Tom Friedman has now given cover to every anti Semite who wants to destroy Israel. Anyone who thinks he is or ever was a friend of Israel is a fool.
Donald Trump is right up there with Cyrus the Great, Lord Balfour and Harry Truman when it comes to being a friend of Israel. I saw Donald Trump at the Western Wall but not Joe Biden or the other Democrat nonentities.
Tom I agree with almost all of what you wrote but I have never heard a Democrat scream Islamaphobia after legitimate criticism and neither have you.
4
There is an expression in some biblical writing that you can’t serve two masters. Israel serves two masters and is acting really schizophrenic. On the one hand it wants to be a democracy and on the other it wants to be a Jewish state. The latter has forced non-Jews into a second class status – now by law. It doesn’t work and America should not sponsor such an idea.
The real solution to the Palestinian problem is not two states, but one state; that state has no state sponsored religion. It is a true democracy where all citizens can worship or not as they wish.
Israel’s name should be changed to Theohannahbob. If this did occur it would signal to the world the triumph of science, the enlightenment, and intelligence over old authoritarian books keeping people in pens, physically and mentally.
Put a little love and smarts in your heart and the world will see a better place for Tlaib, Omar, the T. Freehumans of the Middle East, all.
I like to throw in some biology. Human DNA wants a melding of all ethnicities and races. It is smart biology when people combine their gene pools. Why else did Columbus sail the ocean blue and Bush II invade Iraq. It is all a push to meld civilizations and tune the human sphere on Earth optimally. Different eyes and strokes in modern environments are plusses; robust processing of environments becomes possible.
We need to go there fast; it is getting very warm on Earth. Fighting about whose ancient text wins is counterproductive.
2
Trump and Bibi couldn’t be more transparent. Bibi wants zero U.S. interference in his government’s practice of hyper-lebensraum in the West Bank, and Trump is desperate to firm up the perhaps softening support of evangelical voters. This can go nowhere but south for both countries. Both these craven opportunists must be removed ASAP.
119
Trump is pandering to white evangelical Christians in the USA who have a fetish for Israel. Nothing else.
Israel has lost its way. If any other country in the world treated a group of people the way Israel treats Palestinians they would be sanctioned. Israel gets away with it because of the Jewish thing.
When you add religions into the mix of anything, people go kind of crazy, put reason and common sense on the shelf, and act like animals on some weird combination of brain steroids and cocaine and amphetamines.
Imagine if the Catholic Church decided to take over Rome and kick out all Romans who were not Catholic and then treat them the way the Israeli government treats the Palestinians? The ejected Romans would want their land and their homes back. Then, imagine the Catholics bombed Naples because the Romans had set up there to try to take back Rome. But then the Catholics took over and moved into Naples. Then Catholics in the USA side with the Catholics who took over Rome. Protestants who were in the US Congress protested and wanted to visit the old city of Rome where the Catholics had taken over. ETC. You get the picture.
70
Trump, the lover of Israel, is the same Trump who considered some people, marching behind a Nazi flag shouting Jews will not replace us, as very fine people. Please do not be fooled with Trump’s supposed love of Israel. He uses Israel as he uses people, for a while and then tosses them aside. He loves only one person, himself.
165
You are more than a fool...
Too stubborn to admit they voted for a charlatan. Too stupid to realize climate change is already here. Too cowardly to speak out against the caging of children. Too disinterested to read the Mueller report. Too proud to admit the wall isn’t being built. Too fearful to walk into a diner without a gun. Too blind to recognize their own racism. Too ignorant to understand “Democratic Socialism,” or “Fascism.” Too hateful to vote for anyone who dares offer hope to those who need it. Too selfish to invest in the future. Too indoctrinated to admit what they see and hear with their own eyes and ears.
Too late to appeal to their sanity. Too bad.
182
Tom, as was observed more than once by the columnist class...
Newt Gingrich's main purpose in life and the GOP and the US Congress was to make Bob Dole look statesmanlike by comparison...
Trump thinks Bibi's flip-flopping is doing the same for him...
Bibi thinks Trump's belly-flopping is doing the same for him...
It's the stuff of which long-lived Transatlantic alliances are made...
The special alliances, anyway...
As far as:
“...Israel will become a Jewish banana republic...
Two questions:
1. Do Jewish bananas have a hole in the middle
2. Does it make me – as an alt-center – pro-Semitic or
anti-Semitic, to ask
Three, actually:
3. Would a Jewish two-banana republic be a viable
resolution to this mess
No more questions...
Gotta go answer the door – my Ring has rung...
Aaah – let’s see...
Looks like two – no, make that three – Mossad drones hovering...
Along with the one from Amazon, delivering the bunch of bananas I ordered...
17
The election is 15 months off.
You aint seen NOTHING yet.....
45
Friedman seems to think it is the obligation of Israel to give American democrats cover. As embarrassing as it is, there is a pro-BDS, anti semitic wing of the democratic party in Congress.
48
Trump & Netanyahu are both poison to Israel. Trump hides his anti-semitism behind his support of Israel. Netanyahu keeps making things worse for Israel daily.
60
What did Michael Cohen say happens to all who fall into Trump's sway? Bibi and Likud are blatantly in his sway now and that is blatantly bad for Israel. Is there Yiddish for this level of stupidity?
31
Netanyahu, MBS and Trump are the axis of evil who want to set the Middle East on fire again, each for their own bad reasons: spiking oil prices, military opportunism, Shiite hatred, weapons sales, electoral wartime bonus.
38
If you're an American, and you think America's support for Israel is good for Americans or for Israelis, you're a fool.
If the American prop were removed, Israel, on its own, might rediscover its early idealism and rely less on brute force.
(And if you pay much attention to any of Friedman's global insights, you're foolish. He's been so consistently wrong about that it's a wonder he's not in the Trump White House.)
22
Netanyahu is not alone either, nor is there really any viable hope for the Two State Solution and the endless Peace Process. That died when Rabin was shot by a Zionist fanatic.
How do you make a "state" that is divided by hostile checkpoints set up by another state? A state that has claim to no water, shot through with settlements of people who want to exterminate? A state whose "citizens" are subject to arbitrary arrest and detention by another state.?
27
Representatives Omar and Tlaib are dealing with the fundamental threat to our democracy – our own stupidity.
They are coping with the basic problem in America - our hubris, ego, conceit and bias.
How could we claim that Israel is a democracy if it expelled several hundred thousand people from their homes, deprived of their personal property and prevented from returning home?
We are talking here about the women and children, grandmas and grandpas, and all other civilians.
If the state of Israel is still in a war with the civilians, it cannot be construed as democracy.
Thank you Representatives Omar and Tlaib for exposing our stupidity!
Shame on you Representatives Omar and Tlaib for not dealing with the structural defects of the Islam that made it extremely conservative and anachronous.
There are far more problems with the Islam than with Israel.
If it implemented the faith correctly, then the Jews would have felt at home in truly faithful society created long BEFORE they returned to the ancient Palestine.
Have you ever wondered why a few hundred million people resettled over the last several centuries to America and not to any Islamic country?
Weren’t the true faith supposed to create the fair and just society for everybody to feel safe and secure?
The question is why it’s easier for the humans to recognize the mistakes of the other people and not our personal ones?
The answer is in our egoism, hubris, conceit and bias!
We think we are perfect!
11
I wouldn’t have thought that Netanyahu was such a wuss. To so easily give in to Trump shows how weak he actually is.
27
Wait, Trump referred to his white supremacists supporters chanting "Jews will not replace us!" on national television, as "many fine people".
But isn't Trump's son in law, Kushner, BFF with the muslim Saudi Prince MBS?
Trump absolutely no idea who or what side he is on.
He is so completely unhinged, he can only resort to picking a person or group who have just publicly criticized him that day and retaliate irrationally with vengeance and threats.
Clearly he is breaking down before our very eyes...yet Mitch does nothing.
34
Trump is weaponizing Israel against the Democrats in the same way the GOP went pro-life to win over the Catholic vote. Let’s hope American Jews are smart enough to see through such blatant trickery.
35
Trump is certainly not helping Israel. But Tlaib is actively trying to harm Israel.
30
Israel is not helping Israel by taking cues from Trump.
What a disgrace.
21
and the solution is..............?
2
I see Israel in the identical way I see my former homeland Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It is simply said impossible to create the state for the Jewish, Palestinian, Serb, Croat and Bosniak people without the terrible crimes against the civilan population if those people used to live mixed and together.
If the colossal crimes are prerequisite for creation of the national states, I am againt them and will always be!
9
fool is too strong a word. allowing members of Congress entrance would have been the lesser of two evils in a difficult situation.
having said this the Palestinians have never missed an opportunity to paint Israel in a negative light even when using military force in the only option. I can't help but think should the congresswomen have been allowed entry into Israel the Palestinians would have a field day creating chaos and once again painting Israel as a horrible monster.
18
Trump is a disaster waiting to happen. He has no idea what to do so he just keeps making everything he touches turn into a disaster that someone else caused. If we don't get rid if him and the incommitant people that he has in his government we are going to be in a world of hurt. The congress needs to get rid of McConnell so that something useful not just something that Trump wants accomplished. The congress appears to me to be a bunch of cowards that are so afraid that they will lose their gravy train jobs that they are paralyzed and just go along with the know nothing guy in the White House . Please would somebody get those two out of the way so that we can go back to having an operating government.
17
I'm constantly struck by the foolishness, cowardliness and nastiness of figures like Trump and Netanyahu. But then I realize that they are reflections of a foolish, cowardly and nasty age.
17
Netanyahu has poisoned relations with Democrats, not America. It's up to Democrats to get over their Trump Derangement Syndrome and reject their anti-Israel radicals.
12
“Israel will become a banana republic?” Yes, Tom, you are making that up. Just as you’re making up that Trump is trying to label the entire Democratic Party as anti-Israel or that Bibi won’t be able to speak on an American college campus without a riot which, of course, is a way of inciting a riot. Face it, Tom, there’s never going to be a two state solution. What? You don’t have enough Arab states there now, breathing down the neck of tiny Israel. My guess is that eventually they will figure out how to incorporate their Arab citizens into the greater country of Israel while at the same time assuring a Jewish plurality. At least, you take on the despicable congresswomen at the end of your column. Tell the truth, Tom. If they’d acted toward you as they have toward Israel, would you invite them into your house?
30
I am a lifelong liberal Democrat, and I strongly support not allowing Omar and Tliab to visit Israel. It is obvious that if they did visit Israel they would have nothing positive to say so why let them visit? Contrary to the idiotic idea that Israel is somehow afraid to let them visit, these two publicity hungry women pose absolutely no threat to Israel - the are nothing but a nuisance.
34
To paraphrase Fiddler on the Roof:
"Rabbi, is there a blessing for Donald Trump?"
"Of course there is, my child: 'May God bless and keep Donald Trump ----far away from us!'"
Friedman should stop worrying. American Jews are not going to vote for Trump thinking he is good for Israel (or, likely, for any other reason for that matter.) Sure, you can find publicity-seeking "Uncle Toms" such as Sheldon Adelson and Jared Kushner, but they are irrelevant to how Jews actually vote.
The people who will support Trump as a "friend" of Israel are those Christians whose theology requires Israel's effective destruction for the fulfillment of their religious beliefs. I expect that those Jews for whom Israel is important, when it comes to voting, will think, "With friends like these, who needs enemies?"
26
#1 fallacy presented by Mr. Friedman......USA must help Israel?
Why? Is Israel helping the USA? Or is Israel simply helping itself to American generosity?
I think Mr. Friedman is clinging to an out-dated, obsolete, post WW2 frame of reference.
Truly USA and Israel are allies.....and as it stands, USA steadfastly supports Israel....but we are still waiting for Israel to move into the 21st Century......
Right now Israel is doing little more than to cut off its nose to spite its face.
As for Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.....neither has done much to assimilate American values....each is still extremely hostile to America and both are agressively working to tear down the framework that makes their priveledged lives possible.
4
Your failure to understand or even see the rise of anti-semitism on the left and in the Democratic Party astounds me. Members of the squad have written articles for Farrakhan, they are vocal supporters of the BDS movement and their statements like “its all about the Benjamins” speak volumes. You and the Democratic Party have turned a blind eye to this and have for some time. Clinton on stage with Farrakhan during Aretha Franklin’s funereal, Obama dining with the same. And all the current presidential candidates kissing the ring of Reverend Al. Do you not remember the Crown Heights affair? And the current pretzel logic of liberal Jews concerning Israel is impossible to square. Yes the founding of the country and the displacement of Palestinians is beyond problematic, but overtures have been made by Israel repeatedly over the years to be met with suicide bombers, rockets and Intifada. But the liberal Jew tries to parse anti-semitism out of the virulent anti-Israel sentiment on the left. Good luck with that. Trump did not make this wedge, the left did with its overt anti-semitism. Trump and the Republicans have been supporters of Israel and the American Jewish Community in word and action. If I were you I would advise all Jews to reconsider their support of Democrats and vote for Trump in 2020.
26
Once again Tommy crashes and founders on the shoals of Bothsidesism. Bibi and the republicans have been pulling these stunts for years. Nothing new here.
1
I am shocked Friedman would question why Omar should go to Israel like all the other representatives. She should stay home on the banks of the Mississippi? Would he accuse Schumer of neglecting NY for a trip to Israel? Last I checked it was the job of our congress to be aware of our international spending and political alliances and any human rights issues we many be enabling. Who could be a better addition to the group than 2 people from the unrepresented religious group, one of whom actually lived there.
27
There's more than a little chutzpah in the Govt of Israel's behaviour. To come to Washington at the GOP's invitation and address Congress is bad enough, but to take $3 billion a year from the American taxpayer and then refuse to admit their elected representatives is disrespectful in the extreme. Refuse the money and go your independent way; or be grateful for the handout and accommodate your donor's wishes.
24
Netanyahu is every bit as bad a leader of Israel as Trump is of the United States. Far-right anti-democratic policies and corruption are no more attractive there than here, and that’s why Israel’s government (not its right to exist) has already lost the support of so many American Jews.
Who would want to live in a place that has to be a permanent armed camp to steal the land of its non-Jewish population and conduct eternal war with its neighbors? That’s why young Israelis with a future are leaving that country in droves.
And as for our own relationship with Israel, we should hope and try for for something better than a Middle East military base and home for the insane rapture fantasies of the religious right.
Friedman is right on. These two “leaders” are doing deep damage to each country individually and to the relationship between them - damage that won’t be easily repaired.
21
It would be more productive and realistic using Kushner's name throughout this Op Ed. It has been obvious Trump has no knowledge or interest in policy of any kind, repeats what he is told and most times is unable to to that. Netanyahu like Kushner was more concerned with their alliance with Saudi Arabia than the atrocity committed by the dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi's and Israel were against US involvement and creation of the Iran NPT. We are currently facing the repercussions from this Administration shredding that agreement. The US Embassy moving to Jerusalem was a twin win for Kushner, his father- in- laws name plastered on it like one of the Trump hotels and Netanyahu's wish come true. Netanyahu through Kushner has dictated US policy.
4
The earlier comments by Omar" apologized on Monday for insinuating that American support for Israel is fueled by money from a pro-Israel lobbying group " the attacks on her seem to prove her point. Both Republican and Democrats condemned what she said yet they did not accept her apology allowing Trump to vilify her.
Today Israel wants it both ways control over Palestine without rights for Palestinians. She has the same 1st Amendment rights as American to not be pro Israel which makes Republicans uncomfortable.
15
On the list of things important to me as an American, Israel is about 10th. If Israel wants to play games, then so be it. I'm happy to see us cut our $3B in support down to $3M, and spend that money on things that are much more important to the United States.
23
Mr. Netanyahu's action is an affront to Congress as a whole. Mr. Trump could not or dared not ban members of Congress from foreign travel, so he enlisted Netanyahu to act as his pawn.
14
A. Stanton, some “friends” are worse then any enemies. And Netanyahu isn’t looking for Israeli “friends”, he’s looking for corrupt politicians (some of whom are either closeted or openly anti Semitic) among reactionary conservatives to secure his position as prime minister. You have a myopic view of friendship which apparently blinds you to the idea that friends tell each other the truth (with empathy and curtesy) & the truth is that the Palestinian problem is undermining support among Israel’s true “friends”. Trump on the other hand doesn’t have “friends”, he has allies of convenience that he’ll betray as needed, sycophants to stroke his ego and supporters blind to his many faults. With a friend like him enemies may be preferable, they at least won’t knife you in the back.
6
You need to put this in perspective. It's been a long time coming. Zionism didn't end the pogroms. It merely changed the cultural affiliation of the victim.
Zionism arose in the era of nation building but came (later than others) to fruition in the period of its necrosis - imperialist decay.
The problem with the homeland of the Ashkenazim (Eastern Europe) is that it was a patchwork quilt of, other larger, competing ruling elites that sought to consolidate their social and economic position based on ethnicity. It is often said that a nation is a language with an army. That included the Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Slovakian, Romanian, Baltic, Ukrainian, and (of course) the German ruling classes.
The Jews were an oppressed national minority but they were not going to carve out a state in Europe. At one point Madagascar was considered as a venue. Palestine then became the objective but that required subjugating, as a settler state, the resident population.
Functioning as a tool of American interests in the Middle East - Israel came into being in 1948. Things have only gone downhill in the interim. Netanyahu and Trump? That's a natural if disgusting alliance. True freedom and security for the Jewish people will lie in embracing their Palestinian brothers and sisters and putting an end all pogroms, once and for all time. And many Jewish people are beginning to grasp that fact. Hopefully that will come to pass before Jerusalem becomes the Sarajevo of the 21st Century.
11
No worries. Jared will fix it.
4
The truth is that Donald Trump is, if nothing else, a political genius. That is true whether you like the things he does or you do not. He will break the monolithic hold that the democrats have held on the Jewish vote since 1932. Probably, the Democrats will still get more Jewish votes than the Republicans get but that does not matter. When the Jewish vote was 80% Democratic, it could change the results of elections, especially in my home state of Florida where every vote counts. However, a Jewish vote that is only 55% Democratic will not change any results. Without that monolithic Jewish vote, Florida will turn into a ruby red state and it is difficult to win a presidential election without Florida's electoral votes.
One other thing; B.D.S. really is antisemitism. That is not to deny that the treatment of Palestinians leaves a lot to be desired but simply to acknowledge that holding Israel to a higher standard than one holds other countries to is a form of antisemitism. Does anyone really think that Palestinians are treated worse than Muslims in Kashmir or Uighur Muslims in China? If not, why aren't they boycotting China and India?
Why do people think that Israel is wrong to keep public B.D.S. supporters out but do not care whether China keeps public supporters of the Dalai Lama or of an independent Taiwan out? That too is antisemitism.
19
Omar is not anti-semitic, and Trump is. Friedman could do some due diligence as a journalist and find all of the past quotes as proof instead of throwing gasoline on the fire of a false narrative.
8
It’s long past time politicians stop playing the anti-Semitic card. Anyone who objects to Israel’s politics, especially, towards the Palestinians is labeled anti-Semitic. This labeling is pure propaganda and has no place in a democracy. There’s nothing democratic about Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people or Trump’s disgusting treatment of elected members of Congress. Democracy in Israel and America is on a death spiral at the hands of Trump and Bibi.
21
I fully expect that this time around it will be both Russian and Israeli governments and/or their former cyber spies to engineer a Trump victory in 2020.
9
Tom, the damage is done, the reality is showing through. This is what Rep Omar had been harping against and the Republicans started calling her an anti-Semite, Trump started using the so called Squad as the new face of the Democratic Party. The divide between the Democrats and Republicans re Israel was done when the Republicans invited Bibi to address the joint session of Congress on March 3, 2015 to criticize the US Presidency re decisions that were made in the US Interest resulting in the JCPOA.
Trump is no friend of Israel and Bibi knows it, both are using each other to get to their respective political goals, Trump promised Bibi that he would pull out of the JCPOA, Bibi provided full support to Trump and Trump pulled out of the JCPOA, it’s purely politics. Now both are doing it to stay out of jail/courts.
For Trump the only one who matters is Trump. Look at what Trump has done to his personal attorney, Cohen or his campaign managers of 2016- he is courting Jewish votes as they are crucial in winning swing State of Florida - His die hard 37% supporters and the Jewish votes he can see another term in the White House- He doesn't care about Bibi or Israel so complaining about his action to goad Bibi in acting the way he did is futile.
We should expect more unusual steps from Trump. And yes we must not forget the spineless/gutless Republican leadership that is equally to be blamed for all these fiascoes.
13
Barring Omar and Tlaib must have made those who wish to destroy Israel very happy. For all the reasons Mr. Friedman points out, I'm sure those same people will do all they can to help Netanyahu get re-elected.
1
We're all fools in this game.
Why should Israel have bipartisan support in the first place?
The answer:
Historical guilt.
If the English-speaking nations had opened their doors in the 1930s, millions of precious Jewish lives would have been saved. And we know this! Just think how great America would be now if we had been more generous and caring then. Think what they would have contributed.
But it was not to be.
We cannot absolve ourselves of our past indifference to the fate of the European Jews, and our responsibility for the Shoah, by supporting a corrupt national entity that has questionable legitimacy in its own geographic region.
The politics on this need to change, and the Israeli voting public needs to be weaned off its assumption of unconditional U.S. support, which is obviously an illusion--a form of geopolitical apartheid. In our current Western stance, we are leading Israel naively up the road to certain disaster. What will the Israeli people do when they suddenly find themselves abandoned by these cynical nationalist power brokers, and realize that it was all a guilty game of political self-exculpation? Will they be allowed to immigrate to the U.S.?
7
Trump and his derangement syndrome notwithstanding, i say that its about time that America's unhealthy relationship with Israel did suffer some damage. Maybe it will help us correct long standing foreign policy biases in the region.
9
In relative terms, there are very few people in the U.S. that are upset by this...just the whiners.
Why should a government allow people into their country, that want to destroy it?
16
The lowest President Trump’s extraterritorial claim of Jewish interest was the Act S.447, signed in the White House. Trump is an opportunist without any ethical consideration.
Poland, the country ravaged by WWII, supposed to pay “reparations” for Israel… It was another pact Nethanyahu – Trump, sad, against long term Jewish interest.
Act S. 447 gives American and international Jewish claims organizations supposedly more effective means of exerting pressure on Poland with the aim of execution of billions of Dollars for property claims.
Before agreeing with Mr. Friedman's column I suggest readers go to this link:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/08/ilhan-omar-and-rashida-tlaib-partnered-with-vicious-anti-semites-to-plan-their-trip-to-israel/
16
The Establishment Clause of the US Constitution prohibits our government from promoting one religion over another. That has always made me wonder why we have such blind support for Israel. It is a self declared Jewish state that practices religious apartheid as governing policy. Forget moving the embassy to Jerusalem, we shouldn't be there at all. Nor should we be at the Vatican but that's another screed.
As to the BDS movement; I seem to recall that Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions were quite effective in bringing about change in South Africa. There wasn't a whole lot of hand wringing about that. Aside from the issue of abandoning a two state solution I don't see much of a problem with it.
12
Why on earth should anyone expect Rep. Omar to pull her punches in advocating for Palestinians? She criticizes Israel -- gasp! -- because Israel has done harmful things to a group of people she cares about. The popular vilification of Omar, led of course by Donald 'Force for Good' Trump, is sickening.
17
I know a number of left leaning Israelis that were very happy about moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem knowing that Trump was behind it. They don't understand what American politics has become under Trump. I told them, "be careful what you wish for". Israel has sold it's soul to the devil.
7
Friedman thinks Trump is "making Israel a wedge issue,"but that could not happen without Democrats supporting the likes of Warren and Sanders (let alone the openly anti-Semitic Tlaib and Omar). Similarly to the case with many former members of the Democratic Party (which has become the party of welfare, socialism and illegal immigration), Israel is not leaving the Democrats, the Democrats (by supporting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic politicians in their mindst) are leaving Israel. Trump is making political hay out of that fact, but it is, nonetheless, a fact.
As to the "occupation," how exactly does Friedman think the occupation came to be? Well, for those who remember (or bother reading history), the occupation came about as a result of an announcedly genocidal war in 1967 (the second such announcedly genocidal war, the earlier one being in 1947-1948) against the Jews. People who start and lose two announcedly genocidal wars have a lot to do before their intended victims come to trust them again.
