While support for Israel has come from both Republicans and Democrats, neither side is completely behind Israel. Here are a few comments by Democrats who immediately jumped on Israel for daring to prevent another Holocaust against the Jewish people. Here was Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ): "This action ordered by Prime Minister Netanyahu appears to deliberately undermine ongoing American diplomatic negotiations about Iran's nuclear program." Senator Kim is 42 years old. So giving him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he just doesn't know that "diplomatic negotiations" with Iran have been ongoing for most of this century. And where has that gotten us? And no, Netanyahu did not undermine America; in fact he waited for the 60 days Trump gave to Iran to make a deal before attacking.
Here was Senator Jack Reed (D-RI): "Israel's alarming decision to launch airstrikes on Iran is a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence." Escalating regional violence? Where have you been, Senator? Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been at war with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen. And even Iran, which sent missiles into Israel back in April, 2024. How's that for regional violence?
And here was Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn): "This is a disaster of Trump and Netanyahu's own making, and now the region risks spiraling toward a new, deadly conflict." New conflict? I'll say one thing about these Democratic Senators. Like many, they were quick to blame Israel. Don't dare blame Iran for failing to make a deal with president Trump. No, blame the Jews. Because make no mistake, when they blame Netanyahu, they are blaming Israel and the Jews. Why do I say that? Because the Jewish people in Israel, of all political stripes, support Netanyahu's decision to attack Iran.
Yair Lapid is the head of one of the opposition parties to Netanyahu. Lapid: Israel "didn't declare war on Iran. Iran declared war on Israel and the Jewish people decades ago." Israeli President Isaac Hertzog, long with the opposition Labor Party, was also in full support of Netanyahu's decision. What all Israelis understand is that Iran has repeatedly threatened to wipe their country off the map. If Iran obtained nuclear weapons, what would it take to destroy Israel? One nuke? Two? Certainly not more than three.
But these Democrats apparently forgot that it was a single lifetime ago that the Nazis murdered 6 million of the world's 17 to 18 million Jews. But since then, the Jewish people have their own state, with their own military. And to Jews everywhere, the expression "Never Again" means never again will Jews go quietly to their deaths. Who gives a damn what these Senators think? As we Jews know, people like that tend to be sympathetic only to dead Jews.
On the Republican side, there is also a split in opinion and support for Israel. Some Republicans say let Israel do what it wants, as long as the U.S. is not involved. These Republicans are what I refer to as the "MAGA isolationists." Here is Senator Rand Paul (R-KY): "I see more war and more carnage and it's not the U.S.'s job to be involved in this war. Iraq was a mess. Afghanistan was a mess." I see no comparison with those two wars. Because Trump has made it clear over and over again that he prefers peace. He is proud that the U.S. got involved in no wars during his first term. And even now, he is only considering whether or not to send in the B2 bombers with their 30,000 pound bunker busting bombs to take out the hardened nuclear facilities in Iran.
Yes, any conflict could take an unpredictable turn. But with Trump as president, I see little likelihood of an intensified war ensuing. No surprise that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said "This is not our war." He even joined others in supporting a resolution that would prevent Trump from taking action without authorization from Congress. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) is generally a strong supporter of Israel. But in this case he said that "I don't want us fighting a war...I don't want another Mid-east war."
Also no surprise was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who said our focus should be on domestic issues, and "not going into another foreign war." She expressed concern that war could "fracture" the MAGA movement. I think that these MAGA isolationists are completely wrong. The isolationists kept us out of WWII, until Japan decided they didn't care about that, and bombed Pearl Harbor. These MAGA isolationists do not understand the concept of "peace through strength." That does not mean that America must get involved in every war. But it does mean that unless America does project its power when appropriate, then the only ones stepping up will be China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Anybody think if those countries feel empowered the world will be a safer place? As mentioned earlier, the Europeans cannot be counted on.
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