The atmosphere in the White House East Room seemed at times more like a raucous campaign event than a launch of a diplomatic initiative three years in the making. Invitees broke out in cheers as Trump praised the Israeli prime minister standing next to him, just as they did when Netanyahu gushed over Trump.
In future times—may they be happier and calmer—we will remember the year between April 2019 and March 2020 as Israel’s annus horribilis.
The Israeli ex-pat community makes up anywhere from 300,000 to 800,000 members. Most are concentrated in New York and Los Angeles, rendering them useless in terms of electoral strategy. So why bother with this tiny sliver of a constituency?
With just under a year to go, Trump, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would really like to fit in another one or two major moves—a grand peace plan, greenlighting Israeli annexation of the Jordan Valley or the signing of a mutual defense treaty between the two countries.
The title of “biggest threat” to American Jews is hard to define or measure. And more importantly, it’s political. Most liberals would agree that anti-Semitism has reached new records under Trump and that the president’s response to the phenomenon has been less than adequate.
No less surprising than Trump’s decision to withdraw forces from Northern Syria, following a single phone call with Turkey’s Erdogan, was the new defiant energy this move injected in the Republican Party. After sticking with Trump as he struggled to explain the Ukrainian affair, members of his party suddenly found their voice.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump are using similar tactics to attack the media and question the democratic process.
Israeli Elections Round Two see Netanyahu and Blue and White Gantz going head to head, with President Trump coming into fold
Israel has hoped throughout its history to be accepted by its neighbors, no matter how remote the prospect has seemed at times. David Ben-Gurion famously despaired of ever achieving a rapprochement with the Arabs.
On Trump’s Jewish Disloyalty comments, fallout could have been avoided or mitigated, but no electoral gain for Democrats.
It wasn’t really a surprise when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud won April’s election in Israel, his fifth election victory. The Netanyahu-led right has a solid majority in Israel, and the ideological left has been relegated to the back benches of the Knesset. Life in Israel is good, and young Israelis in “the Bibi generation” appreciate it.