On moving the Embassy, Trump moved it to WEST Jerusalem, not EAST Jerusalem, which Palestinians pretend is all they want.
And Israel is not "afraid" of Tlaib; it just does not want to give an anti-Semite and supporter of previous (and planned) attempts at genocide another place to voice her hatred. How many people who espouse the destruction of the United States and the murder of its people does Friedman thinkk we should we allow into our own country?
18
The tactics used by Israel against the Palestinians mark a fall from grace. The people of the Jewish diaspora are one of the human race's greatest reservoirs of enlightened self-interest. The Israelis were given the land their ancestors briefly inhabited thousands of years ago by a West horrified by its own sins against the Jewish people. But, that land that has been home to many groups of humans since the first of us left Africa to colonize the rest of planet Earth. That land has been the home of the Palestinian people for thousands of years subsequent to the Romans throwing the Jews out. But, after WWII, their home was taken and given to a few of the descendants of the ancient people the West has contested with for thousands of years. In a repudiation of the Jewish people’s long adherence to enlightened self-interest, the West and Israel have used tactics against the Palestinians used by those who abused the people of the Jewish diaspora. This is one of the greatest tragedies in human history that Israel has fallen so far from the grace earned by the Jews themselves. As for Trump, he is a rabid opportunist who uses our weaknesses against us to clutch power close to his chest as his followers clamor for the destruction of anyone he says is his enemy, and thus theirs. We all dutifully fall in line to bang the drums of every kind of war there is as we oppose him. We have all fallen from grace.
8
Netanyahu really stumbled on this one. Acceding to Trump's suggestion implied, not only a weakness in Israel's government, but also that Israel is little more than Trump's poodle (a reputation that the UK also suffers from).
Since 1949 Israel has courageously fought for its survival every day. Freedom of speech--and dissent--is a sign of strength befitting Israel. Stifling dissent, a sign of weakness.
297
There are many Americans who don’t have an emotional attachment to Israel and for whom it’s just another foreign country, although one that seems, sometimes, more trouble than it’s worth. Our longstanding, essentially unconditional support for Israel has cost us dearly, and the payback isn’t glaringly obvious, especially since we have more critical interests worldwide that need our attention.
28
Absolutely right. As a start, it's time to reconsider financial and military aid to Israel. If they are going to treat their key political, military, and financial ally this way, there must be a price to pay.
In the end, Trump and Netanyahu are doing no favors for Israel.
23
I enjoyed this article, well reasoned and written as usual.
However I feel the significance and implications of this situation, for the United States and it's government, are being downplayed somewhat, lost in the high weeds of what's happening in Israeli politics.
Here we have the spectacle of our own President, sworn to uphold the constitution, the laws of our country and protect our citizens, asking the leader of a foreign country to deny entry to two representatives of the country the President enjoys the privilege of leading. MAGA??
For Trump, domestic political partisanship and zero sum transactional thinking do not stop at the border, but are fair game internationally to turn international attention against Trump's domestic political adversaries. The net result, our allies will trust us even less and our adversaries will have endless ways to use this wedge Mr. Trump has created to weaken further our government and our place in the world.
This is the perfect storm. If there were ever a time in human history when we need the best leaders humanity can offer us, we are being led by a President who dreams of carving the world up into feudal factions, them and us, irregardless of border or flag.
16
This piece is a bullseye. You have two egomaniacs trying to destroy two countries to squeeze out a couple more years of power, after which the rest of us will be left with a mess to clean up.
4424
@Three Bars
And avoid criminal prosecution once they leave office?
315
@LizA
Yeah, that too.
I was just reading a vast, long term plan, supposedly of Benji's and just thought, really? Maybe I'm wrong, but I suspect we're giving both of these people way, way too much credit.
Full immunity if you move to Argentina ASAP and never run for office again. Plus you can keep your helicopter. They'd be out later today.
107
@Three Bars Exactly.
38
There are many Americans who don’t have an emotional attachment to Israel and for whom it’s just another foreign country, although one that seems, sometimes, more trouble than it’s worth. Our longstanding, essentially unconditional support for Israel has cost us dearly, and the payback isn’t glaringly obvious, especially since we have more critical interests worldwide that need our attention.
3
Finally, we may be able to have an honest and open conversation about our blind and unhealthy support for this nation that has walked all over us, intervened in our domestic politics, disrespected our elected officials and simply caused more turmoil in the world than it’s worth to us. Israel has a right to exist, sure. But it’s time they stand on their own two feet. I am a Republican but enough is enough. I am voting for whichever Democrat is brave enough to say what most of us are thinking: this has gone too far. I think that candidate will be surprised to find that many more Americans are behind them on this topic than they might expect. Let’s finally bring this conversation into the daylight.
23
@Lee " this nation that has walked all over us, intervened in our domestic politics, disrespected our elected officials and simply caused more turmoil in the world than it’s worth to us. " Do you have any idea how many (dozens of) nations have said the same about us?
7
@Lee The trump party would like nothing better than for a Democratic candidate to announce they no longer support Israel. "Republican" and trump party are one in the same; hopefully, no Democratic candidate will fall for this kind of "advice."
5
There are many Americans who don’t have an emotional attachment to Israel and for whom it’s just another foreign country, although one that seems, sometimes, more trouble than it’s worth. Our longstanding, essentially unconditional support for Israel has cost us dearly, and the payback isn’t glaringly obvious, especially since we have more critical interests worldwide that need our attention .
4
There are many Americans who don’t have an emotional attachment to Israel and for whom it’s just another foreign country, although one that seems, sometimes, more trouble than it’s worth. Our longstanding, essentially unconditional support for Israel has cost us dearly, and the payback isn’t glaringly obvious, especially since we have more critical interests worldwide that need attending.
5
As always, useful and informative perspectives from Mr. Friedman. The thing that astounds me is the "short game" nature of Netanyahu's positions/decisions regarding Trump and the U.S. There is now, and has been for a while a better than even chance Trump will be defeated next year. Even if you grant him a 50/50 chance, Trump's predilection for unforced errors of considerable magnitude suggests this is not a guy to bet on. Considerable hedging on Netanyahu's part would seem a far wiser course. Following Trump's lead in (literally) "manhandling" two Congresswomen is (I'm betting) not going to work out well for either of them.
4
I agree with the main points made by Friedman. However, I do not share his concern about the BDS movement making it harder to create a two state solution. BDS is almost irrelevant compared to the Netanyahu regime and his far right allies who have absolutely no interest in a two state solution and could not be more clear about trying to create a Greater Israel by annexing the occupied territories.
7
I am a life long liberal Democrat and I very strongly support the absolute right of Representatives Omar and Tliab to fully express their opinions and ideas regarding any subject, including the most intense criticism of Israel; however, I also do not believe that Israel is in any way "afraid" of these individuals, and I fully support Mr. Netanyahu's decision to bar them from visiting Israel since it is patently obvious they will have nothing positive to say. Indeed, I believe that their proposed trip was essentially a publicity stunt to keep their names in the news, and in these difficult times we do not need another publicity stunt.
12
@Mathman314 Not sure I get your logic about bar them if "they have nothing positive to say." Since when has this been a legitimate criterion to refuse entry? Would you have supported Obama refusing Netanyahu entry to the U.S. since he came to do a mugging?
And international junkets as publicity stunts (gasp!) are as old as international junkets. Nothing unique about that---even IF true. New rules for these congresswomen?
5
Democracy does not keep millions in an occupied territory with no vote and no equal rights.
24
@s.whether Really! Check the "shelters" on our southern border.
1
Right on Thomas Friedman! Trump and Bibi are two dangerous men in positions of power. Hopefully, voters in both countries will come to their senses and remove them from office. Sadly, the odds of that happening are not strong but we can only hope, pray and VOTE.
13
Bibi flew to the U.S. to support Romney and meddled in our election then. He wanted a pro-Israel president who would wage war on Iran. Then Obama got an agreement by Iran to stop producing nuclear weapons and Trump pulled the U.S. out of it. How does this make Israel safer? I had an Israeli roommate in 1969 who was getting a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern studies and she thought Israel was getting too militaristic. I am not an expert like you but I can't help thinking the best thing for Israel is to replace Netanyahu with someone more moderate who will not choose political sides in American elections. While Omar seems too full of herself for a freshman congresswoman, I have liked Tlaib when I have seen her on TV. The best thing Israel can do is welcome her to visit her grandmother with no restrictions and then we should cover the visit and PBS can do a special on it and on Palestinian-Israeli relations in a more human way than the sparse coverage we get on major stations.
10
A pox (poxes?) on Trump and Tlaib and Netanyahu and Omar. They are all disgusting and intolerant and self-serving politicians who have no redeeming social value. All of them, and many others besides. They might be just what our increasingly malevolent world deserves in its continuing and rapid decline from a hopeful period of progress. It is easy and correct to condemn Trump and Netanyahu as "leaders" of their increasingly nationalistic regimes. It is just as correct to call out Tlaib and Omar as self-appointed "leaders" of a different kind of ethnic and religious bigotry. I don't know where the sensible and benevolent people have gone. It is not helpful for you and others in your business to write as if Tlaib and Omar, et al., have taken anything resembling a "high road" in this escalating conflict. They are all disgusting and intolerant and self-serving people.
14
The Republican Party made Israel a wedge issue before Trump. Let's not forget that Netanyahu was invited to address Congress by John Boehner and Mitch McConnell in 2015 precisely to demonstrate that Israel was a wedge issue; something that had been developing during the entire Obama presidency.
15
Whats fascinates me...a large number of Trump's base supporters are antisemitic, and have no like of Israel whatsoever. So Trump is truly playing to a very small number of possible Trump supporters, who in the grand scheme have no sway over his numbers.
Plus, he just shot The Kush in his peace-making feet, all the way up past his knees.
Plus, plus, Netty's taking a knee to Trump, convinces many that Israel is far too beholden to the US. Which is not playing well back in Israel for the many, many rising numbers of younger Israelis (dare I call them moderates, as that word is defined differently elsewhere...maybe modernists is a better term) who are sick of him and his supporters. They don't like Trump, as much as some older, more resolute Conservatives might. (key word with Trump is always "might")
6
The play is for evangelical votes for they believe that the Temple on the Mount must be in Jewish hands for the rapture to take place. The true hardcore believe that it is imminent and that the Biblical passage requires it or else they won’t find salvation.
2
If representative Tlaib were smart she would have accepted Israel's restrictive invitation to visit her grandmother and once she was there speak out as she pleased..
What would Israel have done at that point arrest her? deport her?
I don't think so..
But that is if she were smart..
Did anyone see her demonstration of raving lunacy at a Trump rally back in 2016?
She made Chris Cuomo recent display look staid and measured..
People like this cannot represent themselves; let alone where they find themselves..
They are not ready for 'Prime Time'!
11
Give Trump high marks for exploiting an American weakness in regards to Israel. For far too long any critic of Israel and its policies has been met with a barrage of pushback accusing the critic of being anti-Semitic. This accusation has been effective over the years in suppressing almost any dissent of Israel’s actions or policies. When Rep. Ihlan Omar broke this taboo with her ‘politically incorrect’ observation that big money and the Israeli lobby has stifled all dissent in Congress she was met with furious pushback. Pundits like Thomas Friedman and Bari Weiss keep harping on it painting her as a virulent divisive anti-Semite. Even white males marching through Charlottesville shouting, “Jews will not replace us” have not received as much reaction as Rep. Ihlan Omar’s comments. Trump seeing that Congress is completely tongue tied in its ability to criticize Israel pushed Netanyahu to bar these US lawmakers from visiting Israel. This is because Trump knows that there will be no consequences for these actions. The opposition is too intimidated to stand up to either Bibi or Trump. So he broke the norms and created a partisan issue. This places Democrats in the odd position of choosing either to stifle dissent of Israel’s behavior once again or leave their colleagues twisting in the wind. History says they’ll choose the later. Score one for Trump.
6
Bibi headed down this path long before Trump was on the scene. He picked fights with Obama to avoid the peace process and an effective diplomatic solution to Iranian nuclear development. Bibi started pushing the partisan wedge in at least the past few Presidential elections. Sadly he has been abetted at every turn by AIPAC.
12
Trump is helping Trump. Any collateral benefits that befall anyone but him are purely accidental.
9
Kushner? Who is that? He has been sent to Israel to get rid of his toying around with the Government playing Diplomat. He could not be diplomat of anything but being a "yes boy" to his father in law. He is disgraceful.
8
For years American tax payers have been told that we support Israel because it's the only democracy in the Middle East. We give them billions of dollars because we may need them some day as a stategic military base. This support is really paper thin and all it will take is American leaders who don't think Israel's so great for this money source to dry up. Even Jewish Americans are questioning why they are supporting a country who is so oppressive to the Palestinians. With anti-semitism on the rise world-wide, we need Israel to be the democracy it was intended to be by the founders.
13
Israel has already done it -- crossed the Rubicon of American public and political support to a no man's land.
Unless Israel returns to a sane, sound, centrist democratic path, I, a Jew, a lifelong believer in it until the past 10 years and year by year more disturbed by its conduct will be done with it. Absolutely done.
As an American, I have no love for a brutal colonial occupying power and that is what Israel has become and, by god, if there is a people in the world who should know better it is us Jews.
The Palestinians need a country. If they don't get one then Israel will become theirs by the flip of new historical necessity, obliterating the historical necessity of a Jewish state lit by the embers from the camps.
Israel's worst enemy is Israel.
And as to disrespecting the American Congress, the one that votes nearly $4 billion in annual aid to Israel every year, well that -- that is just downright stupid.\
I for one want to see that aid withheld until it is the blanket policy of Israel to welcome every member -- every member of the U.S. Congress, allow them to go where they want anywhere under Israeli control, talk with whom they want and say whatever they think about Israel without restriction.
It is my right as an American paying the taxes that support those appropriations or the debts incurred by them to have every member of my national legislature have full access to everything in and everything about Israel.
23
There are plenty of wealthy Middle Eastern states that could easily provide the Palestinians with a territorial homeland but they choose to vilify Israel for not allowing the devil in its backyard.
8
Dear Mr Friedman, I found this piece to be very bizarre and one-sided. America needs Israel as much (maybe more, by now) than Israel needs America. Many of our neighbors are competing for our attention. Putin would love to be friends with us. So the banning of the two Muslim women is not perceived, here, so much as out of fear, but as a result of the particularly Middle Eastern rules of hospitality: once you let someone into your home, you owe them every courtesy...so it's always a good idea to screen who you let in. As to riots on US campuses: do you mean the campuses which are hotbeds of BDS activism? Hotbeds of hatred? Riot away - not planning to visit. As to banana republics: who shoots unarmed black men in the streets, school children in their schools and worshipers in their places of worship? Who separates children from their parents and puts them in cages? Who lets corporations dictate environmental law? Who swears in a rapist to the Supreme Court? Our most famous politician-rapist - President Katsav - went to jail, as you may remember. Howz them bananas?
7
The primary reason for Israel's declining support among Americans in general and American Jews in specific can be laid at the feet of Netanjyahu and the rise of right wing religious parties pushing the country toward Theocracy.
In addition, Americans of all stripes can remember the Republican invitation to Netanyahu to speak before a Joint Session of Congress and trash the Iran Agreement, which was a significant foreign policy accomplishment of the Obama Administration.
A BDS movement was instrumental in getting South Africa to see the dead end of her Apartheid policy. One is not being Antisemitic to regret Israel's movement toward Apartheid. As settlements are expanded the military occupation grows and more Palestinians are denied full democratic rights. How can that be good for Israel?
The BDS movement would dissolve immediately if Israel stopped illegal settlements, ended the occupation of the West Bank, rejected annexation and granted full democratic rights to all her citizens.
7
Trump is a little boy in a uniform who has no conception of what he’s doing.
Can I have my ice cream now?
7
This is the most entertaining, albeit most unrealistic, of "The Omen" series so far: a monosyllabic demagogue uses race, ethnicity and the Evil Empire to rise to power in the U.S., uses Evangelical ambitions for an American theocracy, and now, gambling on American Jews being more loyal to Israel, diabolically attempts to use Israel as the ultimate tool to further divide three world religions. Considering that most American Jews are not so gullible, how will he succeed?
This is a horror movie I'm watching, right?
7
A well thought out article ruined by you last four or five paragraphs. It's as if you needed to ask forgiveness for your critique of Trump and Netanyahu's demagoguery.
3
Fealty from Netanyahu and support from the “Jews will not replace us” Trumpers.
What a coalition.
It’s hard not to feel like we’re doomed and I mean the global “we”, not just the left.
6
Thomas Friedman is spot-on: Trump is no friend of Israel. Rather, under the guise of supporting this important US ally, Trump uses Israel to further his self-serving agenda. His actions continue to inflame already strained relations in both countries, as the prospects of peace between Israel and Palestinians grow dimmer. While Trump is openly hostile to Palestinians, his faux support of Israel is equally damaging, as this latest fiasco has already shown. In 2018 he moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem not for Israel's sake, but to curry favor with his evangelical Christian base at home. As The NY Times reported, the ceremony included R. Jeffress, "a Dallas evangelical pastor who once said that Jewish people are going to hell" and J. Hagee, "a megachurch televangelist who claimed that Hitler was part of God’s plan to return Jews to Israel". www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/world/middleeast/robert-jeffress-embassy-jerusalem-us. The timing of his recent Tweet is also revealing and typical: he picked this fight when many other events -- increased fear of recession; failing trade war with China; the latest mass shootings and his ongoing capitulation to the NRA; the ongoing humanitarian crisis on our border; etc.-- are all undermining him at home. So, he lobs a tweet that triggers a series of tempests that dominate the news, and distract. That he has damaged important relationships between and within the US and Israel does not matter to him. Neither does Israel's security or future.
8
Mr. Netanyahu had no problem speaking up to an American president who was black. In fact, he had no issue at all with circumventing protocol, manners and precedent to come in to this country and mock President Obama. But now, suddenly, he is “afraid” to go against the totalitarian wishes of this president. No white member of Congress has ever been barred from entering Israel, whether critic or supporter. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence. I think Trump and Netanyahu are twins separated at birth.
13
@Me
Correct and you are right on the money . For his dismissive and downright abusive treatment of Obama I can only conclude that BIBI treated Obama differently because he is black .
Obama contributed more to Israel than any other president before him and that was the “ thanks “ he got ? Shameful .As a Jew , I am disturbed by actions of the Israeli government and concerned for its continued existence . Netanyahu is a narcissistic egomaniac propped up by the far right of the Likud party just like Trump is propped up and enabled by the far right Republicans. And there are many Israelis who detest Netanyahu and his policies ,just like in our country where so many are disgusted by Trump .
5
Don’t worry, it won’t last.
I wonder though that by rejecting trips sponsored and paid by AIPAC and JStreet, and trying to go to Israel/Palestine as an independent delegation, free to talk to and see whatever they wanted, not beholden to any lobbyist money, if that wasn’t the greater ‘offense’.
2
Thoughtful analysis, but who is playing whom here? For many of us growing weary of US leaders giving only lip service to the “peace-process” while supporting Israel’s appropriation of territory and creating a de facto apartheid state, Bibi appears to have found a perfect partner.
8
Israel has the right to deny entry to foreigners who want to promote policies designed to destroy the Jewish state. This issue is about Israel, not Trump. Shame on you Mr. Friedman for falling for the anti- Israel propaganda that is do prevalent in Western media outlets.
11
Also do not forget Israel's support for Trump's election, and foreign interference along with the Saudis. Trump heights will be there, a monument to how an Apartheid state aided and abetted the most radioactive president in the US history.
5
Barring them from Israel was a bad idea. Kind of like when Obama penalized Americans for not buying health coverage. There can be repercussions.
1
This American Jew is so glad that Tom Friedman set her straight on who to vote for in 2020. I'm going to vote for None of the Above. A pox on the Democrats and the Republicans.
3
Gentiles who live in a handful of battleground states will decide the outcome of the 2020 election. American Jews have very little input as to whether or not Trump gets re-elected.
Now who's the fool,Tom Friedman?
2
Bibi walked obviously into a trap.
1
No, Israel is helping Israel. Bibi is no fool.
6
President Trump may be painting "the entire Democratic Party as anti-Israel" but Omar and Tlaib are not only providing the paint, they together with others in their party have supplied the brushes, canvas and subject. Their anti-semitic rants are well documented as is the milquetoast response of their party. When Democrat, Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, insinuated that backers of Israel exhibit dual loyalty her party was unable to pass a resolution singularly condemning anti-Semitism. Instead it became a bland porridge condemning "all hate" directed at Muslims, African-Americans, Native Americans, people of color, Hindus, Sikhs... and Jews.
No one ever accused Donald Trump of being an artist. Perhaps Democrats aren't either but a portrait of them has emerged. Despite their party's efforts to scrub it of its most vivid colors it is already hanging on a wall in the House of Representatives . The only thing left undecided is whether voters will demand that it be removed and whether Elizabeth Warren will find a place to hang it or a copy in the White House.
If you’re an American Jew and you’re planning on voting for a House led by Nancy Pelosi the likes of Elizabeth Warren for president because you think either is pro-Israel, "you’re a damn fool".
7
Friedman’s comment that Rep. Omar should tend to business at home rather than with what’s going on in Israel smacks of sexism. She sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It’s her duty to concern herself.
12
@AlNewman And if the Rep. had been a man and Friedman had said the same (which he undoubtedly would have) what then would be your out?
3
Trump's number one reality, that which dominates any other agenda is Donald Trump. His narcissism is so extreme, that little else matters. He may not be at core a racist, but he's a convenient one as it serves his self interest. Undermining Jewish American relations matters not, if in Donald's view it helps Donald. People murdered on the Streets of El Paso, matter little to him, it's the photo op to promote his re-election. If someone can point to one shred of evidence that he has ever sought to serve any value greater than his own self, please enlighten me. "Telling it like it is" is the virtue that his base regards as so wonderful. What Trump tells us is that the Great America as reflected by Trump is 1) Greedy, 2) Exploitative, 3) Ignorant, 4) Power drunk, 5) Cruel to a fault, 6) Dishonest, 7) Selfish, and 8) Without a conscience. Bibi's right there with him for Israel.
9
People dumped on Rep. Omar about her statement on how money affected American policy. Why? How often are we complaining about the affect of dark money and PACs on politics? Do you really think people like Sheldon Addelson and other like him spread the Benjamin's around because they have nothing better to do?
I'm not saying they don't have the right to do it. There are left wing Benjamin's floating around too. Im just saying that the suppliers of the largess expect a return on investment.
12
If you’re an American Jew voting for Trump, realize he’s several billion dollars personally closer with Saudi Muslims (9-11) . Sticking your head in the sand isn’t going to stop this.
10
Netanyahu is a short sighted fool. Trump is justifiably hated by most Americans, and by an overwhelming majority of Jewish Americans. Netanyahu doesn’t get that Trump, an open bigot and hate monger, only cynically embraces Israel to foment division at home.
13
What benefits ha s the US derived from its support of Israel?
13
Stability in the Middle East and the ability to strike any Middle East country within minutes should they pose a substantial threat to our interests.
4
The American government has provided Israel tens of Billions of dollars with the approval of the US Congress!
Now prime minister Netanyahu, Trumps puppet, has bared members of Congress from Israel!
Hopefully, when it's time to allocate Billions more of American tax dollars to Israel, members of Congress will remember the disrespect shown to them by Bibi !
18
Why don't all those Palestinians just go back to where they came from?
Oops, never mind.
I know, let's build a wall to keep them out of Israel!
Oops, already done.
20
Trump told Netanyahu to jump. Netanyahu said, "How low?"
19
No need to pardon my cynicism.....follow the money trail...where are Jared and crew investing?? Could it
be on settlements??
The number of comments I have read from persons saying
they are American Jews who will no longer give money to
Israel is astonishing.
trump did this to make money.
15
very good piece
I can only add that unexpectedly the world has changed. Everywhere - all over the world -- I don't see the old fashioned conservatives (which were bad enough) but the alt right gaining ground and people seduced by empty promises.
For me long game involves surviving climate change -- in Israel, the US and the rest of the world. We must find a ways to survive.
