for American defense like any other ally.
He also wants to sanction Israelis who attack Palestinian civilians and property,
along with politicians who offer their support for that violence.
He added that America turning a blind eye toward Israeli injustices had “engendered the worst of your domestic politics.”
The speech was well-received by the liberal Tel Aviv University crowd,
who applauded even when Emanuel condemned Israel’s policies, such as Netanyahu’s role in not preparing for the day after in Gaza.
He said that “true friends tell each other the truth.”
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