SUBTITLE: NETANYAHU SENDS A WARNING TO THE JEWISH LEADERSHIP OF THE DIASPORA: EITHER SUPPORT MY POLICIES PUBLICLY OR BECOME A PART OF HISTORY.
The list of political personalities loyal to Netanyahu and who ended up as political cadavers during the last decade is getting longer every day. Unlike the democratic leadership that characterized the Begin era in Likud, in this sense Netanyahu imposed the despotic principle of disposable utensils: use, dirty and throw away.
Now we arrive at the AIPAC’s turn. We are speaking about the historic and powerful pro-Israel lobby of Jewish American society that for decades became the backbone of American unconditional support for Israel. Although the conduct of this institution conveyed in the eyes of the surrounding society an image of double loyalty, one cannot fail to point out its successful work without differentiating who was in power in Israel or United States.
Everything began to creak with Trump’s arrival at the White House. The extreme intimacy between Netanyahu, the new US president, and his Republican party lawmakers, left AIPAC reeling, historically boasting of working with Democrats and Republicans indiscriminately.
The estrangement between Netanyahu and AIPAC grew as the Israeli prime minister drifted away from that promise of the two-state solution that he duly adopted in 2009 in his famous speech at Bar Ilan University. On the contrary, AIPAC, with its bipartisan vision of American politics, persisted in the formula based on dialogue with the Palestinians that finally allows for a solution of territorial compromise.
Another aspect that demonstrated to AIPAC leaders that its historical function is coming to an end was a drastic change in Trump’s attitude. The eccentric American president began to identify another institution as the representative of Israeli interests in the United States. This is the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), an organization that groups powerful US citizens with a clear ideological and partisan identification of those who pressure the president for decision-making in favor of Israel. At the same time, through its Political Action Committee (PAC), they mobilize donations to: “fulfill their main objective in 2020, re-election of Donald Trump, forever the most significant pro-Israel president.”
The constitution of the Israeli government May 2020 with the signing of the coalition agreement that establishes Netanyahu’s right to seek approval for the unilateral annexation of West Bank territories was decisive in understanding that the historical role of AIPAC is going down in history.
AIPAC’S brief statement on Twitter and a letter clearly illustrates this. In the first, they congratulate the constitution of the new government of Netanyahu and Gantz. In the second, it should rather be interpreted as a prayer for those who replace them. Textually it says: “Annexation must not be allowed to weaken the vital relationship between the United States and Israel.” It is a clear reference to the inevitable break with the liberal and democratic wing of American society.
Dr. Keith Kahn-Harris, an English sociologist, gave the appropriate title: “Annexation is a clear message for AIPAC: pack up and go home” (“Annexation Means AIPAC Can Pack Up and Go Home”, Haaretz, 5-21-2020).
But this happening has another implication. It would be a serious error of interpretation if the institutions that lead the Jewish communities in the diaspora do not pay enough attention to it. If these organizations such as DAIA in Argentina, CONIB in Brazil, CJCH in Chile or CCIU in Uruguay, as an example, do not enlist behind the plans for the annexation of the West Bank, Netanyahu is going to do the same to them as he did to AIPAC.
Netanyahu will be responsible for the disappearance of the Judaism values to which these Jewish organizations adhere to. The Jewish community leaderships in the world have only two alternatives: support Netanyahu and confront the societies that surround them, or confront Netanyahu in defense of these historical values of Judaism.
They can’t sneak away; they have to decide.
Daniel Kupervaser
Herzlya – Israel 8-6-2020
kupervaser.daniel@gmail.com
@KupervaserD