But the alt right is all about short term political gains. So the immediate future looks bleak but the long term future looks bleaker. The threat is greater than losing political, military and economic support. The threat is existential. That is how we must vote-- and hope that somehow elections still matter.
9
Is it maybe possible that Netanyahu and Trump both feared what the cameras following Tlaib and Omar would show? Maybe something our media doesn't?
22
All the congressional members make 4-star trips to Israel I assume to see where our financial, political, and intelligence aid are going. Why is it that Omar is the only one you think should stay home due to problems in the district? None of the other hundreds of members have problems in their district?
19
I am also concerned about our bi-partisan support of Israel. The Tlaib-Omar issue was a loss-loss for Israel. It was tough to imagine hordes of journalists rushing behind the two BDS supporters spewing their hatred of Israel, and it is tough to read about the criticism of the entry ban from strong supporters of Israel, including Marco Rubio and Aipac.
But at the end of the day each of us should ask ourselves the question whether we would welcome someone to our home who keeps telling everybody that my home is not my home.
The Israeli government got themselves in a tough spot, but let this not turn into support or understanding of two haters, who focus on Israel while ignoring the ongoing violations of human rights in practically all countries of their own faith.
10
Friedman is 100% right in his assessment of Omar. Why are my fellow liberals not protesting that she is trying to interfere in Israeli politics as much as Netanyahu is in American politics? Why are liberals supporting someone who, while once promising, has proven to be an ideologue as much as Trump has?
9
@Bill Owens
Omar stands up to Trump, and looks out for her constituents! What else could I ask for?
12
It doesn’t seem that she is according to Mr. Friedman. I only know her from the news, not Fox, and I like that she’s not afraid of trump. So I don’t know what to think now.
"I strongly oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement — which Representatives Omar and Tlaib have embraced — because it wants to erase the possibility of a two-state solution."
Is that true? I thought the goal of the BDS movement was to pressure the current government of Israel (Netanyahu) to withdraw from areas that they had committed in previously negotiated agreements not to occupy.
18
Much good can come from the annexation of the West Bank and granting full citizenship to the people that live there. Over time, the majority of people there were lucky enough to be born under Israel's control and don't miss or need a Palestine State. Why should a goal of integration be foolish? Why should American extremists like the Squad members be allowed to ferment hostility in Israel? Time can heal most wounds.
5
What a joke to even entertain the idea that there could be a one-state solution where the 2.5 mil other Palestinians would have a vote and be treated equally. Secondly, Israel never wants to give up that land they feel is promised to them from the Bible they have continued to build on so there is the end of a two-state solution. So why do we keep calling them this beacon on democracy in the Middle East? Democracy does not keep millions in an occupied territory with no vote and no equal rights.
22
Folks on the left have worked mightily to curtail Republicans and the right from speaking at public forums especially in academic settings. Mr Friedman acknowledged Netanyahu would have great difficulty speaking at a US university.
As long as the left is is actively shutting down opposition speech and political activites don't complain about getting a dose of your own medicine when some of your own are denied the public spotlight as Omar and Tlaib have.
This is a sad outcome as free exchange of ideas are stifled.yet some hard push back on leftist Democrat intolerance is long over due.
4
No one is kept from speaking anywhere. But if what they have to say is outrageous and offensive to the people they want to say it to, those people have a right to protest. The right of free speech goes both ways. I would think that would be obvious.
6
I have been critical of Mr. Friedman in the past, but this article is spot on. By trying to expand his base by creating a "wedge Issue" Trump has made the critical error of equating the intellectual mettle of his base with American Jewry. Any thinking person advocating for democratic values regards Trump and Netanyahu as greedy outliers avoiding post administration prosecution. Without bipartisan support in the US, Israeli interests are indeed in jeopardy and US interests in the region remain ill defined and precarious.
7
Israel dodged a bullet, even if Friedman refuses to see it. The climax of their trip was to be the Temple Mount where they were to be accompanied by PA officials (Ashrawi among them) in violation of the Oslo Accords among other things. We saw what the waqf did to create riot conditions to block Jews from the Temple Mount this past week.
Imagine the chaos (or for journalists, the photo ops) when Israeli police attempt to block the PA officials over Omar and Tlaib's vocal and perhaps physical opposition with a Palestinian "rent a mob" prepared to act according to script. And if either Omar or Tlaib we’re injured in the ensuing fracas, what then? We already know how this would be reported, because we can see how their banning is being so sympathetically reported.
The ban for this particular visit is a short lived PR stunt of little lasting impact, especially as it’s underlying fact should slowly leak out. Messing with the fragile status quo at the Temple Mount could have had uncontrollable consequences, perhaps fatal ones Inc the long term.
8
Israel missed the opportunity to educate two women who have been spoon fed propaganda their entire lives. They are also young politicians who based on the makeup of their districts are not going anywhere soon, while Trump likely will exit the White House in January 2021. Thinking short term has never been an Israeli strategy, they are at their best when they plan for the long term. Netanyahu's desperation truly shows and his freshness stamp has long since passed.
4
@Bill. Other than the fact that they were not meeting with any Israeli leaders nor visiting any part of the pre-1967 Israel, and were not actually going to learn anything but to confirm their prejudices, you might have a point.
4
Omar and Tlaib have done incredibly well in representing the Palestinian cause. Let's hope they can apply at least some effort, for the cause of their US constituents.
6
Personally, our relationship with Israel was poisoned the moment Netanyahu stepped up to the lectern in front of a joint session of Congress. As a tax paying American, I was outraged and nothing he has done since has abated that.
29
Bibi and Trump share the fear of prison if not re-elected. They will make anything a wedge issue to survive and they don’t care who they hurt.
19
Let me get this straight - are you saying the same person who thinks the chant, 'Jews will not replace us' was done by 'good people' is also making questionable deals to keep Israel strong to assure his Evangelical base that the second coming is still imminent before his reelection rather than for a noble, long-term goal?
Seems like that's going to unravel in the long run. SIgh.
11
Another "home run" by Mr. Friedman. Being against Bibi and his Likudniks is not anti-Semitism. The Israeli election is September 17 for the Knesset. Bibi can't govern if he doesn't get a bunch of minior right wing parties many of whom are ultra-Orthodox. to support him. Another Likudnik government will push Israel, as Mr. Friedman notes, down the path to a totalitarian state. where one person, Bibi, is exempt from the law.
Over 75% of American Jews voted for the Democrats in the mid-terms in 2018. AIPAC, Sheldon Adelson, his ilk and some ultra-Orthodox Rabbis do not represent the vast majority of my American Jewish brothers and sisters. Please keep that in mind.
11
These barred representatives are the U.S. They speak for constituents who pay taxes to subsidize Israel’s defense.
6
The title of this piece does not match the contents: Mr. Friedman argument boils down to this: going forward, Democrats will want revenge on Israel for the perceived snub of the congresswomen.
The logical conclusion from this is: if you support Israel, you HAVE to vote for Trump -- since, per Mr. Friedman, the likes of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren will do Israel great harm if they are placed in the Oval office.
To be logically coherent, the piece should have been titled, "If You Care About Israel, Vote for Trump."
3
@Lev Tsitrin. If Democrats really seek "revenge" for this, then Omar and Tlaib become the face of the Democratic Party. In fact, they are a fringe element and this episode will have no effect on anything - especially if the Israeli elections limit Netanyahu's future. For the anti-Israel crowd, he’s been a convenient lightning rod, but I’m sure they will quickly find a replacement and carry on as before.
1
if you want to be a stickler, it should be along the lines of A Vote for Trump is a Vote for Bibi and Vice Versa.
1
Friedman has to wake up to the fact that Israel is becoming a more conservative country while the Democratic party in the US is pulling left. If you look at Labor in the UK, they have had a ongoing problem with antisemitism on the left. They are only a few years of the Democratic party in the US in picking the party leader from the extreme left. The GOP is actually the best long-term option for Israel.
4
Once again, whispered suggestions of Omar's anti-Semitism without sharing anything she actually said that could be construed as such.
13
Very shred move by Tlaib and Omar. And what free publicity results!
On must wonder, however, what was in their mind when the decided to go to the "lion's den", and did that happen to be at our expense too? I can't speak for the 71 other Congress reps visiting Israel, but what the heck are they all going there for (and, yes, probably a vacation at our expense?). All to see the Old Town of Jerusalem, or also to visit long forgotten relatives?
3
We use up considerable international clout constantly shielding Israel from the UN by vetoing initiatives to protect Palestinian human rights and restrict expansion into the occupied territories. I think all our congresspeople ought to be able to go and see what is actually going on. Not just the ones who already agree with everything Israel does or know nothing except what they are spoon fed on these red carpet excursions. Isn’t the strength in American diversity supposed to be getting different perspectives and then being able to freely discuss bringing us closer to discerning the truth?
5
Netanyahu has learned too late that Trump has no friends, only toadies. So when he was ordered to jump, he jumped, handing the anti Israel wing of the Democratic Party a big victory. It’s hard to believe that he is so demented that he didn’t see the better course of action.
Now he is trapped in a cleft stick of his own cutting. If he does what is best for Israel he alienates Trump who expects total servility. If he alienates Trump he has to deal with the Democrats he has also alienated and depend on the American Jews who have influence on the Democratic Party to back him up. However, though we love Israel we dislike him for deligitimizing Conservative and Reform Judaism. We think a lot of his right wing policies are wrong.
Israelis take heed. Netanyahu has walked the State into quicksand. He has played out his string to a bitter and dangerous end. Vote him out this October. Put in somebody who has Israel’s long term interests first and is nobody’s toady.
3
The best way to keep America safe is to find a just solution to the Israel/Palestinian problem. The U.S. has always functioned as Israel's lawyer and the Palestinians were never offered justice. Their land has been confiscated since 1948 and the confiscation accelerated after Oslo. Then at Israel's behest the US invades Iraq neutralizing Israel's then biggest enemy. Never mind that none of this was in U.S. strategic interest. It is in the interest of politicians who want to win elections and stuff their coffers with AIPAC or Adelson money.
5
Thomas Friedman's snippy comments about representative Omar are beneath him. Cries of Islamophobia were raised in response to Omar being accused of anti-Semitism. And momentum for BDS has been growing in response to Israel's increasingly blatantly entrenchment in the West Bank (and East Jerusalem).
4
Trump and Netanyahu unimaginably damaged support for Israel in the United States and throughout the world. I didn't have to read your opinion piece to understand this.
2
The winner these days is Putin.
His plan, and his handpicked puppet Trump, are well on the way to destroy both the US and Israel. He seeks to foment internal revolt so that he can sell arms and seize former vassal states, all while driving up the price of oil.
2
75% American Jews OPPOSED Trump in 2016.
After 2 years of his supposedly "pro-Israel" policies, our opposition INCREASED, to 80% in 2018, the most of any religious group.
Trump's policies are not really directed at winning American Jews. His aim is to bring in more white evangelicals, who see Israel merely as a vehicle for bringing on Armageddon and the Rapture.
Their professed love for Israel and Jews is the false embrace of a Judas -- to them, we are merely stepping stones in the Book of Revelations. I find it repugnant that they prefix "Judeo -" onto themselves.
They may indeed bring on an apocalypse. There will be no rapture afterward, for anyone.
9
Thomas
You profess a deep understanding of Israel and this analysis falls quite short.
Yes - you are correct. Trump is a disaster.
But - Israel has a long-standing law against incitement and allowing visitors into Israel who promote incitement. You know this. It's likely that the Israeli Foreign Ministry, after learning more about what Tlaib and Omar truly intended, revoked their entry permits, and that Trump distorted it to look like it was "his" influence, not Israeli law.
Israel has refused entry to right-wing Jewish extremists who are coming to incite ill-will amongst settlers in the territories (We know some individuals associated with "Kahane Chai" who were steamed that they traveled and were turned back at Ben Gurion airport, and complained using many of the same words Tlaib has used. They were amazed that we were not sympathetic and disagreed with their "cause.")
And, Thomas, surely you know about CHRISTIAN British MP's who were denied entry to Israel because they wanted to come on missions of solidarity with Hamas and Islamic Jihad - not because Israel couldn't handle criticism but because it would be incitement.
Thomas, we expect better of you than jumping on the bandwagon of superficial pseudo-analyses.
6
One of the biggest blunders of American foreign policy, since the founding State of Isreal in 1948, has been its continued total and uncritical support of Israeli policies in the Mideast. My own misgivings on Israel began in 1967 when Israeli airplanes attacked an American ship, the USS LIBERTY, in international waters in the Mediterean sea. Many US Navy personnel were killed and wounded in the attack (Some I knew) during the 1967 war. Israel apologized and said the attack was accidental. It was not, and the pilots even identified the ship as a US vessel to their controller. The attack was downplayed by the Johnson administration. We have become apologists for Israeli actions and have poisoned the minds of a 1,000,000,000 muslims throughout the world. I am NOT suggesting that we should abandon Israel as an ally. Nor am I suggesting that Jews are bad people. But, since 1948 Israel has been a sovereign country and should be held to the same standards of behavior as other countries. We outlawed assassination as a state policy years ago. We still defend Israel's use of assasination as government policy. We allowed Israel to develop a nuclear
capacity while striving to deny the same to Iran. Regardless of the rational of our defense of Israel policies, the world perception is that we will always find excuses for Israeli behavior. Friedman is a little late with his warning. The cat is out of the bag and the current government is no help.
8
Trump gave legitimacy to Israel's right to, and possession of, Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. He has reduced aid to the terrorist supporting PLO. He has ended the 2 state fiction and replaced it with entirely achievable Palestinian controlled autonomous areas that can give the Palestinian people peace and prosperity. Trump is the greatest, president for Israel since Harry Truman. Israel, a tiny state that's more democratic than any other country in the Middle East, is not a democracy. It is the Jewish Homeland; an insurance policy against future persecution directed at the Jewish people. Non-Jews will never have the same rights there; nor should they. That's not the purpose of the State. There are many other Arab states that they can move to so that they can finally be rid of those pesky Jews. (Oh, I forgot, any other Arab country would put "Israeli injustices" to shame). All Jews, even the self-hating, owe Trump a huge debt of gratitude. His position on Israel is a primary reason why this Jewish, former Hillary supporter, is enthusiastically supporting the re-election of our great President.
4
Understand your concern, but Trump is simply playing to the MAGA Republican and evangelical Christian base. Barring the Democrat representatives excites the GOP base without regard to its pettiness, ignorance and rank stupidity. As well, with Trump, it is only going to get worse! It is embarrassing to be an American!
3
I'm pro-israel on so many levels. But this latest? We need to cut all funding to Israel.
4
Well said Mr Friedman. As an American Jew I’m awfully tired of Bibi and his nonsense. And to all my right wing Christian friends who blindly support Israel - wake up and demand better behavior from Israel. You’ll get it.
6
The hostile views towards Israel started with Obama. Then we got Omar and Tlaib and now we have anti Israel rhetoric coming from Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
Since when in America do we not call out hate speech and those that support terror. The Democrats are circling the wagons around Omar and Tlaib. These ladies single out Israel and American Jewish support for Israel and there support of the BDS movement/ It translate to unabashed classic Antisemitism.These two representatives had the opportunity to travel to Israel with fellow freshman Democrats on a fact finding trip and assess the situation on the ground first hand. They chose not to because there minds were already made up and there agenda was to support the PLO terrorist evil regime The corrupt PLO incites and terrorizes there own people not just Jews and Israel. Israel has every right not allow supporters of terrorism in the halls of Congress entry into their country.
Friedman is making a fool of us by this opinion piece. His only purpose is to bash Trump and Bibi. Trump is Israel's greatest supporter and if you believe he is not your the fool.
Americans realize that Israel is our greatest ally and the left wing media and politicians will try their to create a wedge between America and Israel but they will never succeed.
5
You say that Israel is our greatest ally etc. What does this alliance do for us? It costs us billions of dollars, the Israeli PM interferes in our internal affairs, and we are seen to be supporting an apparently oppressive regime.
5
No American President and Israeli Prime Minister have ever made support for Israel a wedge issue in American politics? Mr. Friedman must have slept through the GW Bush administration.
2
Israel has changed. It's not the 70's anymore. It has become a right-wing, repressive, aggressive apartheid like state and a threat not only Middle East peace but world peace. It has been maneuvering to somehow, some way, drag us into its wars or initiate war to benefit themselves at our expense. Iran is a perfect example. I no longer trust them and in fact am very distrustful of their intentions. Their powerful lobby AIPAC has pumped millions of dollars into our politicians to do their bidding. The anti-Semitism smears against those who criticize Israeli policy is disingenuous and counter-productive and self serving.
6
Many younger Jews think of Israel negatively. Netanyahu's foolishness (both this and other nasty acts) may lose that generation for good.
5
Dear Mr Friedman,
Good try,Omar and Tlaib do not believe in the right of Israel to exist,apparently many woke Jews agree with them ie you.
The democrats had an opportunity to criticize Omar’s blatant anti semitism but came up with a weak kneed response
voting to condemn all hate speech.Your hatred of Trump Mr Friedman and his so far successful effort to paint the party
of the traditional Jewish voter as anti Semitic is clearly unsettling many on the left.You need look no further than the great labor party in Britain
which is openly anti Semitic,it appears to be a normal reaction of the far left.
4
Sure, Trump likes Jews. He also likes kosher food, but dioes not care where it comes from. One must also consider whether Jews have been disproportionately disadvantaged by bad luck or design during his Administration. How many Jews have fallen by the wayside under Trump who would be in their career and family lives today instead of sitting in jail? What price glory?
1
America’s blind support for Israel is about as logical as its support for guns and college football.
5
The Democrats need conservative Jews if they want to win Pennsyvlania and Florida. Most of them aren't voting for Trump. But they're not voting for Sanders or Warren either.l
2
It's time we stopped pretending Israel is a democracy.
3
Bibi knows he won't go to prison. Trump will pardon him.
2
Sounds like Thomas Friedman believes Israel shouldn’t and cannot govern their own sovereignty.
3
A well thought out...well reasoned warning to those of us who are American Jews...and especially a well deserved critique of
Omar..She has received far too much publicity from the Times.. which may be regretted.
4
Both of these "leaders" care only about power and the amount of money that comes with that power.
5
"... a Jewish banana republic." -- Nailed it! -- and I would add, a Jewish banana republic which oppresses Palestinians, has nuclear weapons, and receives billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid which would be far better spent in more deserving countries, and more than anywhere, right here at home!
14
There is a time in the memories of people who are still living today when Israel and the Jewish people had very few friends.
Even today, they still don’t have many.
Given the great number of anti-Semites in the world and the relative paucity of Jews, is it really any wonder that Mr. Netanyahu looks to make friends for Israel and for the Jewish people wherever he can find them, whether that be in Europe, in the Middle East, in Africa, in Asia or here in the White House?
83
@A. Stanton
"Mr. Netanyahu looks to make friends for Israel and for the Jewish people"
Is breaking international law a way to make friends?
Is "mowing the lawn in Gaza" and killing innocent civilians a way to make friends?
Is oppression of the Palestinian people and denying their legal and human rights a way to make friends?
Is lying to world leaders a way to make friends?
Is interfering in US politics a way to make friends?
Is making an alliance with MBS (alias "the butcher") a way to make friends?
Is promoting war with Iraq and now Iran a way to make friends?
Is conducting illegal activity in Israel a way to set an example and make friends?
NO.
Netanyahu has made more enemies for Isreal and more anti-semitism for the Jewish people.
134
@A. Stanton
when one makes friends with Trump one also makes friends with white supremacy and white nationalists.
92
@A. Stanton While it’s true that historically the Jews never had many friends, countries operate on the principle of what is in their national interest. That is why Israel is entering a golden era (given its past) in its ever expanding international relations.
Why? Because Israel has created things the world needs. For some, it’s raw intelligence to better understand your opponents. For others it’s green technology, medical innovations and agricultural advances.
If Israel were not the hot house of innovation necessary to the world's advancement, do you really think any country would give it any more thought than most African and Asian countries receive? And that’s even before you get into the Jewish angle.
21
Bibi got the American president he hoped for. Like all Trump devotees it will cost Bibi his soul. No one flys by Trump without getting burned.
6
Mr. Friedman is a reliable voice of reason in a swamp of incompetence.
7
The brilliant Mr. Friedman once again tells it like it is.
But, unfortunately, Red State Republicans think the greatest newspaper in the world, the New York Times, is the lying enemy.
Happily, however, our Jewish brothers and sisters, whether Red State or Blue, have always thought independently.
I think this column will be heard.
8
Thank you!
6
Israelis can put Bibi out to pasture in September; America has to wait another whole year to kick Trump to the curb — sooner the better for both small-minded and divisive "leaders."
Does Bibi's sycophancy to Trump actually play all that well in Israel? Makes him look positively desperate for a best friend, and ultimately quite weak.
5
There is no bigger enemy of the Jewish People than Netanyahu, no single individual that fuels antisemitism more than he does, and Israel will soon find that the only friends they have, are American extremists on the Christian right, and fraudsters like Trump.
8
Trump is also the President who said some Neo-Nazi demonstrators - who shouted "Jews will not replace us" - "very fine people."
12
An excellent piece. The headline does not appropriately capture the balanced position presented.
7
Trump and Netanyahu are dividers whose policies will lead their nations, and their neighbors, into more troubled times. Trying to convince over 50% of Americans that Israel is against you seems very unwise to me.
3
Once again, Trump cares only about Trump. If he can use Israel to wound an opponent here at home or win an election he will do it regardless of the international consequences. Trump pretends to take a tough stand on most everything hoping to fool his base into thinking he is standing up for American or Israeli interests, but in the end it is only a partisan vindictive attempt to sow discord for his own self interest.
9
Long term consequences arising from recent Israeli actions towards the two Congresswomen are unforeseeable. The public is often thought of as forgetful over time. From the beginning of time, U.S. lawmakers have seemed happy to express overwhelming support for any and all actions undertaken by Israel. U.S. support for Israel has been contrary to the will of other members of the U.N. Security Council. Any significant erosion of this support will be slow at best.
3
I too know that not just a few of the Somali elders in Rep. Ohar’s district are very unhappy with her because of her focus on Israel, and sowing division. But Netanyahu is helping her, elevating her status.It’s just about politics, not actually concerned with Israels security nor fighting BDS.
3
I echo the heartfelt concern Mr. Friedman expressed, but focusing solely on Trump and Netanyahu skews perspective, as does failing to acknowledge the reality that Israel passed a law in 2017 allowing them to deny entry to those like Omar and Tlaib who publicly support the bds movement.... it does the debate no service to engage in selective narratives......
4
As an Israeli-American, I agree with everything Tom Friedman is saying. The problem is that most of the Israeli public love Trump, and don't see the danger he poses to the future of the American Israeli cooperation. In addition, I am finding out that some of my Jewish friends like Trump only because of his support for Israel, also ignoring the long term consequences of the historic, bi-partisan American support for Israel. Wake up, everybody! Trump is a destroyer and a divider who think of his own reelection and doesn't care much about anything else.
13
While the main point of the article is fairly solid, Mr. Friedman shows his bias when speaking first of Warren and Sanders. He defers to Warren, while ignoring Sanders, a Jew and a long outspoken critic of the Israeli government on issues like Gaza and the US giving billions to their defense. He then misrepresents Omar and her support because, "I know a lot about her home district in Minnesota, because I grew up in it, in St. Louis Park" Growing up there and living there now are two very, very different things. Further I would be willing to guess that Mr. Friedman would not have been a supporter of Omar if he did still in fact live in her district.
At the end of the day, it appears, when reading between the lines, Mr. Friedman may generally support the right wing Israeli government more than he is willing to admit. The threat of political division is legitimately concerning, misrepresenting those with a differing political view is at the least bad form.
4
Great piece. Let's not pretend that Repubs care about the Jewish state. They simply see an opportunity to export white identity politics to an otherwise Arab-Muslim region. It is truly disgusting what they are doing. However, I'm also pleased to hear someone criticize the automatic cries of Islamophobia. Those congresswomen are elected officials; criticism comes with the territory. I think they were pathetic when they attacked Pelosi for criticizing them, as if being women of color puts them above and beyond criticism. It's disgusting that Trump exported this partisan clash to a foreign power -- add that to the thousands of individual reasons to impeach; but, I'll criticize them all I want, and if you want to call me a racist for that, maybe you shouldn't be surprised when white people keep voting for Trump, often against their own interests.
