Republicans stand with Israel. Can Biden and Democrats say the same?
This recent spate of violence shows that Biden’s abdication of leadership has undone former US president Donald Trump’s and Republicans’ historic progress in promoting peace in the Middle East.
By RONNA MCDANIELUpdated: MAY 22, 2021 16:20US REP. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) addresses at a press conference in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, in April.(photo credit: NICHOLAS PFOSI/REUTERS)
As you’re reading this, terrorists are viciously attacking one of America’s greatest allies. Israelis are sheltering from a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas, a known terrorist organization. Hamas has fired thousands of rockets in the past several days, targeting apartment buildings, schools and any other area where they might inflict civilian casualties. No other country beside Israel is expected to tolerate this kind of devastating violence from known terrorist groups. The Republican Party unreservedly stands with Israel. Joe Biden’s Democrats would be hard-pressed to say the same.This recent spate of violence shows that Biden’s abdication of leadership has undone former US president Donald Trump’s and Republicans’ historic progress in promoting peace in the Middle East. By securing peace deals between Israel and Bahrain and between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and by moving the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, president Trump and Republicans cooled tensions in the Middle East while wholeheartedly affirming American support for our Israeli allies. It only took Biden four months to undo that relative peace, and now Israelis are paying the price.Not only is Biden failing to lead on the Middle East, but he will not even condemn Israel’s enemies by name. Hamas is a brutal organization that has spent decades actively engaged in violence against Jews. Hamas is recognized by both the US and the EU as a terrorist organization. Biden’s failure to hold them directly accountable for this ongoing violence is an abdication of his duties as president.When you consider the anti-Israel, antisemitic rhetoric from Biden’s Democrat Party, his refusal to lead here becomes less surprising. In recent years, the Democrats have elevated antisemites Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib as leading faces of their party. Omar has accused Israel of “hypnotizing the world,” alleged that Jews buy influence with money, and submitted a resolution to the US House comparing boycotting Israel to boycotting the Nazis. Her rabid antisemitism earned her The Jerusalem Post’s 2019 “antisemite of the year” award, as well as a full-throated endorsement from notorious white supremacist David Duke.Tlaib, for her part, once posted a tweet promoting Hamas’s slogan “from the River to the Sea.” This earned multiple rebukes from antisemitism watchdog organizations. Just days ago, she spoke to and affirmed a group of protesters chanting that very same slogan. That is unrepentant behavior, and it speaks to her true disregard for the Jewish state’s right to survive.These are some of the leading voices in Biden’s party, key figures on the far-left wing who drive so much of his radical policy. His own vice president, Kamala Harris, joined a long list of 2020 Democrats in boycotting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference last year, a break from longstanding bipartisan support for AIPAC’s mission. Well-known, leading Democrats like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are calling for America to withhold aid to Israel. Biden’s party is allowing antisemitism – implied and outright – to seep into its ranks, even as Hamas unleashes more violence against Jews.By contrast, the Republican Party understands that our shared history, shared interests and deep bond with Israel compels us to support them at every turn. Despite what violent Hamas terrorists or antisemites might believe, Israel has a right to exist, and America must make clear we stand with our Israeli friends, especially when they are under attack. I urge Biden to stand up to the antisemitism in his party’s ranks and do the same.The author is the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.
