JNS
Continuation of the current American policy condemns many more Israelis to murder at the hands of vicious jihadists.
Since returning to Israel after a year of living in London, I have noticed palpable changes in the atmosphere in Tel Aviv.
Due to the difficulty for American Jews who feel connected to Israel’s struggle for survival to comprehend at the deepest level what life is like when all one holds dear is in the line of fire—despite their laudable efforts to do so and their generous contributions to the war effort—I feel moved to share some observations that have come up repeatedly in conversations.
Leading me to London following three years of successful aliyah and a good life in Israel was, above all, a sense of terminal malaise in the Zionist movement that had inspired me to relocate my life to Israel in the first place. The entire national and political dialogue surrounding the present and future of Israel seemed to stretch little beyond whether, when, and how (by any means necessary) to remove Benjamin Netanyahu from office and banish him from it once and for all.
From the time I arrived in Israel as a citizen on Erev Rosh Hashanah 2020, not a week went by without some “mass” gathering dedicated to this goal based on one pretext or another. During the year in which his opponents succeeded in accomplishing their mission, life went on normally.
Though I had not voted for the “change” government in the March 2021 elections, I accepted the results, which were achieved within the confines of Israel’s election laws.
Though I did not support that government’s inception, throughout the period when Naftali Bennett led the coalition, I did not feel in any way endangered as a citizen and resident of Israel. When Bennett handed the reins to Yair Lapid in July 2022, I was concerned, but I expected his shaky grip on power with elections coming up against the boogeyman (Netanyahu) would prevent him from jeopardizing Israel’s security with leftward policies that were not in line with the will of a majority of Israeli voters.
For the most part, this proved true, and it was his elitism that I voted against when elections came again in November 2022 more than any policy he implemented.
That said, it was utterly predictable that the “deal” Lapid made and celebrated as saving Israel from a disastrous war in the north with Hezbollah would flop.
The modern, out-of-touch political elite to which he seemed to aspire to belong—the Trudeau-Macron-Biden types of globalists who disparage their countrymen for displays of patriotism—was always a red flag to the typical Israeli voter and one of the reasons his hold on the title of “opposition leader” has been tenuous throughout his short-lived rise.
This group of elites, led in the United States by the Democratic National Committee and the government apparatus that has paraded around for the past three and a half years as the “Biden administration,” are such abject failures in foreign policy that any observer can practically bank on the inverse of every one of their stated goals manifesting into reality.
This is a crucial lesson Israel seems to have learned at an excruciating cost, after successfully tiptoeing around an American regime that has tried to maintain favor with both sides following Hamas’s medieval attack on civilians on Oct. 7.
Now, as war seems to be expanding in the north, Israel has wisely struck a devastating surprise blow to Hezbollah, undeterred by warnings from the U.S. administration.
We must all remember an obvious truth that many American Jews refuse to acknowledge: Joe Biden, acting in the more lucid early days of his presidency, is directly responsible for the unbearable tragedy that has befallen the Jewish people, the brunt of which has been borne by those here in Israel.
His botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 was an unmitigated disaster that led directly to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Iranian axis’s decision to move to annihilate the Jewish state.
How fortunate we are that these savage terrorists miscalculated Israel’s wherewithal to defend itself on so many fronts, with fragile American support.
As the Houthis have now succeeded at killing an Israeli civilian in Tel Aviv, a milestone achievement for that particular group of barbarians, we must also recall how Biden in his earliest days in the White House de-listed the Houthis from the U.S. terror list in February 2021 (in exchange for absolutely nothing), in a move designed to curry favor with the Iranian regime, another spectacular and self-inflicted policy failure.
Similarly, Biden reversed President Trump’s successful southern border policies, in a move that undermined America’s interests and seemingly his own party’s prospects in any semblance of a fair election.
Why is this important now? As the IDF seems to have restored some deterrence in a series of operations that sound straight out of James Bond—perhaps none more so than the recent shock cyber-attack on Hezbollah—the mood in Israel is one of victory. For all the talk of unity that has been commonplace since the start of the war, it is little reflected in the political realm, but it can be felt on the streets. Israelis know victory is the only option and are confident in its viability, albeit with the anticipation of a terrible cost none of us wishes to pay.
The anti-government protests that have been incessant since at least my arrival in late 2020 are far more marginalized than they were at their peak during the anti-judicial reform protests just one year ago. The pressure on the governing coalition seems to have waned as efforts to topple it have failed time after time.
Where does this leave American Jews who have prided themselves on their efforts to secure Israel’s future and the safety of its beloved residents in this battle that is understood to be existential? How can “moderate” or undecided Jews have confidence that Kamala Harris, who has ascended to the top of the ticket without receiving a single vote, would be any friendlier to Israel than the nominal “Biden” administration of which she is supposedly second-in-command?
The California-grown “most progressive senator” has no natural affinity for Israel and little record of substance to rely upon. Judging by her campaign, it would be a risk to take to heart whatever platitudes she may utter. Her choice of running mate Tim Walz from Islamist-friendly Minnesota, home of Ilhan Omar, versus the popular Jewish Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, should be a serious wake-up call.
Whether it be due to epic incompetence, weakness or antipathy towards the Jewish state, we here in Israel must assume that any American-led efforts, from appeasement attempts to deter Iran, to the diplomatic failings of Amos Hochstein aimed at preventing war in the north, to the tragically hopeless talks to recover our hostages, are sure to fail as long as the perverse ideology currently ruling in Washington reigns. This means war on difficult terms and more of the agonizing loss that
has torn apart the lives of so many citizens of all stripes here in Israel.
I implore American Jewish voters to think long and hard about their priorities. Jewish voters preferred Biden by a wide margin in 2020. The results of his presidency speak for themselves.
Many of my friends who fall into that category professed remorse only after the unspeakable atrocities of Oct. 7. My brother’s kibbutz in the "Gaza Envelope" was invaded that day but was among the few spared a massacre thanks to the heroics of the civilian guard and the self-sacrifice of a young father-to-be, my brother’s friend and mentor, who fell defending it. We are among the most fortunate people in all of Israel. We know far too many others who were not so fortunate.
War is already upon us, thanks in large part to the chronic failure of Biden-Harris policies. Jewish voters who hold Israel dear must beware that more of the current American policy condemns many more Israelis to murder at the hands of vicious jihadists whose sole purpose is our destruction.
Asher Daniels has worked professionally in Zionist organizations since 2013 in both the U.S. and Israel; he made aliyah in 2020 and lives in Tel Aviv.