4
“ ‘We don’t need AIPAC anymore,’ Benjamin Netanyahu mused to one of his advisers a few months ago. ‘We have enough support in the United States from the evangelicals.’. “
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium-why-netanyahu-doesn-t-need-aipac-anymore-1.7061256
Any analysis of the right-wing of alliance between Trump and Netanyahu that overlooks the role of American evangelicals (many of them messianic) will come up short.
It’s more than a little unsettling that the political survival of Trump and, less directly, Netanyahu may depend on support from a sect for whom the end of the world is the joyful culmination of human history.
11
I have lived in and supported Israel. I obtained a part of my education there. Until Nentanyahu is gone, I am not a supporter. This act, on Trump's behest is just the latest outrage, but it is the straw that broke the camel's back.
6
By my count, since the Camp David Accords, the US taxpayers have handed Israel nearly $150 billion in military and economic assistance. In return, successive Israeli governments undertook the plundering of Palestinian lands and natural resources.
When Palestinians resisted the thefts by rock throwing demonstrations, they were met with the full might of one the most powerful militaries in the world, thanks in large measure by our weapons gifts, with no questions asked, and certainly no concern for human rights on our part.
It's time for America to cut this unhealthy, inhumane umbilical cord.
8
"But anytime she is legitimately criticized, Democrats automatically scream “Islamophobia’’ and defend her. That’s as disturbing as Trump."
1. It's much more complicated than that isn't it? Legitimate criticisms but there is definintely an element of racism/Islamophobia as politicians take advantage of these controversies.
2. No, it's not as disturbing as Trump. Nothing is as disturbing as Trump.
3
I've bought Israeli bonds and visited Israel twice. No more until and unless their government and policy changes and especially until they stop interfering in my government.
5
Not to mention that trump is so bad that many, myself included, are sorely tempted to adopt the attitude that any friend of trump, including Israel, is my enemy.
3
I think it was a mistake on Trump's part and perhaps also on Bibi's. And it is also true that Israel has been harmed by the ban.
But, no need for a long editorial.
Today is Saturday and therefore the Sabbath.
How about the rule "no attacks on Trump on the Sabbath"?
I am sure there are other topics in this world.
One reason why Stave Pinker and Jordan Peterson are popular is that they are not always screaming gloom and doom, something that the NYT has far too much of. You could cut down the gloom and doom and attacks on "right wingers" by 75% and still have plenty of gloom and doom.
How about it? How about a Sabbath?
@Ludwig
I am not of any religious ilk. Why should the rest of us have to adhere to your religious encumbrances?
5
Israel denies entry to many high profile individuals who have exhibited animosity towards the Jewish state. Did Netanyahu really need a request from Trump to deny these people entry.
Does making them exempt from this policy, because they are members of congress, really solve the Friedman's problem with Israel?
3
exactly, thanks!
2
There is a HUGE difference between criticizing Israel and being anti-Semitic. Mr. Friedman's article is spot on.
9
I can't stand Trump or anything that he does. I am not fond at all of Netanyahu. However I cannot fathom that Netanyahu takes "orders" from Trump. Israeli law prohibits supporters of BDS from entering the country. Trump does not make Israeli law.
6
It was a no-win situation, no matter what decision was made. But it does have the appearance succumbing to Trump. Given that they were initially going to let them in, it might have been better to stick with that and deal with the consequences.
1
You are the voice of reason and common sense in a crazy world. As you point out, both sides of this issue need a reality check and an adjustment in their behavior and words. What Bibi and Trump did was very wrong and damaging. The two congresswomen should have been allowed to go to Israel. These women also should be putting their constituents first and working for them--that is the most powerful thing that they can do. Trump is a destroyer--and this week in which he has supposed to have been on vacation--has been more inflammatory and destructive than usual. Something must change soon or America could become just a memory.
4
This essay is spot on in terms of the overall message. However, Mr Friedman appears to be wrong indicating BDS is against a two-state solution. Based on the web site for the BDS movement, the group does not advocate for any particular outcome in this regard. See https://bdsmovement.net/faqs
2
The author of this column states, “I strongly oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement — which Representatives Omar and Tlaib have embraced — because it wants to erase the possibility of a two-state solution. And I am particularly unhappy with Representative Omar”? The New York Times and all of its columnists know all too well that the BDS boycott of Israeli goods is a peaceful protest relying on Freedom of Speech to win for what little remains of Palestine freedom, justice and equality for its people. Claiming that BDS “wants to erase the possibility of a two-state solution” is ludicrous! And why is the author of this column “particularly unhappy with Representative Omar”? She speaks truth to Israel and its longstanding oppression of its “neighbors”, the Palestinians.
These two Congresswomen have done an invaluable service by calling out the wanton abject denial and cognisant dissonance over Theocratic Israel's brutality, racism and land theft in what little remains of Palestine for the past 6 decades. Israel is guilty of these human rights crimes!
4
@James Michie The only things standing in the way of Palestinian "freedom" are Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinians who support them.
1
Why do my fellow Jews think Trump even cares about their votes? Most Jews live in solidly blue states that will never go for Trump (aside from Florida which is really not even in play anymore). All the Israel talk is aimed at courting Christian voters who have enough numbers in enough states to keep Trump and other Republicans in office. And of course it has the added “bonus” of being anti-Muslim and forcing Democrats to defend people who aren’t so easy to defend. It’s Classic Trump.
7
We are subsidizing the follies in Israel to the tune of $4billion per year. Maybe it's time to re-evaluate this spending.
3
Sorry Mr. Friedman, but this was purely a publicity stunt from the word go by Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. What exactly did they think would happen? Let's see...what are the options:
They could have been allowed to go. But, of course, that would have produced endless photo ops and videos...all conveniently designed to make Israel look like a villain. And, all designed to be memes without any context. So, there's a losing situation for Israel.
Or, they could have been blocked from going. Which is what happened, and now they're martyrs. Another publicity loss of Israel, and another gain for them. Poor Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib! How sad!
So, basically, there was no win-win opportunity for Israel. The best they can do now is manage the fallout. Having, Trump stick his nose in this mess has only managed to make things worse. What a surprise!
I think it's fair to ask why Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib decided to go to Israel. Why didn't they go to Saudi Arabia? If they're so interested in what's happening in the Mideast then let them investigate a place where women have no rights and who are committing genocide in Yemen. How about Syria? Libya? Egypt? Jordan? There are lots of places...but, no! They chose Israel purely for the publicity they knew they'd get.
Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib's trip was purely for the press they knew they'd get out of it. And, for their desire to make Israel look bad. Well, I guess they accomplished that. They should be ashamed of themselves.
7
1. The fact that critics may get publicity and make Israel look bad isn't the fault of the critics but a reflection that many people agree with the critics.
2. The real mystery isn't why they didn't go to some other country on this occasion but rather why leaders of supposedly free societies engaged in these bullying, authoritarian tactics.
5
@Skeptic Thank you for having the most sensible comment I have seen on this topic.
1
Mr. Friedman we know Trump is the worst offender, even worse than Netanyahu. His failed son-in-law's peace initiative was a joke. Trump is a rather vicious buffoon. And he thinks because he says Israel is great he can control it as he does the US now. It is time we all show him he cannot do this...he cannot destroy the US further or Israel.
4
The fact that Netanyahu IS Trump’s tool and total lackey HAS damaged relations between the US and Israel. Personally, I’ve gone from a fairly consistent Zionist to one who frequently questions Israel’s positions AND sanity in re-electing a right-wing zealot like Netanyahu. Ben-Gurion and all the founders who cherished democracy must be turning in their graves.
4
Opposition to Israeli governmental policies does not make me anti semitic. Nor does my opposition to American governmental policy make me unpatriotic.
14
It is so wearying to see the lockstep Israeli politician-journalist lobby pummel Omar and Tlaib for their willingness to call out Israeli occupation and domination of US Middle East policy and then backhandedly offer their “on the surface” critique of their ban by Trump and Israel. Discussion of Omar and Tlaib,even by the most liberal of the Israeli owned journalists, always has to point out how despicable their positions are. But is it really wrong to “trace the Benjamins” and see the obvious reality that 95 percent of Congress bows to the Israelis and if one dares to call out Israel, she becomes vilified like Omar and Tlaib. Fact is, many Americans of many political persuasions are fed up with the “unholy” alliance of American politicians with the Israeli government, much to the long term detriment of America.
4
Hillel the Elder:
“That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation. Go study.”
“Do not judge your fellow until you come to his place.”
By my standards, the current Israeli regime does not embrace Jewish values, and clearly Trump does not embrace Christian values.
7
Gee, wouldn't refraining from judging until you go there mean respecting the fact that the Israeli population generally loves trump?
1
Sorry, no. He’s too far off the rails. People have to be able to form opinions about their elected officials.
1
Hey Tom, superb writing. Do you have a hunch which of the two countries will be the better banana republic after these two thieves get re-elected and continue with their evil machinations? Had planned on moving to Israel if condon fixes another election, but I think The Netherlands is sounding better every day. Knew Bibi was evil but didn’t realize how bad with the Supreme Court. Bibi and condon never cared about anything but lining their pockets and power. Soulmates.
5
Bibi has made a dreadful mistake ceding to Twitter Trump’s directive......sad, weak and destructive.
5
After reading "The Diary of Anne Frank" in a tiny Christian town in the 1950s Midwest, I became a decades-long vocal defender of all things Israeli, until Bibi Netanyahu came along and started his dirty work. Then, another chunk of my fondness and support fell away when that Las Vegas Jewish billionaire backer of Bibi began throwing his financial weight around behind disgusting Republicans like Trump. Now, with sadness for my American Jewish friends and NO fondness for the enemies of Israel, I will no longer support any politician who supports American aid to Israel.
4
These two members of the Squad set up Trump and Bibbi and both fell into the trap.
1
"How many young Americans want to buy into that narrative? If Bibi wins, he plans to pass a law banning his own indictment on corruption, and then, when Israel’s Supreme Court strikes down that law as illegal, he plans to get the Knesset to pass another law making the Supreme Court subservient to his Parliament. I am not making this up. Israel will become a Jewish banana republic."
Could this be the main reason that Trump supports Netanyahu?
3
Israel and the US are quite similar. They both have leaders who are corrupt (morally and maybe legally) and advance detrimental far-right policies. More importantly, each country has many people who were dumb enough to vote them into office. It remains to be seen whether those voters have gotten any smarter.
3
Another of the endless rants by Friedman condemning Trump. It's the little boy who cried wolf - After awhile, it doesn't have meaning. There is no reason to read most of Friedman's columns, because the titles tell all - essentially, just read the title and extend it with the unwritten "and I hate Trump"
The following is actually accurate in today's column:
"Don’t get me wrong. I strongly oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement — which Representatives Omar and Tlaib have embraced — because it wants to erase the possibility of a two-state solution. And I am particularly unhappy with Representative Omar."
True statement, yet he does NOT mention that overwhelming SILENCE by Pelosi and the rest of the Dems in NOT condemning these women and their leading the BDS movement.
They are extremely anti-Jew and anti-Israel, yet the Dem leadership does not silence them, a few rookies with less than ONE (1) year in office!
But Friedman rails against Trump, who blessed his one daughter's conversion to the Jewish faith, embraced his Jewish son-in-law and has done for Israel what no other world leader has concerning the US embassy and the Golan heights.
Once Trump met with Assad and took his measure, he knew Assad was not a reliable leader, just another placeholder with little following. Until the Palestinians select a true leader of the people, the Palestinians will continue to swing in the wind.
Compared to Obama and any other US president, Trump is a hero in Israel!
3
The title for this piece is nearly accurate. It should, instead, read: “If You Think Trump Is Helping Anyone But Himself, You’re a Fool”
That would reflect the actual situation.
2
Poisoned relations with America? What difference could that possibly make?
I thought - through Trump - the Israeli's were running America.
3
Long known with most people that Bibi and Trump are the worst for Israel and USA on many levels especially for the future of both countries. In Israel, at least the opposition tries to bring down Bibi but in the US, democrats are weaklings who have no guts and Republicans have lost leadership and allowed this joke of a president to humiliate their party for so long.
2
If you think Omar and Tlaib are helping their constituents in Minneapolis and Detroit respectively, you’re a fool. They’ve just been stirring up trouble ever since they got elected, while doing nothing meaningful for Americans where they live. Democrats should seriously consider primary challengers to them next year.
6
..."Representatives Omar and Tlaib have embraced — because it wants to erase the possibility of a two-state solution"....
Well, the entire Republican Party, including the Jewish "because of tax cuts" Trump supporters, the Evangelical end of days crowd rump supporters, and all of Bibi's extreme fundamentalist supporters in Israel want to erase the possibility of a two-state solution.
So that's your main criticisms of Omar and Talib?
Thats a rather slender reed to hang one's hat on.
4
If it woke some people up about the state of Israel under Netanyahu (and the ultra orthodox) that's ok by me.
3
Beyond 'being smart - not right' , politics , bi-partisanship , democracy , history , Trump , Bibi , etc. , there is also a matter of basic pride .
Omar and Tlaib are anti-Semites .
Their utterances are despicable ( "BENJAMINS" ) .
They do not belong in Israel ( and neither in Washington... )
5
Times change, needs change. Somehow, American Jews, traditionally Democrats, now actually belong in the Republican party--they're having a hard time coming to that realization; of course, leftist commentators aren't making it any easier.
4
Since Friedman called me a fool, I’d like to return the favor. He again is pontificating on an issue without acknowledging the unreasoned hatred Israel faces from its foes. Israel has flourished in that Middle Eastern sea of hatred by adhering to the rule that appeasement only strengthens its enemies. Welcoming into its borders those who support a boycott of Israel is appeasement of the Neville Chamberlain variety.
7
This incident makes Israel look like a weak, theocratic kleptocracy. Kind of like Iran.
2
Trump is weak and Bibi jumped on the Trump ship.
Some decmoracy that can't stand free speech.
Support for Israel has always been bipartisan but
that is now gone too.
Everything Trump touches dies.
Rick Wilson
2
Maybe some of those conservative voters who feel that Israel is essential to the the Second Coming of Jesus, would reconsider their enthusiastic support of Bibi and Donnie if they knew that abortion is totally legal in Israel, and unlike America, can be paid for under their national health insurance.
3
And letting Omar and Tlaib, lightweights who would blend into the woodwork if they didn’t promote themselves and their anti-Semitic views, is good for Israel? I used to think the left’s primary characteristic was arrogance. But in fact it is naïveté. They understand that a few Tea Partiers or Evangelicals or MAGA hat wearing Trumpsters could poison the culture of a small Vermont village. But the thought that two anti-Semitic congresswomen who are willing to take money from an anti-Semitic group in order to go to Israel to promote their boycott of Israel are harmless, even do-gooders, is simply naive and, ultimately, very bad for Jews in Smerica and Israel.
6
As far as I'm concerned, the annexation of Israel between the GOP and Democrats began when arrogant Entitled Bibi spoke to Congress w/o asking Obama.
6
There are times when Thomas Friedman just absolutely 'nails it'; this is one of those times!
2
Bibi put his finger in the air, and sensed Trump and his ilk are the future of America, and sided with the Tweeter in Chief . Nothing could be further from the truth. I work with young people daily, and I would say maybe 90% have allied themselves with the Democratic party. They are the future. Trump is an ugly old man, stoking the fears of other white older Americans and largely abandoning the future for the present. The Republican party, once sober and intellegent, has fallen right in with him. Now, so has Isreal.
In the end, it is a bad long term decision.
2
Israel has confused the definitions of Jewish and Zionism to the point that the 2 words are interchangeable & Israel has weaponized the powerful charge of “anti-Semitism” & applies it against critics of controversial Jewish Israeli policies.
“Jewish” originally meant a religion, a culture, or a self-identified ethnic group. Zionism is an ethnic Nationalist political ideology that promotes the political State of Israel. Zionist narrative states the “Jewish State” & the “Jewish People” are one & the same, & to critique one is to critique the other.
In the US the consequence of this redefinition is US Senate Bill 1, which labels protests against Israel as “anti-Semitic” acts, punishable by fines and/or imprisonment.
So, if I’m American, I can’t boycott, I can’t complain about Israeli settlements, journalists can’t report on Settler violence in the Occupied Territories without being labeled “anti-Semitic”, and subject to judicial punishment.
But, it’s still OK for the revolving door between American pro-Israel lobbying groups and the official Israeli Government to keep a-spinning, and it’s OK for US citizens, carrying Israeli passports, to successfully influence US legislation that supports the political aims of their 2nd nation of citizenship & loyalty.
Welcome to the new US normal, where a country the size of Haiti has profound influence over American foreign policy & Americans watch their civil liberties erode out of the fear of being labeled “anti-Semitic”.
7
I will be writing a large check in support of BDS soon and will continue to support this organization. I am sick of how Israel treats the Palestinians.
3
Netanyahu didn't do anything to influence my relating to Israel as one of its supporters one way or another. Omar and Tlaib have an agenda to harm Israel at least by leading the BDS movement. Who would allow any such person who wants to harm their economy into their country. Their prominence in the news with two other new Congresswomen is poisonous to the advancement of women in politics.
3
By law, Israel reserves the right to refuse entry to foreign visitors whose intentions are to harm the country by whatever means...including advocacy for BDS (which seeks to destroy Israel), as well as aiding and abetting Israel’s enemies.
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are not above the law.
6
Trump may not be helping Israel. But Israel certainly deserves Trump.
2
I wonder how big of a boost all of this will be to the BDS movement.
2
To All Who Condemn Israel
The 2 Congresswomen refused to visit Israel with 72 other Congresspeople who were visiting both Israel and the Palestinians.
No. These 2 separated and were to be guided by Miftah, a nasty anti- Semitic Palestinian group. They were there to cause trouble and provoke the crowds to perhaps even riot.
This was no fact finding open minded visit. This was solely to provoke.
I am a Democrat , but I read the facts. Stop looking at st one side, Mr. Friedman. You seem to be the cause of problems writing without the whole story. We all know you hate Trump and Bebi. Please stop letting it color your articles and mislead your readers.
4
To quote an appropriate book title “Everything Trump Touches Dies” and so it will be with the historic close relationship between the U.S. and Israel if Trump is re-elected.
3
Trump and Netanyahu may think the GOP will support their political agendas to become dictators. But they are ignoring reality, American Jews have been mostly supporters of the Democrats. Trump's attempt to con them into supporting him is likely to fail. Trump's base may be quiet about it, but the white supremacist far right are not supportive of Jews. We remember the "nice people" on one side in Charlottesville; "Jews will not replace us". Trump is deflecting their hate towards Hispanics, but they have plenty of hate for all minorities.
2
I have long been a marginal supporter of Israel.
After this, I will never get behind any US support of Israel. Ever. Done with it.
4
If the Israelis wanted to take a principled stand, they might have allowed Tlaib to visit without preconditions, but banned Representative Omar due to her anti-Jewish statements. After all, even the Democratic leadership publicly condemned Omar’s comments. Thus, Israelis would have shown some solidarity with American Jews who are increasingly under attack by right wing extremists who echo Nazi chants and have killed Jews in Pittsburgh and San Diego. Of course, Netanyahu could hardly criticize Omar for her antisemitic remarks when his good friend, Hungary's Viktor Orban, has repeatedly used antisemitic tropes about Jewish bankers against George Soros.
Although Israel may become a wedge issue between Democrats and Republicans, an even larger existential wedge is developing between American Jews and Israelis. Israelis adore Donald Trump despite the increase in antisemitic activity in the US by rightists emboldened by Trump. Netanyahu has condemned Europeans for not addressing Islamic extremism, but he has been virtually silent about Trump's failure to adequately address the white supremacist extremism that led to deadly attacks in Pittsburgh and San Diego. Israel asks American Jews for support, but offers us absolutely nothing of value in return. Like Trump and his minions, loyalty flows in only one direction.
3
@Utahn. Israel agreed to Tlaib’s conditions, not the other way around, because visiting her grandmother was a private matter. In response, Tlaib was compelled to backtrack after enduring the exact type of BDS harassment and shaming campaign normally reserved for those who wish to go to Israel to see things for themselves. It’s not clear what more Israel could do under the circumstances.
1
Netanyahu just branded himself as a puppet of Trump made Israel look like a stooge of Trump to the rest of the world. Sad.
2
Right on! I just told my rep to stop all support to Israel.
3
Kahane was right: Israel can be either a democracy or a Jewish state,but not both.
2
This is why Thomas Friedman is the strongest single voice in journalism. He cuts through the mud and flack in all issues and gets to the core of mankinds conflicts and concerns.
He is absolutely correct about Israel and Omar. Omar will be able to pivot and say I was young and inexperienced. Netanyahu, well he is past his youth and has loads of experience. America is getting tired of him as he jumps on a sinking boat called Trump, with the state of Israel sustaining some damage here in the U.S..
Netanyahu's affection for Trump, even if it only to get what he wants, is very troubling and provides him and Israel only short term benefits. Soon Trump will be gone leaving scars everywhere he goes including our relationship wth Israel.
3
To understand what trump is doing the first rule is trump is trying to help trump.
If he is floating a policy or tweeting and you don’t understand where he is going see the first rule.
1
Here's an idea...stop the billions of U.S. taxpayer money going to Israel.
Bibi, you're on your own.
3
You’re correct.
Israel is helping Trump!
"Israel will become a Jewish banana republic."
The U.S. is fast becoming Trump's banana republic -- or worse. Under Trump, the U.S. is ahead of Israel.
4
I have friends in Israel who I wish to visit this year. Will I be blocked if I say something in this newspaper?
2
You're a better writer, Mr. Friedman, that to equate Omar's beliefs with Trump. Stop with the two-side-ism.
Israel is increasingly functioning like South Africa did in the 20th century. BDS at that time was directed against South Africa and it got results eventually. It was a peaceful approach to an ugly problem. It’s the same problem Bebe and Trump are creating. Israel can call it all off any time it chooses.
4
The perfect storm is occurring in real time, all designed by Steve Bannon, Dark Money and the cyber wars fought through fake news & the exploitation of social media by Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. We always had enemies, now we have more, as this isolation policy has weakened the strongest economy and shown the strongest military to be no more than paper tigers against these forces.
Sprinkle in Bannon’s expansion into Europe with his putrid destructive tongue and oh, by the way, climate change, and I no longer see any way out of this real time destruction of “humanity” or more realistically, Homo sapiens.
The citizens of Sodom & Gomorra laughed at the warnings. So do the GOP and the rest of these monsters who short-sightedly, greedily glom every last bit of gold and oil from the rest of us, only to go up in fire & brimstone like the rest of us.
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
And we are lead by the most illiterate piece of trash possible at the moment of a nexus of a myriad of crises simultaneously.
2
I am a Moslem and I agree with Thomas Friedman . Ms Omar has approached her new position with a rare arrogance . Instead of keeping her mouth shut for at least the first 6 months ,in order to study the subjects she intends to deal with, familiarize herself with the workings of Congress and the problems her community is dealing with, she has immediately jumped into international politics, showing a level of ignorance that was stunning. She wants to help the Palestinians? By all means, they need help, but they deserve much better than Omar's self pitying musings.
7
Let’s not forget that the Democratic Party became less supportive of Israel under the Obama administration. The candidates who follow that lead will encourage their base but will lose the swing voters both Jewish and non Jewish who strongly support the only democracy in the Middle East. Jews support Israel for Zionism. Christians to enable the apocalypse
3
"...Trump’s way of — and motivation for — expressing his affection for Israel is guided by his political desire to improve his re-election chances by depicting the entire Republican Party as pro-Israel and the entire Democratic Party as anti-Israel."
Truth can't be said in better words than these.
3
On this trajectory, Israel’s behavior under Bibi will, ironically, justify something akin to BDS.
2
Miftah, the group arranging Rashida Tlaib’s visit to her supposedly dearly beloved grandma on the West Bank, once accused Jews of using Christian blood to make Passover matzoh. That was in spring 2014. Source: The Forward.
They were criticizing President Obama attending a Seder.
REAL progressive.
5
I missed the part where President Trump was elected Prime Minister for Israel.
I also missed the part where Israel is forced to accept visitors who intend to encourage terrorism.
2
Friedman hates Trump so much, that he would rather see the entire collapse of Western Civilization, just so it would get rid of President Trump. If that does not work, then he is jumping on any molehill in order to make it a mountain against our President.
1
Always spot on!
1
Trump is the ultimate DIVIDER. He is not only hurting Israel in many ways but he is dividing Americans in general , as well as American Jews. . He is turning off American Jews and their support for Israel by this very divisive action and in turn he’s turning the entire world off to Israel . I’m sure also there are a great many Israelis that find this policy offensive and against their values . It’s a disgrace because it’s all for political gain on the part of Trump and Netanyahu.
Trump sullies EVERYTHING he touches . When will people learn ?
3
Look up the PBS documentary "1913 The Seeds Of Conflict"
There are full 58m+ versions on YT
1
Bar a US congresswoman? Then decline US aid.
3
No kidding. I am no longer willing to support this Israel government in any way or form.
3
If there is no bridge being built between Muslims and Jews, Mr. Friedman, Ilhan Omar is not the reason for it. Israel's brutal behavior is. BDS doesn't erase the possibility of a two-state solution, but building settlements on Palestinian land certainly does. Take the blinkers off. You're backing the wrong horse.
1
I disagree with Thomas Friedman: I would say that if you are of any religion and faith and believe in the constitution and the rule of law; If you believe in science and objective facts; If you believe in gender equality, racial equality and tolerance; Then you're a fool to vote for Donald Trump.
If however, you are someone who has fought hard for racism and white supremacy; If you have always wanted to make Russia great again; Then Donald Trump is your man.
4
Excellent piece. The article stayed on task; that is- it stayed true to it's title until the last several paragraphs when Thomas digressed into an almost unintelligible mash-up rant about Rep. Omar:
"... why is Omar spending time on the West Bank of the Jordan and not on the West Bank of the Mississippi?"
It's almost like Thomas couldn't help throwing in a disingenuous "both sides" momentum to balance out his harshness directed at Donald Trump. Too bad. There's plenty of time and material to write about the Congresswoman if that's Friedman's true purpose.
1
The wedge has been driven within families, like mine, who can no longer have political conversations without someone blowing a gasket within two minutes. Never, ever, did I dream it would come to this. As you-know-who would say, SAD!
1
Maybe Donald can't purchase Greenland, but he's certainly demonstrated that Israel is bought and paid for.
3
It’s worth noting that Bibi just personally invited Putin to Israel while he uninvited American lawmakers. Trump and Bibi are like two peas in a pod, both using their political office to avoid legal indictment for crimes committed and doing what’s best for themselves to stay in office.
6
No it isalways and only about Trump and his insatiable need for winning votes.
3
“I love Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs — but God save me from some of their American friends.”
Tom Friedman “loves” Palestinians so much that he neglects to mention that he is totally ok with their exclusion from society or that they are kept in an open air prison. Or that Israel’s “ democracy” in the case of a one state solution, would never give them equal rights.
True love. Truly “separate but equal”
5
America is two countries now. Netanyahu has only poisoned relations with one half, a half that presently has little power.
1
Friedman should be more bold. He brought up the issue but carefully worded it so as to not offend anyone. The issue: Israeli apartheid. Yes. It is an ugly concept and no one dares mention its name, but Israel appears to be moving in that direction. If it annexes the West Bank on Trump's watch, Isreal will likely establish a dual system for the majority Arabs it will control -- all in order to preserve the "Jewish State." And anyone who attacks the arrangement will be branded an enemy of not one, but two states now.
5
Israël and Palestine are locked in a perfectly mutually enabling relationship that guarantees either a permanent Intifada/terrorist war or an apartheid state of misery for the Palestinians.
That choice ensures a very stable status-quo but a third rail for US. politicians arrogant enough to take sides. I can't (and no one should blame Congresswoman Talib for her emotional family-ties to Palestine, anymore than I could for an American Irish politician for his to his relatives in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.
As for the Sheldon Adelsons who wield outsized influence over Trump based on their patronage their excoriation by Rep. Omar is well-deserved, however awkwardly expressed. Those words pale next to: "[Democrats] hate Israel and all Jews".
As for Friedman's "West Bank of the Mississippi vs. West Bank of Jerusalem" comment, how is it different from Trump's moronic braying about Elijah Cummings and AOC's fixing problems in The Bronx and Baltimore rather than criticizing him?
5
“Trump’s campaign to tar the entire Democratic Party with some of the hostile views toward Israel of a few of its newly elected congresswomen.”
“Hostile” makes our duly elected congresswomen sound like terrorists. They believe from my take on this, in boycotting, and defunding Israel to get them to recognize the Palestinians right to their land and other human rights. What’s wrong with them attempting to help people that they agree with?
2
@Dennis W Right wingers are always afraid of dissenting views. Never Cry Wolf author Farley Mowat, a Canadian, was denied entry to the US during the Reagan administration for being too outspokenly leftist.
2
Excellent article. I am dismayed at the raise of antisemitism on both sides. We hear those marching with Nazi flags chanting "Jews will not replace us" and the left accusing Israel of atrocities and blaming Jews for it.
Most American Jews do not support the Israeli government, myself included, but most of us do support the existence of Israel, not different than being revolted by Trump's policies but loving the USA.
4
Like Trump, Netanyahu is a liar and a bully who only cares about personal power. Since the 1990s, he has been warning that Iran is only months away from having a nuclear bomb. So, either Israeli intelligence has been wildly incompetent, or Bibi is trying to scare people into voting for him. Hmm...I'll go with the latter, since Netanyahu has a history of doing that. For example, in 2015, he made a Facebook video claiming that "Arab voters are coming out in droves to the polls. Left-wing organizations are busing them out." Sound familiar?
3
The Republican-Right-Wing-Network targeted American Jewish Voters long ago, as a voting block that they should try to get away from the Democratic Party.
For decades, the Jewish American Voters had been solid supporters of the Democratic Party, and for the most part still are.
But when Obama chastised Netanyahu for being unfair with settlement issues, Republicans saw this as another opportunity to continue driving a wedge between Jewish American Voters and the Democratic Party.
Not that Republicans have any love for Israel or for Jewish American Voters.
They absolutely do not.
But they do love ... POWER.
And they will do anything and everything, to hold on to POWER.
Even if it means, pretending to like Israel.
2
Forget Trump. He is so cynical, ignorant, and narcissistic it is not possible for him to be devoted to anything or anyone other than him. So, where does that leave our relations with Israel? Well, pretty much where it has always been, i.e. we do whatevere Israel wants. And, of course we gave it lots of money and fight their wars for them. It really isn't too much more complicated than that. Anti-semitism, islamaphobia....serious issues and of themselves. But, regardless of all that, our Israel policies will remain the same.
1
It's not Trump nor is it Bibi. It's their willing, compliant enablers.
3
Do you know what the Democratic Party should do in retaliation?
They should make sure Israeli parliament members won’t be allowed to enter the U.S!!
Oh wait.. they already did.
During the Obama administration in 2012 a member of the Israeli parliament (Ben Ari) was denied entrance to the U.S.
Why do you ask? To make a long story short - because of his views on the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians - Google it!
If it is ok for the U.S. to deny entrance to an Israeli parliament member - it is also ok for Israel to do the same (especially when the plan was to visit and create a toxic environment and provocations)
Most Israelis see it as an attack by just another anti-israel movement, which unfortunately is now part of the mainstream Democratic party.
Instead of condemning the cheap political move the 2 have done - the party supports them and by doing so legitimize them and their extreme views.
Last thing I would like to say is to my Jewish friends - don’t let the extreme voices in the Democratic party silence the voices of reason. Because if you do - tomorrow you will need to find a new home for yourselves.
3
He's got the issue on the front page with the Democrats somehow being perceived as Anti-Israeli.
The Democratic response needs to be mostly about Trump, less about Israel.
Democrats: "There's always a way to divide people. But only somebody who hates America will do it. Trump hates America. He hates what America stands for. He hates American values. He hates when people show compassion or respect for one another. He hates, hates hates. Don't let Trump turn this country into the Dis-United States of Hatred".
4
These representatives got what they deserved. They chose to go on their own “fact finding” mission separate from a bipartisan congressional delegation of more than 70 representatives that happened earlier this month. They didn’t request meetings with any Israeli leaders, only Palestinians. After the interior ministry saw their agenda, they were denied entry. This alone is enough to justify not letting them in, aside from all their previous anti Israel and anti Semitic comments.
5
I am not suggesting anything, but let us say that some world or European sports or a similar association decides to forbid Israel to attend or compete, just because they are, well, Israelis.
How would Israel swallow that?
4
...and once again, another convenient distraction for the two authoritarian freakshows posing as state heads of democracies. Two identical scenarios involving two high-level criminals escaping justice by---and I can hardly even type it---being elected the leaders of their respective countries. And we do NOTHING.
Have we really descended this far? I mean, are we really this lazy and hopeless? In both cases, we acclimate to UNCHECKED fascism (a wretched and abhorrent irony, especially if you're Jewish) at the highest levels, but it's items such as THIS in the daily news cycle that grinds our gears?
Talk about descension into willful delusion.
3
Bravo for saying what needs to be said. The current government of Israel has now done even more harm to their countries well being than when Bibi inserted himself in the the 2012 election of Obama. This time I fear it is irrepairable as he has now lost the bipartisan support for Israel. The blow back will be continue and be even greater than tyhey expect. They have made their bed with the devil and will now have to lay in it.
2
Netanyahu began to drive a wedge during Obama's term when the GOP Congress invited him to address it without the customary okay (or whatever the protocol is called) from the White House. There was a big uproar then. As they used to say in the 'Holy Land' --> 'you reap what you sow.'
2
Trump's entire modus operandi is setting up WWF matches---only, he does it domestically and internationally. Trump continually searches out potential and then real matches between his pick---in this case the hero BiBi--- and then bring on the villians--Representatives Omar and Tlaib. He has no interest in the substance or the nuances of policies these women are promoting nor the democratic principles that would allow both Representatives to visit Israel---far too complicated and abstract. All he sees in the morning--actually early afternoon--is Muslim vs. Jew--what a match.
3
Thomas Friedman is one of the few balanced and objective voices in Arab-Israeli issues. It is minds like his that provide what little sense of balance we have in the world. I am of a Syrian British mix. Growing up, my arabic side bashed Israel left and right. However, Mr. Friedman's writings pulled me to the center and away from extremes. Mr. Friedman please do not ever stop writing and speaking! The world needs you.
2
Republican Rectitude on the March!
The enabler silence--earnest, deafening.
America as an honest broker of peace in the Mideast?
To whom--Ivanka, the Diplomat?
After slurring 2 billion Muslims? They get it.
Once Trust in the US is breached, it is very difficult to restore.
Welcome to Dawn of the Dread.
Let Don blame the Fed.
2
Your column makes some sense, Mr. Friedman but, if you really love Israel, take off the rose-colored glasses and tell some home truths that Americans rarely learn about from their mass media. That's what friends are for.
I'm sorry, but if you count the occupied territories, Israel is no more a democracy than South Africa under apartheid. Oh yes, it goes through the motions, and it has a few Israeli Arabs in its parliament. But far from attempting to settle WITH the people of the occupied territories, it settles ON their land. It practices an apartheid in some way worse than South Africa's, without even the fig leaf of "independent" Bantustans. It builds its settlements and connects them with highways that divide formerly contiguous Palestinian communities, those highways being closed to Palestinians who can be penalized for using or even crossing them.
20:10 EDT, 8/16
4
So much for Israel being a beacon of democracy and free speech in the Middle East.
2
Not that the ideas are wrong, but this expression of them is exactly calibrated to annoy those it intends (I assume) to persuade. If you keep calling intelligent people fools and idiots, all they will feel is attacked, not persuaded. C’mon Tom—use this important platform to help people see, not to make them dig in their heels.
Omar and Tlaib are enemies of the (Israeli) state. Why should they be compelled to welcome people who are actively working to bring down the country?
4
Boycotts happen when just causes or even discussion doesn't happen or alternatives are rejected as an option. Perhaps Israel could look at its own behavior. It is not all antisemitism.
1
Netanyahu like Trump will go down in history as one of the tyrants of the early 21st century. His name as will Trump's be in infamy.
1
As an American Jew, I agree with your analysis. I support Israel’s right to exist and the two state solution. Netenyahu and Trump are destroying Israel’s future.
And no, Jewish Democrats won’t one dimorphism Trump
1
I'm no fool, I didn't vote for him.
1
I fail to see how the BDS movement “wants to erase the possibility of a two-state solution”. Ilhan Omar has stated on many occasions she supports a 2 state solution. Friedman, like Republicans and AIPAC still feel the need to qualify their denunciation of Trump. Call a spade a spade. Barring anyone, no less an elected rep of the US, from a country for criticizing it is disgusting and undemocratic. No qualification necessary.
2
The title of this piece is very close to being accurate, but should read: “If You Think trump Is Helping Anyone But Himself, You’re A Fool”
.
Dont legitimize name-calling, Tom.
.
1
Remove Israel from US politics.
4
Why do we as American Jews think we can influence what goes on in Israel? If you want a voice, I would suggest that you move there.
3
And every time we criticize Israel, we hear "antisemitism". We can respect Jews and disagree with the government.
7
Spot-on column!!!!!!!!!
6
When will people realize that catering to the whims of a six-year-old is not in their own best interest?
5
Israel will be given a chance to suck up publicly when the Dems defeat Trump in 2020. Hopefully it’s Netanyahu that gets to really demean himself. Then again hopefully he is shown the door this fall and it’s someone else. What goes around comes around and Israel must pay a price in January 2021.
3
I haven't always agreed with Mr. Friedman but I'd have thought he'd at least respect other opinions. Sorry to see that rather than put up an argument of his opinion that attempts to persuade, he's joined many of my other liberal friends who simple say.... their opinion is so correct that you must be defective for not agreeing to it.
I think these two Representatives (and especially Tlaib) once again played a willing MSM into the positioning you're arguing. While I too disagree that Israel should have allowed them to enter the country despite their advocacy for the country's destruction, I believe no long-term harm to the relationship will occur.
By the way, if I was in Tlaib's position and my grandmother was ill and I might not see her again, I would have adopted an "under-the-radar" approach to this and saw her without any fanfare (but that really wasn't the idea anyway). Family is important.
2
BDS is entirely appropriate until Israel starts obeying international law and gives up its nuclear and chemical weapons of mass destruction.
9
If Israel gives up its nuclear arsenal, there won't be any Israel.
2
Just Curious: WHY would any people who are religious, who actually purport to believe in a God of Justice, why would ANY of those People, Evangelicals or Jews, have ANYTHING to do with Trump. He is a Jet Ski to HELL for any of those who say they believe in either a God or Justice. When will this Nightmare of Despicable and Corrupt Liars END???????
16
@Juana I totally agree. I thought for sure the Access Hollywood tape would sink him. But Evangelicals are pragmatic for their crusade against women's rights. Banning abortion is more important to them than The Donald's extramarital affairs or history of sexual abuse. Remember: In the eyes of religion, women are considered property and only worth a single rib bone.
It's not wise or nice to suggest your brethren might be foolish.
Anyone who thinks Trump is doing anything but helping himself is a fool.
13
I'd leave the word "Israel" out of the headline, myself.
4
If you think Trump wouldn't sell Israel down the Negev if the price was right, you are an even bigger fool.
8
Not only did Trump move the Embassy to Jerusalem, but he closed the US Consulate there which had long been the main point of contact with the Palestinian community and its leadership. In doing this, he foreclosed the significant role the US had previously played as mediator and made Israelis much less likely ever to abide by their earlier commitments to a two state solution. Next the US barred Hanan Al-Asrawi, a highly respected moderate voice among Palestinians, from visiting the US. where she has been many times over decades. He seems to think that suppressing the airing of grievances against the occupation will produce a collapse of the Palestinian national movement.
6
Israel has nukes. Let 'em fend for themselves. They bulldoze neighborhoods. Let 'em fend for themselves.
2
In other words, Israel is no longer working in the interest of Jews.
2
Mr. Friedman, I do believe this is best column you have ever written.
You could not have worded the situation better.
7
Tom, is she a bridge destroyer because her passion makes her patience shorter with inequality and injustice than perhaps others? With some of today's young politician/quasi-activists, we're looking at a new generation of people sick and tired of being sick and tired -- they're not relenting and that's a good thing.
3
Last night on Real Time Bill Maher asked his panel what they thought about the BDS Movement. Bill Maher’s comments and those of the panel are worth listening to.
Anyway I decided to look up BDS on wiki and read about it, and about one of it’s co-founders, Omar Barghouti. Then I reviewed the Camp David Peace Summit of 2000 in which Bill Clinton, Euhud Barak, and Yasser Arafat attempted to address the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. No accord was reached. Arafat refused to compromise although the Israelis bent over backward to give as many concessions as possible.
After all that I came to the conclusion that Yasser Arafat and Omar Barghouti are similar personalities - arrogant, hypocritical, and full of themselves. Also interesting is that they both advocate for the same thing: a one state solution with the name of that state being Palestine, and the right of return based on U.N. resolution 194, adopted in 1948 after the Arab Israeli War. Of the 58 members of the U.N. at that time 35 adopted the Resolution. All 15 Arab League countries voted against it.
There are many more historical details to this long-standing conflict but no time to delineate them here. However, in my opinion, up until the reign of King Netanyahu, the Israelis come out looking better in trying to work for peace than the Palestinians do.
The right of return is not going to happen, and Israel is not going to give up it’s right to exist. BDS is dead in the water if these are ‘must haves’ in their agenda.
11
I find the worry over Israel being thrust by recent action as a wedge issue. Let's recall Netanyahu accepting a GOP request to address Congress for the express if not sole purpose to lampoon Obama over the Iran nuclear deal.
Still cannot decide if the Bush administration asked Israel for false intelligence regarding WMD in Iraq, or if Israel felt obliged to support the Neocon version of US intelligence as consistent with their own.
Uncomfortable fact remains an apartheid state exist under the iron hand of Israel. Netanyahu will never ever give up land for peace. A two state solution awaits a leader speaking in terms of a just peace or peace with justice.
One last thing criticizing Israeli policy is not anti semitism. Trump cannot make that distinction.
4
Talib is only doing this to promote herself as leader of the BDS movement, speak against Israel in Israel ,and there is nothing in it for Israel but problems from her arrival, so why let her in? Israel is a sovereign nation and does whats in its interest, like the US does. Americans think they should have all the rights they have in America and take it all over the world. She is trouble maker Congress woman or not. The fact that she didnt get her way to speak in Israel about BDS showed her real intent on visiting, and it wasnt her grandmother. She like every other politician has an agenda
4
John Boehner and Mitch McConnell invited Netanyahu to address US Congress where he berated the sitting President Barak Obama. This was reprehensible action on the part of the speaker, senate majority leader and breach of protocol by the Israeli prime minister.
Trump is continuing that tradition. He is just an ignoramus. I pity his teachers in school who had to put up with his behavior.
I expected Netanyahu to demonstrate more decorous behavior. I gave up on the republicans from the time Newt Gingrich was elected speaker.
8
>> Trump’s campaign... and Netanyahu’s careless willingness to concede ... is part of a process that will do huge, long-term damage to Israel’s interests and support in America.
To many, that would be a good thing. You’re being presumptive and just giving one view. I don’t agree wholesale with “the Squad”, but we must admit they are very good chess players.
Trump is the worst of America, Omar both the best and the worst.
That she could be elected speaks well of the country for being diverse enough to elevate a Somali refugee to a seat in Congress. However, Friedman is right: She could be a true bridge builder between divergent views and interests, but instead, she's just the opposite side of Trump's bigoted and incendiary hatred of anything that smacks of "other."
Yet her and Tlaib's exclusion from Israel speaks poorly of the country and causes me to question why we support it.
2
So Friedman is not far from Trump in his position on Tlaib and Omar with the line "to tar the entire Democratic Party with some of the hostile views toward Israel of a few of its newly elected congresswomen". The two freshmen lawmakers are not alone in their criticism of Israel's more unsustainable policies. Noam Chomsky used the phrase "the world's largest open air prison" in reference to Gaza, the UN in 2017 described Israel as an "apartheid state". But an unwillingness of members of Congress to turn a blind eye to Israel's human rights abuses is now being sold as having a "hostile view toward Israel"?
It is not a requirement of any Democrat in Congress to fall with the party orthodoxy, to ignore human rights abuses of our allies including Israel. Not blindly following Pelosi's selective concerns about human rights in no way signals "hostility toward Israel". Equating Omar and Tlaib with Trump or as some liberal pundits have shamelessly done, describing them as the left's version of Steve King, is unconscionable. This is classic "both sides-ing" by Friedman and it plays right into Trump's hand for 2020.
5
I don't think that anything Trump does is a help.
9
So much what Mr. Trump does and says and “Tweets” gets me angry and upset. However, when he presumes to speak for me, when he says “All Jewish people support my views ...”, he is NOT SPEAKING FOR ME. How dare he speak for me!
5
Thomas Friedman's balanced analysis is refreshing. Remember who the players are. Years ago, Bibi addressed Congress without notifying President Obama. It was a turning point for me. Before that, Bibi's poisonous words led to Rabin's assassination. More recently, Trump could not condemn neo-Nazis who murdered a woman with the cry, "Jews will not replace us." As Friedman says, Trump is not pro Israel. He is, and will forever be, pro Trump.
6
POPULISM IS MASONIC?!:
No wonder, Trump and Netanyahu are in harmony with their coherent Masonic Populism, revealing their animosity to religion, any.
Remember, Kushner recruited Trump, through his daughter Ivanka, for moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, and endorses the Israeli's settlements in Goulan Heights. A bold move, no American president can accomplish but Trump, even on the old claim that Israel is the no. 51 US state.
As bold as well, the ban of two American officials, Congresswomen, belongs to only Netanyahu. The harmony is clear cut.
2
Because I respect Friedman, I’m all ears.
This was a no-win situation for Israel, because if the representatives had been allowed in, they would have used, with their outsized celebrity, every second and every breath to lambaste Israel.
If they refused entry, well, here we are.
But I need to point out that liberal/leftist/progressive dogma has been denigrating Israel for years. It didn’t start with Trump.
It has become a litmus test in Democratic circles to see how anti-Israel one can be. And the same activists are mum about events in Chechnya, China, Burma, India, et al. It only registers on the outrage-meter when it’s Israel.
5
The US has a negative trade balance with Israel. Those who advocate witholding US aid to that nation, might want, as well as promoting the BDS movement, to push for a "trade war" with Israel, which should be so easy to win.
1
Please don't worry, there is a highly experienced statesman on the case... A man that has shown he can get deals done with Arabs. Well at least a billion-dollar real estate bailout for himself while serving in the white house.
Rest easy - Jared Kushner has a plan to save the Middle East.
3
632 comments and counting, and such an admirably one-sided and self-righteous readership! Fascinating. What other country or people could attract this much vitriol. Can someone help me, is there a word for this particular hatred?
3
Such good points. The NYT writers and readers are so clearly intelligent and thoughtful. But we're talking about President Trump here. Trump is very primitive in his thoughts and actions. He's not a deep thinker. He doesn't 'strategize'. Political is, to him... personal. And he responds as if his person is being attacked. Basically, he needs to go and we, as a country, need to re-set.
2
If there was ever a tree planted in Israel in my name, I hope that tree is still standing.
And I hope my name has been removed or long since disappeared.
2
But he has poisoned relations with America. - What an absurd over the top headline.
Nobody is going to get hurt from being against these two representatives.
There are not nearly enough people that will care about them being blocked from Isreal. Maybe in their districts, otherwise there are plenty more events/issues that will trump this.
2
Israel should be a partisan issue in the United States. The debate is long overdue.
3
Trump is not helping Israel any more than he is helping the U.S. Trump is only about Trump. Trump doesn't do "help."
6
While a tactical mistake was made with denying US Reps. Omar and Tlaib the opportunity to visit Israel at this time, let us not reward these women for being anti-Semites.
Surely Rep. Tlaib knows that her grandmother is better off under Israel than she had been under Jordan. When we refer to "the occupation", we tend to have forgotten that ISRAEL WON THE 6 DAY WAR. To the victor goes the spoils.
By FAILING to understand this history, those who support BDS simply do not understand what the implications are.
In closing, while US Reps. Omar and Tlaib can utilize their First Amendment rights to their respective heart's contents, maybe our First Amendment rights should be to ignore them as much as possible.
4
I believe more good would have come out of a visit by our elected congresswomen than the opposite. The world will never know. Just put your heads in the sand and fan the flames of hostility and war. That’s what keeps demagogues in power.
2
Netanyahu has made his disdain for American Democrats clear for many years. He spit on Obama and cozied up to Trump at the first opportunity. Unfortunately, as a progressive American I have to believe that the majority of Israelis support this and that the worst complaints about Zionism are true. Israel needs to show us otherwise or they really have lost the progressive side of America.
3
The opinion columnist states Trump and Netanyahu "are making support for Israel a wedge issue in American politics."
Actually, it was Tlaib and Omar who were "making support for Israel a wedge issue in American politics."
Tlaib's decision to not see her grandmother made that crystal clear. Omar, well... what can you say about Omar...
3
Donald Trump is pro-Israeli. He's just not thoughtfully so.
The Israelis made a mistake by not admitting Tlaib on her terms. But their support in the US is not in any jeopardy beyond the editorial pages of certain newspapers.
Mr. Friedman, who I greatly respect, over-reached in this opinion piece.
1
It makes it hard, as an American Jew, to continue to support Israel.
I support the existence of a country where Jews can go and be accepted. The horrors of the Holocaust demonstrated the need for a home.
However, supporting the existence of Israel does not mean supporting the settlers, the aggressive moves to suppress Palestinians or their posture towards other countries in the Middle East.
Israel, for its own sake, needs to be deprived of the blank stamp American leaders have given it.
America should do no more than guarantee protection against aggressive moves from other players in the Middle East.
It is time to end the special relationship with Israel. I say this as a Jew who may live abroad but I vote. I am very happy to vote for a Democrat in the next election who will give Israel a dose of reality.
Over the last decade, the rift between American Jews and Israel has opened up drastically. Do American Jews really want to support a version of Israel that is so antithetical to our views?
8
The impact is exaggerated.
Israel is reasonable to refuse entry to any persons who advocate BDS -- the objective of which is the obliteration of Israel. This is just the latest version of pushing the Jews into the sea.
They just should have been consistent: No exceptions. No admission ever to any of these extremists, regardless of walk of life.
4
I used to read Mr. Friedman's articles until a few years ago when I realized that beneath his veneer of rational even-handedness on the Israel-Palestinian situation, he is quite simply a Fifth Columnist for Israel and its malevolent settlement movement.
Even now he keeps pretending that there is a two-state solution. This has always been a cover for the reality of ever-growing settlements, annexations and oppression. Any two-state solution was long ago made impossible by Israel's settlement policies. Now the issue is equal rights for the non-Jewish inhabitants of what is in fact the Greater Israel.
Mr. Friedman would do well for his legacy if he finally acknowledged this reality and used his wisdom and talent to further real coexistence among all the people in Israel.
3
Trump didn't make Israel a "wedge" issue in American politics. Israel did that.
Leaving aside actual Israeli policies, who came to speak to Congress and criticize a sitting American President? It wasn't Trump who made that happen. Nitunyahoo and Congressional Republicans did.
Beyond that, what is Israel doing to millions of Palestinians and bordering Lebanese? Eminent domain? More like arrogant, brutal, bloody domain.
If our country were made up of fanatical Jewish settlers, maybe Israel would not be a "wedge" issue. Given we're not, how could Israel, given the bloody brutality of its policies, not be a "wedge" issue? Nothing Trump or Nitunyahoo can do, will change that.
4
Kudos to Friedman for this piece.
For many young liberals, Netanyahu’s Israel will be the only Israel they know.
The growing perception of the Jewish state as one of corruption, strongman politics, and ethnic oppression will poison the well of US-Israel discourse; the hope for a US-mediated two state solution will grow dim, indeed.
2
What, exactly happens, if Israel had to stand alone, without US support?
I’ve been there several times and noticed that everyone pretty much gets along. Even my Israeli business friends tell me this.
That the nation is becoming a wing of the Trumplican Party is disturbing, but hardly surprising. Trumplicans have little interest in doing anything that could possibly be positive for America but love to support authoritarian evaders of all stripes.
1
"you can hear how unhappy they are with the behavior of this Israeli government and its continued occupation of the West Bank."
How can Israel compromise with people who don't believe it should exist?
3
Yes, above all else i wonder why these Congresspeople are going to Israel in the first place. They are not all on the Foreign Relations committee. They should be at home listening to their constituents. And I'm not just talking about Omar and Tlaib. Who pays for these boondoggles? I hope it is not us.
3
Netanyahu already poisoned relations with many American citizens in 2011 when he accepted a Republican invitation to criticize Barack Obama in a speech to Congress. This current episode is simply a ham-handed response to an incompetent bully of a president with too much time on his hands.
2
That's a great article Tom. Netanyahu is a curse on the Jewish people. I had been a supporter of the State of Israel until he gained power and than I quit. I will remain estranged from the Jewish state; but I will never be estranged from the Jewish people. Yes, there is a big difference.
1
Of course Bibi made a big mistake in barring the congresswomen in question.
But do you think Bibi has a choice?
The US is Israel's only reliable friend. Ergo, Israel must bow to American Presidents.
Of course, Bibi did not bow to Obama, but Obama is not the sort of vindictive, hostile, reckless man that Trump is. Trump wants to get re-elected and if he could dig deeply into the Jewish vote that could swing a few states. Trump almost seems to want a "rassenkrieg," German for race war, to clinch a 2020 triumph.
I would wager that Trump, in private, said to Bibi that weapons would not be sent (And Israel's security needs are enormous, but there's no time to set forth why in this comment), commitments would be discarded and that all manner of depredations would befall Israel.
We have heard what Trump says when he tweets. Imagine how much more volcanic his wrath is in private meetings.
2
Well, Israel is doing what any client state will do when leaned on hard by its paymaster...it bends the knee. I don't understand why anyone would be surprised.
1
People are going to remember this and you can't unring a bell.
1
Friedman is against BDS "because it wants to erase the possibility of a two-state solution"?? It's every Israeli PM from Netanyahu to Sharon and beyond that has done that, through their famed, irreversible "facts on the ground." Unfortunately, lots of BDS activists are still calling for a Palestinian state, contrary to Friedman's warped attempt to blame the demise of any possibility of a Palestinian state on them rather than on the Israelis who have fought it for decades. However, I hope all BDS activists will soon start campaigning for one person, one vote for everyone living under Israeli rule, regardless of race - - just as in South Africa.
1
Well done as usual, informative and balanced. I think it is a legitimate question to ask why Rep. Omar needs to visit Israel while so many of her constituents are embattled at home, but then absolutely question why, according to another NYT ediorial today "Israel hosted visits by delegations of 31 Republican and 41 Democratic lawmakers this month".. All of this on the taxpayer dime? Far too many pressing issues here, LIKE GUNS, our elected officials should be dealing with.
3
It certainly does not pay off well when one thinks to gain from bowing to the whim of a bad friend....
Glad you evoked the Israel its founders envisioned. I know there are many, many Israelis who reflect that vision, but the right-wing in both countries has become obnoxious, ignorant, and mean (think of the Orthodox reactions to Women of the Wall, pinching, hitting, spitting!). But, don’t paint Netanyahu as a victim here, in 2015 he came to the US and spoke to Congress before his election, by-passing President Obama (as did Boehner, who invited him). That was a traumatic moment for Democratic American Jews, or at least this one, who have tried to serve as a bridge between progressive forces and Israel. An Israeli prime minister snubbing a Democratic president, who had actually increased the amount of support Israel was getting! And, the miserable feeling that he felt able to snub him for racist reasons.
4
Mr. Friedman, I'm a voter in MN-05 (unlike you, although you love to talk about how you're from here), and I'm actually fine with Ms. Omar working on global issues. She does serve on the House Foreign Affairs committee after all, so it's kind of her job.
3
Predictably, Kushner's predictable diplomatic incompetence (with Trump's support) combined with Netanyahu's intractable position have done nothing to address and break the deadlock with the Palestinians. Enough already! The world's support for Israel will continue to deteriorate unless a fair resolution for the Palestinians can be reached.
https://jobs4pakistan.com/blog/
2
Studying Tibetan Buddhism in Dharmsala a long time ago, I learned an a very useful saying:
“If you meet a fool, try to help the fool, if you can’t help the fool, don’t humor the fool or you will become a fool.”
Over the years, this caution has been very helpful to me. With a fool in the White House, this aphorism seems now nationally significant on so many fronts. I personally wish the press could figure out to apply this saying to its tasks. Otherwise foolishness will grow and consume us all.
3
How do all these losing-side political-promotion professionals feel about how our Preident is actually getting along well with foreign countries and their leaders, such as Bibi in Israel?
Look at the headline. These people are furious with America's success in this area!
The world understands the tragedy after tragedy in Europe from stupid immigration decisions and the European mess makes Trump look like a genius all over again.
Can you imagine how frustrated the talkers and propagandists along the progressive war-front FEEL about the American success under Trump?
I was one of these Leftists myself once, and it's the best running joke of these years.
The press do everything they can, the electronic media types give it THEIR best shot, and the only crowds worthy of the word are following TRUMP around.
1
Friedman is bang on. Netanyahu is as bad for Israel as Trump is for our United States, and both are destroying American support for Israel. My only quibble with this column is Friedman's warning that Israel may become a banana republic. Under Netanyahu it already is, and keeping Palestinians under occupation makes it an apartheid state. In the same way, Trump's disregard for the rule of law has turned our country into a banana republic, and he too seeks to make it an apartheid state with his hate speech against Muslims, immigrants, asylum seekers and people of color.
4
Mr Friedman (whom I greatly admire) writes:
"I strongly oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement — which Representatives Omar and Tlaib have embraced — because it wants to erase the possibility of a two-state solution."
It is my understanding that the goal of the BDS movement is to pressure the government of Isreal to moderate their treatment of the Palestinian people and improve the situation in the occupied territories, not erase the possibility of a two-state solution. BDS is an anti-apartheid movement. Am I wrong?
4
Yes, you are wrong. One of the pillars of the BDS movement is the unlimited right of “return” to Israel not only of all Palestinian refugees from the war they started in 1947—but also ALL their millions of descendants. That would mean the end of Israel.
2
This barring of two members of Congress has definitely damaged Israel and the cause of that damage is Trump and Netanyahu -- two criminals as vile as one another. Trump is destroying the United States with his pettiness, incompetence and stupidity and Netanyahu is in the process of doing the same to Israel with his push to the right and his greed and desperation to remain in power and out of prison.
Israel gets billions of dollars from the US each year. That money is voted by Congress and it comes out of the pockets of every person who pays federal taxes. The last thing that Israel should do is bite the hand that feeds it by driving a wedge between our countries.
Netanyahu is the worst PM that Israel has ever had just as Trump is the worst US president in history. Hopefully the voters of both countries will boot both of these awful men out of office in the upcoming elections. Right now if there were ever a national ballot question on the US continuing national financial and military support for Israel -- the vote would be a solid "NO" and Israel has Netanyahu and his ignorant speech to Congress in an attempt to undermine President Obama and now this latest affront to our country to thank for Americans re-thinking our relationship to Israel which definitely needs the US more than the US needs Israel.
2
Give me a break - any Democrat worth having as a friend of Israel won’t be dissuaded because Rep. Omar was denied a visa.
3
Israel is nothing more then an after thought to Netanyahu or Trump. Both men are first and foremost self serving. Theirs is an unhealthy alliance with real world consequence. This will end badly for Israel.
2
I am a supporter of Israel. The two state deal will never happen. Wishful thinking.
Israel has always wanted a one state result, despite the great gnashing of teeth, particularly with King Bibi.
The Palestinians, the intifada, the rockets et al are responses, inadequate to the force of Israel. Self immolation.
Both sides hate each other, diligently. Both for good reason considering what they do to each other.
The fact Bibi spent 8 years disrespecting Obama, King Bibi needs a comeuppance.
Regarding Rep. Omar: the US has BDS going on in several countries, generally anybody with resources to be coveted, Venezuela, Palestinians, Iran, Yemen, Central America etc.
Is an religious state a democracy?
3
Let Israel go to Russia for support.
The Russia and Israel seem to have a lot in common. Particularly the way they both like to meddle with the United States politics.
1
Still calling Israel a “democracy”? Read the times article on African Americans and their efforts to make the US a real democracy. As Mandela so succinctly put it, “one person, one vote”. Palestine deserves a real democracy, with Palestinians and Jews and others enjoying equal rights. It’s the only way forward.
Trump doesn't know the difference between strength and weakness, at least not half a millimeter below the surface.
1
Very well put!
2
This has moved slowly from occupation to apartheid. An American should be the mediator not the instigator.
1
“Trump’s way of — and motivation for — expressing his affection for Israel is guided by his political desire to improve his re-election chances by depicting the entire Republican Party as pro-Israel and the entire Democratic Party as anti-Israel.”
Hmmm... how’d that work out for John McCain?
1
What is most troubling about this whole affair is that it shines a mirror on our nation now shown around the world as captive to Trump. And Israel seems every bit as unable to shake the grip of its apparent criminal leader Netanyahu. The least Congress can do is to refuse him a platform if and when he dares show himself again in Washington DC.
1
America is not a country. It is a continent, divided into two, comprised of many countries.
1
Most American Jews are progressive and do not equate opposition to Netanyahu's authoritarian policies to being anti Jewish or anti Israel. Even Orthodox Jews must be concerned about Trump's ties to white supremacist and evangelicals.
2
We spend way too much time thinking about Israel and Palestine. Last I heard, citizens from neither country pay US taxes.
Americans now suffer from the “the burden of too much information”. Reading these comments you would think the world was coming to an end.
1
I’m a centrist-left leaning person and to me this piece is an example of hard-core liberals naïveté...
Reps Omar and Talib aren’t just two “regular” reps. They are active supporters of the BDS movement (which constantly spreads utter lies about Israel, has classic antisemitic characteristics and was consequently recently declared illegal in Germany). Rep Omar has a long and recent track record of antisemitic tweets and commentary. Their trip was not intended to try to advance a peace process. It was intended to attack and undermine Israel. For example, they didn’t plan to meet with any of the Israeli opposition parties not they planned any meeting with Israeli organizations.
All israel did was to ban the entry of people who intend to harm it. As required by its laws.
Smart? Perhaps not. But “outrageous” or “immoral”? Give me a break.
Even democracies should defend themselves. Let alone a tiny one, living on its sword as it is surrounded by a billion hostile people.
3
I thought to myself, they have placed the US electorate right in the middle of the Israeli Palestinian Conflict asking us to choose between the two, but only one. Shame on them all.
2
Any good will I have left for Israel is being sorely tested by Netanyahu and the despicable treatment of Palestinians by Israel, the state. I do not think of Jews and their religion, and Israel as one in the same. My disdain for actions of Israel should not be conflated as disdain of Jews and the Jewish religion. However, there are those that combine them as one. So be it. I find the recent treatment of two US Congresswomen to be unprofessional, petty and insulting. I will vote accordingly.
2
"But anytime she is legitimately criticized, Democrats automatically scream “Islamophobia’’ and defend her. That’s as disturbing as Trump." Those are strong words from Friedman. Democrats mindlessly defend a woman who represents a large Jewish-Muslim district yet drives a wedge between the two groups, being a "bridge destroyer." Indeed like Trump. Voters in her district mistakenly elected her. In 2020, they can show that bridges between Jews and Muslims are indeed what they want and elect a different Congressperson.
2
Thomas is missing one thing. The geo-political structure is dramatically changing. the world is going back to the cold war era.
Russia and US start to compete against each other with missiles and Natural gas.
Middle east is no longer a core consideration for US, which produce around 10 million bpd of oil right now.
Trump will take middle east easy, and I have no objection for that.
Political correctness? oh...come on Thomas. Every jews in the US will just find the way to live as an American.
Netanyahu and his government illegally intervened in support of Donald Trump in our 2016 elections. AIPAC urges its members to support Netanayahu. Over seventy-five percent of Israelis support Netanyahu and a nearly equal number support Trump.
In 2020 these supporters will likely find out that Trump does not enjoy that level of support in the U.S. They will also likely face a party in power that will not forget those, both domestic and foreign, who conspired for their own ends to empower and unleash this racist, ignorant, hateful and destructive force.
Israel, like Trump, has enjoyed a teflon veneer that has protected it from outrageous acts against Palestinians which have worked against the interests of America, Israel's own democratic values and its image in the world.
Unlike Donald Trump, Israel has a compelling history, one which is deserving of both compassion and respect and which has seen its share of admirable leaders and inspiring rhetoric.
But its apartheid-like subjugation of Palestinians, its anti-democratic poltical direction, its dissing of President Obama, its refusal to allow entry to a U.S. Congressional delegation and its attempt to control our elected representatives speech and its overt and covert support of Donald Trump are dangerously abrading the good will of many Americans toward Israel.
I hope Israel gets its house in order and reverses course before even more damage is done to its relationship with its largest benefactor.
2
It may not be helping Israel, but it is helping the US. For too long we've been keeping up this soul-destroying fiction about how Israel is a bastion of Democracy, all the while is brutally enforces an apartheid system that is, or rather SHOULD be, contrary to the very core of American ideals. If this tempest in a teapot is the motivation for Americans to tear the vale from their eyes. rather than the brutal, dehumanizing, and deadly, repression of the Palestinians, then better late than never.
1
"I know that more than a few Somali immigrants in Minneapolis, who face so many challenges — from gang violence to unemployment — are asking why is Omar spending time on the West Bank of the Jordan and not on the West Bank of the Mississippi?"
I think it has to do with Kavanaugh and "purity laws" with a judge from Mississippi, as part of Kavavaugh's past (we all have one). Personally, I think this whole embodied cognition is looking pretty twisted, in my opinion.
Be comfortable in your own skin--past present and future. It's time to grow-up.
1
Netanyahu laid the groundwork for making support of Israel a wedge issue when he attempted to humiliate President Obama by appearing before congress without addressing him.
He's firmly with the oligarchy - as is Trump and most of the GOP.
5
You can't build a Jewish democracy on land taken from others and confine them to ghettoes without incurring the enmity of the rest of the world. You said the two-state solution was dead as a door nail; now you blame BDS and Representatives Omar and Tlaib for "wanting to erase the possibility of a two-state solution."
Two states has been discussed for these many years, and it isn't going away. Some have even suggested one state with equal rights for all. Trump's son-in-law has pushed for buying off the Palestinians to go somewhere else. And in the meantime Netanyahu keeps annexing more and more land.
Since as you say Israel needs America more than we need them, hopefully the new generation will wrest some justice for the oppressed Palestinians.
4
We Americans have a blind spot when it comes to Israel. Speaking out against Israel is somehow never OK. Do we really expect an Arab American Congresswoman to support the Israeli subjugation of her people? Criticizing Israel is similar to criticizing cops or the military. That is a major reason why BLM exists and why the military industrial complex dominates our gross domestic spending.
2
Mr. Friedman missed an important aspect of this issue.
Namely, the actions taken by Trump/Republicans in favor of Israel and Netanyahu have not been made with American Jews in mind but rather American evangelicals who support Israel solely in order to fulfill their biblical prophecy.
Its basically a GOP GOTV effort.
5
Tom
I will bet anything this column was written in 10 minutes and a first draft. The words just flowed through the keyboard. why? Because it is so obvious. Your simple and powerful prose reflect not only the perspective of American Jews and our gentile friends who support Israel, but I would also bet that it reflects the majority of Israelis. Put me down as an honorary Minnesotan from your District. Well done.
2
I hate the current chief Executives of both the US and Israel, and I agree that there's too much wheeler-dealer politicking going on from them and, though to a far lesser extent, from the Squad.
However, most Americans are through just handing money over to Israel with Netanyahu running it as a far-right swamp and paying ZERO attention to what the majority of Americans want, which is a fair solution for the Palestinians as well as for Israel. We as Americans have to stop coddling both sides in this continuing conflict. If any of the parties want our money or our help, they need to straighten up and get serious about finding a reasonable solution and show it. And American Jews, can't you help get rid of Netanyahu? You should! If you can't get him out, then the whole Israel project is permanently defaced, and Gen Y, who really don't care about old religious conflicts, are going to cut off US support sooner rather than later.
3
Netanyahu cites a law that prohibits BDS advocates from entering Israel. Did the 5 million Palestinians living under occupation get to vote for that law? How is it that a country that claims to be democratic can deny 2/3 of its of its inhabitants the right to vote (or refuse to make any meaningful progress on a 2 state solution?)
Does the current government of Israel really have the moral authority to deny a visit by legitimately elected representatives from the USA?
3
Friedman "I strongly oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement — which Representatives Omar and Tlaib have embraced — because it wants to erase the possibility of a two-state solution."
I have not found any indication of that reading their goals. B.D.S. wants Israel to end the 52 year occupation, tear down the ( ugly concrete) wall it has built, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel. and "Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194."
If the latter is a negotiated settlement that can result in either one or two states. The problem is Israel, with it's military might behind it, does not want to let go of all the occupied land, taken and settled, between the Jordan River and the Sea.
This goal of Israel is the underlying cause of (non-violent) opposition groups such as BDS.
Jews who support Israel who have voted for Trump, have done this country and Israel a disservice of enormous magnitude. Friedman is right about that.
4
Didn't damage my opinion of Israel in the least. Why should any country allow someone to enter their nation when the person so clearly holds them in contempt. I say good for Israel, no one has a "right" to enter any other country. It is a privilege that any sovereign nation can with hold.
2
It is simple. Tolerance breeds respect. Fear breeds, well, you know.
1
Sorry, but it has to be said: This is Trump's genius on display. He divides and benefits. All associated with him are diminished, but his opponents are the greater losers. Netanyahu, and Israel, are the latest sacrifice. But the Democrats lose more, by being pushed away from bipartisan support of Israel, which will hurt them at the polls in 2020. And all accomplished with a tweet!
1
As a 16-yr. old in the Midwest I framed a full page ad from the St. Louis Post Dispatch in my room. The headline in the ad was "Give as you never gave before". The copy went on to talk about Israel's fight to remain a nation in 1967.
You had to root for Israel back then -- struggling to defend itself against multiple neighboring nations. And Israel went on to make peace with Egypt and become a solid citizen in the eastern Mediterranean.
Bibi has changed that. No more high ideals. It's all about Bibi and all about Trump. This draws down support for Israel and support for the United States.
2
Why would Israel become a "banana republic" if its Supreme Court became, as you say, subservient to the Knesset? The British equivalent court has always been subservient to its Parliament. Has Britain been a "banana republic" all these centuries? Similarly, many Western countries hav3 varying shades of "parliamentary immunity" and have you already forgotten the renewed discussion over the US policy that prohibits the indictment of a sitting President. Are they all members in good standing of the "banana republic" club?
Why must your arguments almost always rely on a double standard for Israel?
And by the way, were you similarly outraged in 2012 when the US barred a member of Israel's Knesset? I don’t recall your column remonstrating the mighty US about what it was afraid of. Perhaps I missed it.
3
First, this event will make Bibi look cheap to the Israeli Electorate. This is a GOOD thing as Trump is saving Israel by help defeating Bibi.
What the next govt does - one state, two state or whatever, is their business. Note that the next govt will contain the Joint List & Meretz and therefore would have a very liberal agenda.
1
Everyone saw this coming. I asked my Israeli friends about it and they didn’t seem concerned about losing subsidies. They like Trump. They feel strong. I say it’s time the US go neutral in the Middle East. Best of luck to our Israeli friends. Your issues are yours to solve. We should cut off American tax dollars to Israel. No need to enable the situation any longer.
4
On the side: I think this is a pretty bipartisan op-ed. I was sad to hear about Gary Gutting. Why are we cutting history courses?
1
Israel and the United States are alike in that both more an idea and ideal than they are land and territory. The idea is freedom, democracy and tolerance. It is heart breaking when they fail to live up to the ideal.
2
"By barring Representatives Omar and Tlaib, Netanyahu made the president happy. But he has poisoned relations with America."
Yes and no, depending on what we mean by "America."
It is no, if by America we mean the ultra-right wing Republicans who want to keep Israeli-Palestinian conflict alive, to use that as a pretext for US military involvement in Middle East. In fact Bibi's move should make them happy, as it ensures further isolation of Israel and its increased reliance on the US.
It is yes, if by America we mean the US public in general, and the millennium generation in particular. These are the groups that are constantly fed the notion that Israel is a democratic country and does not treat its Palestinian citizens as second-class.
2
The Israeli Prime Minister came to the US and interfered in our election letting it it be known he supported Trump. An Israeli company offered to help Republicans manipulate social media. They spied on the US with Jonathan Pollard. They sound more like the Russians than our Allies.
Now they block Democratic Congresswomen? What else can we expect in 2020 from our "friends". Maybe its time to stop the billions of dollars that go to Israel. We could pave lots of streets and help solve some of the problems we have at home with that money.
3
When we have a democrat as president, I hope that BIBI knows he won’t be welcome to speak in front of congress as he did when Obama was president.
However, I do hope that the next American democrat president will come and SPEAK IN FRONT OF THE Isreali KNESSET.
2
IT would be interesting to see how you would write this piece if the shoe was on the other foot. If a country chose not to accept President Trump's visit, you would call it historic and a proud moment for the global community to reject incivility and everything else. These two politicians are divisive and could have joined the recent congressional trip to Israel, but instead wanted to go with a divisive group. Let's move on
4
Since Netanyahu has gained power, the Israeli government has worked to undermine the two state solution, and has moved toward what we must sorrowfully recognize as institutionalized racism. The West Bank is governed as an apartheid territory, and Israel proper moves in that direction under its current policies.
Friedman's attack on Omar is unwarranted. Why should she made the scapegoat for a situation that dozens of Jewish members of Congress and numerous Administrations have created, and allowed to persist? Her attacks on the Israel lobby in the U.S. were awkward and insensitive, but not untrue. Jews have openly discussed using our financial power to lobby for Israel and help elect pro-Israel non-Jews by contributing to their campaigns. That's why AIPAC was founded.
For years, Israeli and we Jews in America have made the most outrageous statements about Palestinians and Muslims. such as claiming Palestinian mothers do not love their children as much as they hate Israel and that Arab oil money has been used to "buy" academic support.
In the U.S. Jews and the Israel lobby hold a disproportionate power compared to Muslim Americans. Omar is a political outsider who has made mistakes. But she is not antisemitic.
Omar and Tlaib are neither the cause of Israel's woes, nor a threat to the Jewish state. But their treatment by Trump and Israel's government illustrates the systematic injustice Palestinians face a a part of daily life.
3
These two so called leaders/con men deserve each other. Hopefully they're both drummed out of office in humiliating fashion before they do more damage to their countries and international relationships
1
Very thoughtful and mind-opening.
1
Fantastic essay. Thank you.
As an American Jew who was raised in the aftermath of the Holocaust and has always identified strongly with Israel, I find myself uncertain as to what to do and where to turn.
Trump and Netanyahu have shown themselves to be small, insecure and cowardly. Do two loudmouthed, adolescent Congresswomen REALLY scare them that much? Are their egos and their countries so fragile that they need to fear those two women?
Netanyahu, who lived in this country for years, fully understands the dangers of inserting -- not himself, but -- Israel into partisan U.S. politics. Like Trump, however, he doesn't care. Neither man cares about his country or its future. Both only care about themselves.
Netanyahu believes that his path to reelection and protection from Israeli criminal law lies in being Trump's lapdog. Trump believes that his path to reelection and continued accumulation of wealth is to try to divide Americans and to show his evangelical followers how avidly he's supporting Israel, which they see as necessary for the second Coming.
And, Mr. Friedman, you're right, only a fool would believe them.
4
Israel is not a democracy. Most adult Palestinians cannot vote in national elections. If they could, Netanyahu could win nothing.
3
Good article by Mr. Friedman. Trump is incredibly popular in Israel because he moved the embassy, etc. However, I agree with Mr. Friedman that it’s not helpful in the US as Trump tries to drive a wedge, thus imperiling bipartisan support for Israel. Many in this comment thread have asked - why not let these two women in and start a dialogue? Ms Tlaib is Palestinian so I understand her keen interest here. (Of course, if she were Jewish, she’d be accused by Ms Omar of dual loyalty.) Tlaib’s support of BDS essentially means rejection of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State. As to Rep Omar, one hopes that as a Muslim woman, she’s could be part of the solution. However, she has no interest in that. She is anti-Semitic and largely unrepentant. And apparently has no interest in the oppression of Muslims anywhere in the world, except for Israel. That said, my initial view was of course Israel should let these women visit. However, when one sees their intended itinerary - sponsored by MIFTAH, there’s no interaction with any Israelis and not even a mention of going to “Israel” because they can’t utter the word. Only Palestine. If one looks online, you’ll see that MIFTAH was embroiled in controversy a few years back for the old trope that Jews use blood from non-Jews to make matzoh. Not very comforting. So, should Israel have permitted the Congresswomen to visit when they are committed to its destruction, rather than dialogue? I’m not sure.
2
Bingo! Trump thrives off of the discord he creates at the expense of everybody else. In his mind whether he wins or loses is a win-win long as he's on the front page.
2
I'm done with Trump, Bibi and all the others who squander our money and good will. Going forward, I believe it's time Americans stopped assessing the personalities of those running for president and paying more attention to where their hard earned tax dollars are going. Who will give us the best deal for our bucks?? So far we've enriched the Super-wealthy, the entire Trump family and for decades we have shoveled money into Israel's pockets while the skirmishes with Palestinians have continued unabated. And now Bibi bows to Trump's petty tweet and denies our elected officials entrance into the country getting plenty of our plenty. Enough.....no more money for Israel. Let Bibi get a loan from the Trump Foundation.
2
Mr. Friedman, you've nailed it..
I've always had a special affection for Jews, and a dedicated support for the nation of Israel. The latter has been severely damaged by Netanyahu's clasp of CurrentOccupant and this barring.
Many Americans are similarly disillusioned, I feel sure.
1
Leaders who stand tall get respect internationally, esp. in the current international climate with May, Merkel and "Emmanuel" on the outs and center right and right governments gaining ground, as in Australia.
Rather than the comments of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders being a problem for Israel, it is another win for Trump by scaring moderate and conservative Jews into thinking that the Democratic Party is abandoning Israel. This probably wins him votes in Florida for example. The only way, sadly, for this strategy to die out is for all Democrats to cease defending Omar and Tlaib, making it clear their views--which I have some sympathy for--are not the Party's views.
1
Friedman's assertion that BDS is attempting to eliminate the possibility of a two state solution is contradicted by this statement from the BDS website:
"The BDS movement does not advocate for a particular solution to the conflict and does not call for either a “one state solution” or a “two state solution”."
For what it's worth...
4
There’s a lot good here, but you are also caught in your own trap when you criticize Congresswoman Omar. You say she broke the bridge - which ignores all the damage already done to the US reputation as honest broker. So where are the voices for a solution to the Middle East conflict that respects the aspirations of all the people involved? She condemns loudly what you see as an irritant to the peace process. From your safe privileged place you fuss about her efforts to push — not by having lunch with journalist and public officials — but push the issue. Good luck with your next book — “What Bibi got wrong”
1
Tom, I want to get this right. You're saying that Ms. Omar's desire to visit her grandmother is some kind of slight to her constituents?
Let's also remember the billion's we give to Israel, invest in Israel or trade with Israel.
Thanks.
1
Notwithstanding the myths surrounding Israel's origins, it has become a Goliath. No matter, a growing number of us are rooting for the Davids of the region and the world.
3
Flawed analysis, Tom. You missed the most important point. Of course Israel would have welcomed them if they had agreed to meet with Israeli officials to hear both perspectives. But this was never going to be a learning mission, only a propaganda tool to bash Israel. Every step from within the Palestinian territories with camera crews shooting at each controversial stop, never with context or Israeli perspective.
Israel had already made it clear that they did not want these BDS advocates, as they have denied others in the past. But, due to sensitivity that they were members of the US Congress, they we’re making an exception. Trump essentially said, “do what you need to do.”
Few countries would allow sworn enemies to enter for the purpose of propagandizing against them. Israel should not be held to a higher standard, especially when they are far more vulnerable than most.
As for the “wedge” — that horse has left the barn, evidenced by the BDS vote in Congress and equivocal support for Israel by the Democratic candidates running for president.
1
Mr. Friedman knows perfectly well that Israel will never, ever annex the West Bank. After two failed intifadas, and with a sclerotic, geriatric leadership that shows absolutely no sign of preparing to negotiate with Israel on the territories’ ultimate disposition, the Palestinians who live there have been worn down and are content to go about their daily lives.
Statehood is a chimera, and I do not believe the average Palestinian even cares about that issue any longer, if he / she ever did. They are just like everyone else: they want to have jobs, feed and clothe their children, and send them off to school every morning — a fact that for some reason is simply not reported in western media.
In other words, the status quo cannot only be sustained but is for Israel eminently desirable. Annexation would open up a can of worms that Israel would never be able to contain.
As for Elizabeth Warren: should she become President of the United States, she will receive all manner of diplomatic and intelligence briefings on the situation in the Middle East. She will learn that the word “occupation“ is not only controversial inside the USG but also that there is very little do United States can do to pressure Israel into prematurely ceding or otherwise altering its military control of the disputed territory. Israel also has many cards to play, and while these cannot be discussed publicly, they will become very clear to her as POTUS.
2
Until the advent of Begin, Sharon, and now, Nentanyahu, I had been essentially neutral on the subject of Israel. Now, I am utterly convinced that Israel is not a promising democracy, but an increasingly insular theocracy who leaders consider non-Jews as subhuman worthy of no more than contempt. I think it is long past time the U.S. reconsidered its support of a nation bent on the permanent humiliation of the Palestinian people.
2
I love Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs — but God save me from some of their American friends. So many of them just want to exploit this problem to advance themselves politically, get attention, raise money or delegitimize their opponents.
I'm pretty sure that Talib and Omar are not trying to do what your final sentence intimates.
2
This dispute reveals an important truth that should not be overlooked, and yet is. Trump is attacking, manipulating, and strategizing with respect to the Squad in a manner that is politically motivated through and through. He is demonizing these women as Unamerican. He is painting them as political radicals with views beyond the pale, aligning himself with "truth, justice and the American way."
This has been the point from the start. This is what Trump's strategy is all about. And -- what must be confessed--is that racist attacks were never part of the agenda and the charge that this whole fiasco has anything to do with racism is just wrong.
1
In that story nobody , no article ever evoques the Palestinians. As if they were not concerned. Nobody cares about them.
Trump and Netanyahu use them as political leverage for the US inner politics and for Israel towards the rest of the world.
And they both mix the toying with the legitimacy of the US constitution in it.
The rest of the world is watching the dirty game.
1
Yes, but it didn't just start with this latest incident. Netanyahu has been systematically poisoning the well of US-Israeli relations for years. Its just that the emergence of Trumpism has allowed him to accelerate and amplify the rate of destruction.
1
Rick Wilson's book Everything Donald Trump Touches Dies may seem a facetious title but look at all the people under Trump who became flotsam and jetsam, some worthy of that fate such as Price and Zinke and others who served admirably such as Mattis and Tillerson who could no longer stomach the chaos. Netanyahu capitulated to Trump fearing to incur his wrath but Netanyahu miscalculated that he can depend on Trump's loyalty. Stay tuned!
2
Now that Netanyahu has accepted the position of Lead Foreign Government Assistant to the Trump 2020 campaign, Israeli computer whizzes (who are probably some of the best of the best), can get to work hacking and corrupting the US election. With Mueller finding "No Collusion" with Russia, the road ahead is straight and smooth for Trump who said on June 12, 2019 "If a foreign government offered assistance, I might take it".
It's notable that both leaders need to win their elections to stay out of jail. Israel's fate as nation may well be on the table in 2020. Talk about cornered animals.
2
"Trump’s...motivation for...expressing his affection for Israel is guided by his political desire to improve his re-election chances by depicting the entire Republican Party as pro-Israel and the entire Democratic Party as anti-Israel."
And based on the Democrats' penchant for never having encountered a trap they don't gleefully leap into --head-first-- it will probably work like a charm.
We may as well just go ahead and nominate a member of "the squad "; by the time the election rolls around that's who he'll be running against in the "minds" of the voters, anyway.
2
Friedman's seems a lonely voice of reason in this convoluted situation. Trump and his right-wing ideologues are no genuine friends of the Jewish people (or the Brazilians, British/Irish, Hungarians, North Koreans or Filipinos for that matter), but are cynically strengthening the wrong kind of people everywhere to further their hate-filled agenda.
The conflicts and conflagrations in these volatile places will not stop at their borders, unfortunately.
3
Bibi capitulated to Trump because Trump's instinct is always to punish. When it became politically distateful to allow his supporters to cry "send her back," Trump could not let the issue go. And so, he leaned on Israel to carry his water in the cat fight that he started with the Squad. What a classy guy.
2
What I write here may warrant correction, but Thomas Friedman's column may also. I believe it is possible that the judgment of history will demonstrate that he has been more consistently wrong than right in his analysis of Israel-Palestine relations. The largest "wedge problem" for me is that Friedman is one between the New York Times and me. I don't consider the "two-state solution" to be viable, but rather the model of the Dominion of Canada with its Province of Quebec to be the one that will influence the emergence of a federated autonomous Palestine under the sovereignty of Israel. One month from today the Israeli electorate will be making its decision about the make-up of the coalition government. It will be weighing in on the questions of the durability and wisdom of the leaders they trust the most. I believe Tom Friedman has the false confidence that his opinions are keener than those of Prime Minister Netanyahu because he is more popular than Bibi on American college campuses and because his columns garner thousands of NYT readers' comments. Israelis, who include Arabs, will be making decisions on far more important matters than the punditry of the American Left, but that too will be of measured concern to them. Friedman is seemingly alarmed that "the sky is falling." I am optimistic that we shall see in October that that has not been the case. I may be mistaken, but President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu may now be representing strength, not weakness.
2
I have long been critical of our seemingly blind support of Israel, but I I have ultimately come down on their side. No longer. I think we should end our military support of Bibi's Right-wing government, and if possible, any other aide. They blow up hospitals, endanger human rights, ignore Palestinian territorial claims, commit corruption, and now ban two American Representatives. Enough is enough. They are not our allies.
1
Mr. Friedman, you've nailed it..
I've always had a special affecdtion for Jews, and a dedicated support for the nation of Israel. The latter has been severely damaged by Netanyahu's clasp of CurrentOccupant and this barring.
Many Americans are similarly disillusioned.
The Israeli voters have repeatedly chose Netanyahu and he long ago inserted himself into American politics. I am sorry to say has much has I want to blame Trump for everything, this really is on the Israeli people. Trump is just hammering the final nails in the coffin of a relationship that no longer has any meaning to a growing number of Americans.
1
Tom, first, I prefer to call myself. a Jewish American following the example of the Jewish documentarian, Sharma in his great PBS show, “The Jewish Americans”. As an American who is Jewish, I am influenced by the American ideal of fairness and the Jewish guiding principle of Tikkun Olam (heal the world). I would bet that all the Jewish members of Congress, would say the same. That includes committeee chairs, Nadler, Lowey, Engle, and Schiff. Like you and them, I oppose BDS. And, like all past American presidents, I believe in a two state solution. Trump’s belief that he can cause a rift in the very loyal Jewish Democratic base is ridiculous. None the less, we need the voices of our community to call out this sham for what it is. Great piece.
3
These four, but especially Omar and Tlaib, are more than mere critics of Israel; they are self-avowed enemies, who want nothing less than the total destruction of the country. What’s more their hatred of Jews is well-known; they are anti-semites.
In my book, this is not about Trump or Netanyahu. Nor is it about Israeli-American relations. It is about drawing a line against anti-semitism forcefully whenever and wherever it appears. The real problem in my view, is the increasing tolerance for anti-semitism on the left, among the same people who forcefully (and rightfully) oppose racial discrimination.
I have no hesitation describing Netanyahu as a monster, but too many on the left use the excesses of his government to justify a new and stealthy anti-semitism. It is a slippery slope. Blanket condemnation of Israel inevitably tars all Jews everywhere. To claim otherwise is disingenuous, and ignores the history of the last century.
A large part of the Israeli public opposes Netanyahu and his treatment of the Palestinians, just as a large part of the American public opposes Trump and his treatment of immigrants. Should we condemn all Americans for the excesses of the Trump administration?
This is not about Netanyahu or Trump and their policies. To keep talking about them in this context is a distraction, a red herring. We need to focus on the main issue: anti-semitism, and the right of all countries to keep subversives out, even those who are members of Congress.
3
Do we get any strategic value at all from all the billions of dollars in “assistance” we give to that increasingly undemocratic and erratic middle eastern ally?!
3
Every country has its low points and this one for America is a lulu.
Reading the Times history of American racism toward the black community is startling and depressing.
Like children that have been damaged at a young age, countries that have cruel abusive histories may never really recover.
As an American expat in France I avoided moving to a country that had a history of past popular dictatorships like Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. There was something in their cultural makeup that endorsed authoritarianism.
That scary mentality may never go away. What Trump is drawing out of the American mentality is also scary in its own right. What does that say about America’s slave history and the authoritarian mindset that would allow such cruelty?
3
I have long since been forced to accept that rational reasoned solution to the Israel-West Bank-Gaza is impossible given the present cast of government officials in Israel and the United States.
I can wish that Ilhan Omar had accepted that when she was elected and turned her attention to St. Louis Park, to the situation of Somalis in Minnesota, and eventually to the need for Universal Health Care that would do more for all pregnant women seen as being "of color" than any "race" based affirmative medical action.
I know first hand what Universal Health Care does for the large number of pregnant born-in-Somalia women here in Sweden and especially in my city, Linköpint. UHC could do the same for their counterparts in Minnesota.
I wish she could be persuaded of that truth and become one still very young small voice who could focus on that goal and by so doing show that she can rethink her goals and become a new Ilhan Omar.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
2
Survival can justify a lot of things. History can justify a lot of things. But selling your soul to Trump, to say nothing of accepting Saudi Arabia as a new ally- I hope it’s worth it.
What a good thing not one woman in Congress, not one presidential candidate wants to visit Afghanistan. This president won’t have to abuse his power, shame his high office, to prevent anyone from seeing how we’re going to turn an entire country over to the Taliban, and return millions of women to - just a piece of property.
1
Short anecdote: we lived in South Seattle, in the conservative Jewish quarter that happens to border the most diverse neighborhood (98118) in the US and possibly the world. Many of our neighbors were Jewish and walked the sidewalk in front of our house on Friday nights to synagogue. Then Seattle accepted hundreds of Somali refugees in the Obama era, and as teachers, we opened a tutoring service out of our home. Half of our clients were Somalis. In 2015 we were served with a lawsuit from a prominent Jewish neighbor (doctor) regarding a sidewalk fall no one had witnessed. The neighbor won $450,000. We moved and our tutoring service shuttered. Our theory is that some of our orthodox Jewish neighbors did not like our clients who arrived in traditional Somali dress because who else trips on a sidewalk that he's traversed hundreds of times and then blames the non Jew tutoring Somalis? I am not sure any Somali politician could be a bridge between Somalis and Jews in America. Israel's leadership is playing a dangerous game.
3
American support for the extreme right wing Israeli government is increasingly problematic and many young Americans are seeing it for what it is --support for a Zionist state.
1
If I weren't the great-grandson of a Jew, I think I'd have a right to ask Mr. Friedman why in this piece he is so uniquely solicitous of the feelings of American Jews? Do Christians and other Americans have a stake in what Israel does, given our blind and preposterous bi-partisan support of her persecutions of the Palestinians? Do they--and we, too--have some right to wonder what happens when the world will hold America as responsible for what she helps Israel do as the world blames Israel for her self-evident wrongs and harms?
That day is coming, fellow Americans, fellow Jews, fellow Christians, fellow atheists, fellow Muslims, fellow human beings. Israel can't forever hide behind a massively and technologically supreme military force--and sole possession of nuclear weapons--in the MIddle East. At some point her fanatical challenge to history will suffer a breach, will come unglued, will disintegrate. So will America's mighty power, if we do not wake up and reverse course.
This isn't fanatical religious prophecy. This is the simplest and most inescapable fact of history--and history doesn't wait on fastidious idiocy or fools, in or out of Israel or America. It's time to see the truth, fellow Americans.
1
Sorry, Mr. Friedman: it's already too late to warn us about Israel's drift towards surrendering its status as a democratic state. Its fate was sealed as soon as it arrogated the West Bank, confiscated Arab-owned property, built settlements for Israeli Jews on that land and gave them- and only them- the right to vote in Israel's elections. Heck, even Iranian Jews are accorded that right! Also, let's not forget that in addition to having moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem our feckless leader also and at his volition determined that Israel was to be recognized as the rightful owner of the Golan Heights. Perhaps we'll soon see Bibi return the favor by acknowledging U.S. ownership of Greenland.
5
Friedman asks how young American Hillel students can support Israel. How can anyone support a place that by law disenfranchises millions of residents because they aren’t the correct ethnic group or religion ?
Israeli lawmakers recently told congress, “Don’t keep talking about two states, that is over.” Congresswoman Tlaib spoke about one state with equal rights for all. Israelis don’t want that either.
2
Trump's abject fawning on Netanyahu has another ironic effect: The David Duke and allied White Suppremacy crowd will now begin to distance themselves from Trump, whereas they had been a loyal, though bliind, core component of his base. Talk of shooting yourself in the foot!
But if we have learned one thing, it's that we are in flip-flop land, so anything can happen. But, I agree that the damage has been done to all concerned.
2
"anytime she is legitimately criticized, Democrats automatically scream “Islamophobia’’ and defend her. " And of course, any time she --or pretty much any public figure, even Jewish ones -- legitimately criticized Israel, Republicans (and some Dems) automatically scream 'anti Semitism' and denounce her. Neither side sees the other's arguments as 'legitimate' at all, because to do so would cede political ground. Yet even though the pro-Israel side holds vastly more actual political clout here -- witness the anti-BDS vote in Congress -- it still finds people like Rep. Omar as terrifying as if they were equals.
As nauseating as the Trump/Netanyahu action is with the two congresspeople, there's an upside: it speeds up the time when US citizens and their leaders do a critical rethink of our increasingly one-sided relation with Israel.
Let's forget all the "shared values" and "only democracy in the Middle East" lines. Anyone who's had a good look at what the IDF is doing in the Palestinian territories- particularly to children- knows those are just sound bites which congress and the Christian right obediently buy into.
It's time for a bit of unwind to the "special relationship." How about shifting a little more attention and foreign aid to the other 6 billion people on the planet.
1
Israel is no more a Jewish state than America is a Christian state. Both religions demand better conduct from its leaders and from their national policies.
I get that Israel is supposed to be a democracy. That too seems like weak tea, just as American democracy has fallen on hard times.
Being critical of these two countries is not a religious issue, nor prejudice against anyone but the apostates who claim a religious mantle to hide their sins.
2
"Netanyahu’s careless willingness … will do huge, long-term damage to Israel’s interests and support in America."
Netanyahu's willingness isn't careless. He's driving the narrative, not Trump. Long before Trump was elected, Netanyahu was courting white evangelicals in the US. White evangelicals are far more numerous than American Jews and they are far more sympathetic to Israel's human rights violations. Netanyahu's decision to bar Omar and Tlaib, and Trump's equating Democrats with antisemitism are directed to white evangelicals in the US.
1
Tell me something I don't know, Mr. Friedman, that Trump has exploited his friendship with P,M. Netanyahu for political purposes, profiled Dem. Party as anti semitic, or at least there is that air, solidified his support in the American Jewish community, practices what he preaches, and is father of a daughter who made difficult conversion to Orthodox Judaism, and is bringing up her children in the faith.Trump never says anything he is not prepared to do, and Alexander Harrison says, "tant mieux,!"!Son attended Ramaz, speaks fluent Hebrew, believes in Aliya and in the "pionnners! "What ABH would like to see is series of articles shining unwelcome spotlight on INJUSTICE within the Palestinian community, reasons , elites, like those surrounding Erekat and Meshalla, head of HAMAS, have life styles far and above in terms of luxury compared to average Palestinian who must cope with "la misere"of daily life in Transjordan. Understand that corruption is rife. Answer lies in recognizing reality that it is futile to continue, wedded to political romanticism of irredentism, and to begin cooperating with Israel for the greater good rather than resisting. Intifadas:What did they bring average Palestinian except greater hardship and tragedy?Time to change course, to seek another strategy besides confrontation.How MANY Zimbabweans today would give anything to be back under the British crown,See my NYT op ed:"For White Rule in RHODESIA,"10 Aug.1976.
1
"Where Israeli Arabs in the Knesset say all kinds of wild and crazy things"? Like what: that Arabic should be an official language? That they are citizens and should be treated equally?
The way I see things Trump is lining up his "mob" of strongman leaders to back him up when the law comes after him, he manipulates the stock market for his "friends", and his personal back account using major news stories and world events. He has slandered Bill Clinton saying he killed Epstein, he has slandered US Congresswomen who have every right to their own views, he has slandered numerous people using the office of president to do this. He has done so many illegal things and yet he is still in office and not in jail. Why is this?
2
The main subject is being missed. 2 criminals conning 2 countries. Netanyahu and Trump are both under deep scrutiny for fraud and possible racketeering. Trump has a criminal investigation waiting for his loss of the next election. Netanyahu will never make a cohesive government.
It's disgusting to see so many being conned and willing to follow really bad men.
Our countries are at risk and the just don't care.
Anything to win?
2
I am a reform Jewish Democrat who wants the state of Israel to succeed. But Netanyahu is ultimately an obstacle to success as Trump is to America. (They are twin sons of different mothers.) As long as I am not Jewish enough for the orthodox who have Israel by the throat as Trump has America in the same way, I cannot support either. I agree with your lede, Tom, and will take it further: I believe that any Jew who supports either the Netanhayu or Trump government, or worse both, is an affront to the faith and to democracy.
1
China accepts SFA when it comes to their policies when visiting that country, especially when and ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE of the US visits.
We have different rules for China and Israel?
1
I thought Bibi was smarter than this. He should have let the Congresswomen in. They have a tendency to overplay their hands and say dumb things, and he could have come off looking reasonable when they started chirping about boycotting Israel. Instead, he played the lackey in Trump’s political game of demonizing the Squad and trying to make them the representatives of the entire Democratic Party. When was the last time anyone—literally, anyone—wound up looking good after doing something to curry favor with Trump?
1
For a change Thomas Friedman common sense posit will find fewer takers than ever before. The world we live in so caught up in the poison stench emanating from the white house that reasonable and rational options will find few takers.
Since the demagoguery and divisive rhetoric emanating from the white house has poisoned political discourse — we THE public are the real losers.
1
A wonderful and sincere piece of writing that brings several of the dilemmas of the Israel / Palestine question into sharp focus. Thank you Mr. Friedman for your clear sighted vision.
13
If we have the corrupt politicians in power, then we have only one side to blame for those tragic conditions beside ourselves – the free press and social media outlets.
If we are divided, polarized and antagonized along the racial, ethnic, gender, age, sexual orientation, class, wealth, religious, educational, political and regional lines, then we have only one side to blame beside ourselves – the free press and social media outlets.
If we have piled up the colossal national debt for our children and grandchildren to pay off, then we have only one side to blame for those tragic conditions beside ourselves – the free press and social media outlets.
If we have waged the endless foreign wars over the last century or so, then we have only one side to blame for those tragic conditions beside ourselves – the free press and social media outlets.
If we don’t understand that our spending and all of the above is resulting in the overheated economy and the global warming, then we have only one side to blame for those tragic conditions beside ourselves – the free press and social media outlets.
If we believe that we are better than the rest of the world, and that thanks to the free trade they are supposed to work hard while we get to be “cool”, then we are destined for the extremely hard landing from the clouds.
Uniting a society is the social progress. It’s pauperization and polarization is extremely conservative…
Your statement blames all sources of our free press alike. I strongly disagree with that statement. All press outlets are not equal. The blame is on ourselves alone. The fact that many Americans are willing to believe anything that comes from one press outlet without sincerely listening to competing ideas is the problem. We have a serious lack of critical thinking in a large part of our population.
1
@Mary Sampson
Shouldn't the better free press have defeated the bad one?
As U.S. culture collapses, vandals are busy stealing things that heretofore no self-respecting citizen would dream of pilfering.
In this particular case, the historic political benefit of an effective U.S. -- Israel alliance, something of tangible value, was traded for a short term ratings bump by two demagogues to their respective bases.
This is the nature of con men and grifters. Their special talent is finding things of value that are not bolted down and secured and making them disappear. And their second special talent is wordsmithing this behavior in such a way so as to deny that anything was actually stolen or destroyed.
But there is a real cost to trashing international relations. Wars can break out. The most expensive thing in the world to recover from is a war. It destroys infrastructure, lives, civilizations. Have a look at Iraq GDP before and after the U.S. invasion. It took until more than 10 years after the war for GDP to reach its previous level.
There is financial cost to destroying emotional capital, working relationships, international infrastructure.
8
Very good editorial.
I think it may also be mentioned that one can support the existence of the State of Israel, not be the least bit anti-Semitic, while at the same time disagreeing with particular policies of the Government of Israel. All those many people of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths having this position would find it particularly difficult to support Trump/Netanyahu policies in respect of Palestinians.
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Not a fan of either Tlaib or Omar, but what Trump and Bibi did was without doubt, wrong. It has consequences.
My dislike of Omar started when her tenure at the House began. It seemed imperative for her to quickly make her views known, for placing her interest in Palestinians' causes, before advocating for the needs of this country, First utterances were about Israel and our allegiance to that country. Her first utterances should have been about the needs of citizens, health care, infrastructure, etc. Though I agree about our wrongly placed embrace of Israel, that should not have been Omar's primary concern as a freshman congressperson.
Her head scarf is an issue for me. There's no Koranic injunction to wear the headscarf, it's Muslim tradition. There is a rule in the House that hats are not to be worn. She chose to wear the head scarf, and the House changed the rule. In her swearing-in ceremony she wore the Thawb/thobe, a traditional Palestinian garment. Seems to me, she's in Congress to further the PLO agenda. Be that as it may, she has a right to say what she will. Her constituency can decide if they want her to return. However, she and cohorts are becoming the face of the democrats, who have to scramble to protect her.
Regardless of Tlaib's and Omar's stance on Israel, they should have been allowed entry. Trump and Bibi, two fools, are more concerned with maintaining their positions and egos, than preserving and enhancing democracy and freedom.
24
Interesting to see claims of, “democracy and freedom,” organized as an attack on somebody who’s been exercising them.
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@Gloria Utopia
Omar has a history in Minnesota public life prior to Congress. She was outspoken then. You'd think voters in her district may have buyer's remorse. Or, maybe not.
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@Robert: To be clear. I never said, she had no right to her opinions. I'm talking about timing, about priorities, about her loyalties. She's put
Democrats in a bad position at the wrong time.
2
True: "Netanyahu...can get the United States Congress to give him an audience anytime he wants."
Netanyahu, like Putin, is a major influence on American politicians. And equally true, America does not have anywhere near the power of influence on Putin's Russia or Netanyahu's Israel. Americans wish to be friends with Russians and Israelis. What Americans don't want to be reminded of is how we can't do that while Netanyahu and Putin can influence us and block us from influencing them. Trump has drawn our intention to the fact that the elites in power (Trump-Putin-Netanyahu) control us and we cannot influence them at all.
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This article is a wonderful example of why we need a woman in the presidency, in 2020. We're lucky to have many intelligent choices. Let's hope we pick one.
17
No different from our allies all over the world looking at America with disdain because of Donald Trump and the subservient Republican party it is hard to separate Trump and Netanyahu from
who each of their countries have become, because we elected them. In my view this is permanent damage and it will take some time to find a new world order. Election cycles will at some point move the needle back closer to what we both were. While the wounds will heal, the scars and damage will never be forgotten.
Hopefully, a broader coalition will develop to bring order to the chaos caused by our two nations, but neither of us will ever be as great as our founding fathers had hoped and as we once were.
15
I don't agree with extremists in general, but Barry Goldwater, who today would be considered a centrist moderate, got it right when he said that "extremism in defense of liberty is no vice."
Just as the extreme right in the United States has adopted some of the very same types of biases and policies held by those they excoriate in many Middle East countries, so too apparently, has Israel under Netanyahu. Seemingly absent are the principles of open dialogue most frequently associated with democracies and freedom by those who purport to hold them dear.
It is all the more hypocritical when one considers the right's railing against American universities for ostensibly sheltering students from "trigger" words and ideas that might offend them.
Consistency from the conservative right, to evoke the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, has become the hobgoblin of their tiny, little minds. In short, there is and never has been any moral or philosophical consistency in what conservatives purport to espouse as principles.
Now, in Israel, the very same intolerance has become manifest, aided and abetted by Donald Trump, who never met a disagreeable thought that didn't trigger him into an impulsive, unbridled, intolerant tirade. As long as he hears the sound of even one extreme-right hand clapping, or simply imagines that he hears it, he will continue.
Whether democracy in America can continue to flourish under such an extremist president, however, remains to be seen.
15
It's important to remember that at the heart of Israel's reason for being is a conflict: ethno-religiosity vs. democracy. For many in Israel (a growing many), democracy is fine as long as it can coexist with the ethno-state. If one of those two things must yield it will be democracy, not religion or ethnicity. And this is the difference between the Jewish state and, say, the many Islamic states. They are not democracies and whatever democratic impulses they may have are and always will be tempered by and subservient to their Islamic natures. There is no conflict. We democrats take the value of democracy as self evident, but for many, it's not a very necessary thing.
12
These two representatives have made it clear they believe Israel should not exist. Why should Israel extend any courtesy to either of them? When you visit a foreign country, you do it on the terms that country sets, not yours. The US has barred visitors from foreign countries in the past. Nelson Mandela being one. I do not remember that being noted in the article. Israel is under constant threat from Hamas, Iran and others. The country needs to take all necessary steps to maintain its safety. If there was an agreement to end he conflict, Hamas would no longer be needed. Hamas has for years avoided a truce or peace.
16
Any nation has the right to deny entry, however two points:
1. Has Israel ever denied access to another member of co feeds in the past?
2. Why elevate two egotistical congresswomen; their visit would not even be worthy of news unless they continued to make nonsensical statements that don’t affect anyone other than their ‘small base’.
And were we right to exclude Mandela?
1
This was a pathetic display by both trump and Netanyahu.
Trump is acting on a petty political grievance, and Netanyahu is hoping to capitalize on that grievance and gain a political favor. Absolutely pathetic display by both people.
21
The United states of America is the preeminent political and economic pacemaker for the middle east writ large, but more so to the outsized benefit of the state of Israel. The degree to which the pacemaker is dialed depends on a tripod of - The sitting president of the United States-the Congress, and AIPAC. What we have now is a vacuous president,ripened for the pickings for Bibi and Adelson. The policy and economic largess, as encapsulated in this article, may very well earn Donald Trump a gold plated statue on 14 David Flusser, but in not too distant future, the unprecedented largess will soon be at a runaway cost politically for Bibi and Israeli (long after Trump has exited the stage) because of the political dysrhythmia it will precipitate between the two countries. The resulting dysrhythmia may very well be beyond the capability of the much heralded pacemaker, and history may not be kind to both leaders.
5
Smart people keep their distance from Trump.
Actually, smart people cannot stand to be in his presence.
26
Which explains his rallies.
1
A majority of Israelis support what Trump and Netanyahu are doing. Are they too "fools"? The most fundamental problem is not the attitude of right-wing Americans or Israelis. The most fundamental problems is that a majority of Palestinians, implicitly supported by the BDS movement, still hold out the hope of destroying Israel. Until the Palestinians unequivocally acknowledge Israel's right to exist and negotiate on that basis there is no Israeli or American option other than to oppose them as forcefully as possible. Tom Friedman claims to oppose BDS, but is more upset at Americans and Israelis who stridently oppose the BDS movement than he is at those who would destroy Israel if they could.
14
A “majority” of Israelis support these machinations just as a “majority” of Americans support Trump — which is to say, not so at all!!
2
@Charles Tom Friedman is more concerned about being even handed than he is about the safety of Israel.
Obviously here , Americans, nor Israelis, even consider the effect that this disrespect of legitimacy and diplomacy has on the Palestinians.And the rest of the world watching.
Americans and Israelis absolutely do not care .
Palestinians are being used by both Trump and Netanyahu as political leverage in an acolyte double figure .
And they both mix the toying of the legitimacy itself of the US Constitution into their already corrupted images..
Very, very dirty business under the eyes of the whole world.
4
Trump is just doing what he always does to women--humiliating, belittling and silencing these two Squad members. He does it because our society has always accepted mistreatment of women by men as a cultural norm.
Would Trump make such a show of "dominance" if these women were male?
18
I think he already has made a show of dominance and humiliation to numerous men ever since he got up on the debate stage.
The core of why many Muslim countries in the Middle East hate Americans is because of their perception that we unfairly support Israel at all costs. While past administrations have been relatively even handed in our dealings with Israel, it has still resulted in essentially wide spread hatred of America. After all, it did lead to the 9/11 attacks.
Now, instead of ratcheting down tensions in the Middle East, Trump has made America even more hated in that region. What is really sad is that we have to pay for Israel's security and their intransigence and their open push into Palestinian territories with AMERICAN lives. WE bore the brunt of the worst terrorist attack ever due to our support for Israel. What do we get out of supporting Israel other than money for the politicians who are bought by Israel? I'm still wondering.
9
I look forward to the day when the US government recognizes the legitimate rights of the Palestinians. The forced creation of the modern state of Israel was one of the twentieth century's major foreign policy blunders but turning back the clock now is impossible. Creating a homeland for the Palestinians must be a priority even if this means forcing Israel to accept this.
20
The “legitimate rights” of the Palestinians will be achieved at the negotiating table. You should address your concerns to their so-called leadership.
"That’s as disturbing as Trump." No. it's not. Nothing is as disturbing as Trump.
14
Part of the column lost me: Elizabeth Warren was quoted as supporting an anti-Israeli position one month BEFORE the incident with Reps. Omar’s and Tlaib’s visas.
There is a tendency for Democrats to oppose anything Trump does as a knee-jerk reaction. But to blame his support of Israel for their increasingly anti-Israeli positions seems wrong. And even more to the point, left wing hostility to Israel was a growing issue long before Trump.
The Democrats have to own their positions on Israel, and trying to excuse them by blaming Trump seems misdirection.
12
It's the same thing Truman did in 1948. Partisan advantage. Nothing new.
1
I agree wholeheartedly. Israel lost another opportunity to show that they are the only democracy in the Middle East, but acting like this. Trump will never convince this Democrat to vote for him. I am not a fool or someone with an ulterior motive. I want Israel to survive, but they better get it together if that is going to happen.
12
Well, you nailed it. It's the reason so many from both sides of the Isreali argument are against what Bibi did. I have no love for these two congresswomen, but recognize that they should be allowed to visit because they are congressional representatives of the U.S. It's insulting to our country that Bibi would bar a member of Congress.
11
We were in Israel on business not long before 9/11 and the war with Iraq that followed. It’s a memory we treasure and one that precludes us from speaking too much.
I don’t think George Bush helped Israel and he unglued the Middle East. Some Israeli friends though the Iraq War was just deserts for Saddam’s shelling of civilian targets in. Israel.
I can understand that feeling without loss of sensation that the Iraq war was an incomprably stupid failure on a grand scale, the worst foreign policy decision we could have made - for decades.
We need to have coherent long range foreign policy concerns and policy to avoid that kind of stupidity. We need not to help Israel to be stupid by blindly supporting every cheap political trick of a given Israeli leader - not to pick on Netanyahu who may be among the worst leaders Israel has had. Effective as a politician, not so good for the long run.
Relying on Trump is a huge mistake for any country or any leader or any sort. He is only interested in himself and he will put himself ahead of anyone of anything.
Trump pretends to be a loyal friend to Israel, but what Israel needs is a coherent ally who does not grovel in the feet of stupidity. Loyalty to Israeli competence comes ahead of loyalty to Netanyahu.
Israel is undergoing some significant challenges. We need to be a reliable partner, not using Israel as a domestic patsy for one party or the other.
6
Remarkably accurate and unfortunately prescient. As an American Jew, Trump, Bibi and my former synagogue's blind adoration of Israel have managed to make me part ways with it.
Ironically the extremists in the government of Israel who so abhor American Reform Jews has in this instance managed to truly bite the hands that feed it. It is time that all extremist governments be checked especially the one we live in.
13
Mt. Friedman, you are trying to have it both ways by talking out of both sides of your mouth. I’m disappointed. I would have expected you to make a strong statement about this issue without feeling you need to equivocate about the boycott issue. The Palestinians are fighting for their humanitarian rights with no Army, no weapons, no power whatsoever, but only with the international B.D.S. movement.
4
Trump's racist rants are toxic indeed, he is so clearly unfit for office and should resign before he is impeached
4
Besides courting conservative American Jews with his behavior, Trump is also courting the much biggest catch -- American evangelicals. By making himself seem like the ultimate supporter of Israeli expansion, he charges up the evangelical base, which has been preached to believe that the second coming of Jesus will depend on the Jews regaining the entire Biblical Holy Land (even if they will die unless that convert to Christianity). This behavior on Trump's part may seem crazy to those whose feet are planted firmly on the ground but a lot of actual or potential Trump voters eat it up as they sit on the lower stairs to Heaven.
11
Good article - but the following statement in no way aligns with the facts and appears to simply be a desperate swing at false equivalency: "But anytime she is legitimately criticized, Democrats automatically scream “Islamophobia’’ and defend her. That’s as disturbing as Trump."
4
Israel is in the process of losing an entire generation of American voters. Bibi is not doing his country any favors in the long term I am afraid.
8
I know that more than a few Somali immigrants in Minneapolis, who face so many challenges — from gang violence to unemployment — are asking why is Omar spending time on the West Bank of the Jordan and not on the West Bank of the Mississippi?
I love Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs — but God save me from some of their American friends. So many of them just want to exploit this problem to advance themselves politically, get attention, raise money or delegitimize their opponents.
In that, Trump is not alone — he’s just the worst of the worst.
Totally agree with this, and I am Jewish. Vote Omar out, if her district so chooses to, she's a grandstander, as is the rest of the squad. But what Israel did was wrong, Bibi and Trump should go along with them. I do not beleive in "Israel right or wrong" and if Bib should annex the West Bank, my support for Israel will stop period.
6
Moderate Democrats are the ones to blame, it is they who are driving a wedge between Israel and Americans by casting blame on Israel for all this, rather than on the twosome. They should have offered to curate a report of the visit in real-time, countering all the vicious anti-Israel propaganda the duo would spew as they said it, live, showing all that these two do not represent the Democratic party. But instead they empowered the duo, making Israel realize it would only lose by letting them in, because it would be very difficult for Israeli politicians to criticize visting American congresspeople. This task should have been taken up by the Democratic establishment. Israel is not afraid of criticism, but these two are not offering criticism but rather toxic and telegenic lies and hatred. If America is becoming more and more 'diverse' in this way, then there will soon be no 'special relationship' between Israel and America, it is not Israel's actions now which will be the cause of the end of this relationship but rather Israel is reacting to what can be clearly seen as the coming end to this special relationship if the present process continues. The demise of that relationship will be the fault of the moderate Democrats, who should repudiate this twosome rather than empowering them and thereby hastening the time when the Demcratic party becomes a radical left wing force (which will also in the end boomerang on the moderates).
4
@Avirab
I hope you are prescient about the loss of Israel's "special relationship" with the US. As a liberal Democrat, the decoupling of Israel and the US cannot happen soon enough. The US has lost so much in defending Israel and providing it with diplomatic cover for its crimes. All this for a country in which half the population oppresses the other half.
Make humanitarian issues such as this stupid law part of the conditions of renewing financial support. They have caused more harm to the U.S. in the middle east than all of the Irans stacked on top of each other.
2
A two-State solution? Really?
You mean some people are still considering this as a possibility?
1
Jennifer Rubin and Jonathan Alter spoke to these points, also very effectively, last night on The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell. It is a cynical and poisonous mistake to manipulate Israel into banning the visits of Omar and Tlaib. Trump's pronouncements are always made from a position of weakness and he projected weakness onto Bibi who, sensibly, reversed his objection. But as Friedman asserts, the damage has been done.
Israel's priorities are not the same as those of the United States. I wouldn't want to see blind loyalty to any other nation--Israel included. Between the two men, their combined stupidity will leave Israel weaker, isolated, and potentially no longer a democracy.
4
I'm Jewish, have never been to Israel, have friends and relatives who have visited and/or lived there. We all try to keep the current politics out of our memories/thoughts. Getting harder to do each day.
4
I am old enough to remember the 6 day war of 1967, the Intifadas (1987-about 1993) , Arafat and the PLO (he died in 2004) and the failed attempts for peace in the region.
I remember the Palestinian hatred of Israel and threats to destroy all Israelis. Israel gave Gaza to Hamas in 2005 and Hamas immediately destroyed any thriving businesses and uses this isolated territory and people from which to launch attacks because it still incites its citizens with cries of "death to Israel."
I have seen Israel taking land from Palestinians in the West Bank with impunity and this is wrong if a two state settlement is ever to occur.
And I am just recalling since Israel became a state May 14, 1948.
Reps. Omar and Tlaib have a right to their support of Palestinians and I have no doubt that their knowledge of the situation of Palestinian history differs greatly from my knowledge of the shared history of Israelis and Palestinians.
They were elected to represent US districts and constituents and they are each one vote in Congress on the state of US relations with Israel. They should be more temperate and measured in their speech and learn more of the shared history.
However trump is altogether wrong in telling Israel to bar these Congresswomen from entering Israel and Netanyahu is as corrupt and manipulative and wrong as Trump.
Israel has lost its way as a democratic country, much as our country is a democracy in turmoil.
Jews everywhere should decry this travesty by trump and Bibi.
1043
@joyce : I remember when there was no Israel. It was all Palestine. It was peaceful then, the People were happy and going about their lives.
Then came 1946. Palestine has not been peaceful since then. Now who's fault is that ? The biblical claim of a deity promised land is just so much propaganda and yet the American people have been drug into this religious oriented quagmire. And we have basically been the dog wagged by the tail ever since.
66
@joyce Israel unilaterally left Gaza, dividing the Palestinians, playing to the rift between Fatah and Hamas.This was Ariel Sharon's " concession" to peace. Evermore this has been used as an example of why Palestinians don't deserve anything more. Hamas was "ELECTED" after Israel left. Israel, with US support against Hamas, began a boycott and siege of the Gaza territory. Resistance, rocket fire, has resulted in devastating "operations" with bulldozers and bombs making Gaza into rubble periodically as they continue to resist this. All the while the propaganda is that they could have made this territory into a Singapore. Yeah right. In fact it's a prison, one of the densest populated places in the world and at the mercy of others, including Israel's periodic punishing even for what starts out as a non-violent march.
57
We are not willing to be Israel's Puppet. Americans don't want to fight Israel's neighbors in the "endless war". We don't want to continue supplying the latest weapons into their war machine. This monkey on our back wants $38 billion and then they want more. It is all done with blackmail and payoffs. It is very selfish to insist they don't have to share.
35
We are often told that Israel is the Middle East's only democracy. In light of the events of the past few days, I would like to ask a simple -- perhaps a naive -- question about the political system in Israel: does the Israeli constitution enshrine a guarantee of freedom of speech analogous to that found in the US Bill of Rights? And if so, how does an Israeli ban on speech in support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) -- a nonviolent protest movement -- square with such a guarantee?
I think too of the ambition, beginning in 2017, to pass a bill in the US Congress, the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (H.R.1697 / S.270), that would allow US state governments to blacklist companies and contractors who declined to pledge that they will not participate in any boycott of Israel. Naturally the bill has not been passed. The strong tradition of free speech in the US does not allow such a restriction to be passed into law or, if passed, to have any hope of being enforced. At least not yet. Perhaps the time is not ripe.
4