Many elected Democrats are trying to thread a political needle between the public's lopsided pro-Israel sentiments, including overwhelming support among Jewish voters, on one hand -- and an increasingly hostile left-wing base on the other. The noise made by the latter Hamas-supporting and -sympathizing coalition of hardcore leftists and Islamists presents a challenge for members of a party already terrified of alienating various constituencies with a major election looming. The Biden White House is trying to straddle the fence, supporting Israel while pandering increasingly aggressively to the anti-Israel contingent. The Senate Majority Leader wandered into shocking 'election interference' territory in a recent speech in which he demanded new Israeli elections and the ouster of a legitimately-elected government in a democratic, allied nation. This would have been deeply inappropriate even if Israel were not in the midst of a war started in heinous fashion by its enemy, and currently being governed by a 'unity' wartime cabinet.
Other prominent Democrats are now following at least part of Chuck Schumer's lead by calling for steps toward a Palestinian state, many of them likely hopeful that such actions will help thread a rhetorical needle on the wider issue. But in practice, their idea is not just hopelessly naive, given the current circumstances, but actually dangerous:
Nineteen Senate Democrats on Wednesday pressed President Joe Biden to lay out a plan for the U.S. to recognize a Palestinian state under control of a reformed Palestinian Authority. The lawmakers’ letter to Biden argues that outlining a path to recognizing a demilitarized Palestinian state would “reignite U.S. leadership on a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” “Given the severity of the current crisis, this moment requires determined U.S. leadership that must move beyond facilitation” of Israeli-Palestinian talks, the lawmakers wrote. Longtime U.S. policy has held that the U.S. should only recognize, or offer the prospect of recognition, of a Palestinian state as the result of direct bilateral talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The proposal put forward by the senators shifts that timeline...The letter was signed by Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Peter Welch (D-VT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
I can't say I'm surprised to see this name on the list. The missive (which also criticizes Israel, of course) calls for the Palestinians to recognize Israel, end 'pay to slay' martyr funds, and renounce Hamas and terrorism while committing to demilitarized nonviolence. There are three fundamental problems with this proposal -- which reads more like fantasy, utterly detached from both history and the current moment:
(1) Palestinian Arab leaders have rejected generous peace proposals on this front every single time they've been offered, dating back to before the modern state of Israel's founding. In fact, on multiple occasions, they've turned to violence in the process of saying 'no. One prominent example was the 2000 rejection of statehood, triggering a bloody string of brutal terrorist attacks know as the 'Second Intifada,' which killed more 1,000 Israelis. Hamas supporters have been chanting in Western streets for another Intifada lately, which can only be interpreted as calls for more violence. The Palestinians have always said 'no,' sometimes not even bothering to come to the table at all. United States Senators writing a letter for political reasons cannot change this.
(2) There is no Palestinian leader who is capable of delivering a credible peace deal in exchange for a state, even if he wanted to. Mahmoud Abbas, the current Palestinian Authority leader, is 88 years old. Any successor who might hypothetically agree to peace with Israel, including recognition of the Jewish state, would very likely be targeted for assassination by terrorists whose violent jihad approach is much more aligned with the mood of the Palestinian street. At the very least, the 'peace' would be seen by many as illegitimate, and undermined at every opportunity, including violently. How are we supposed to expect a meaningful renunciation of violence and acceptance of Israel from a someone who leads this population?
New Palestinian poll results:
— Jeff Jacoby (@Jeff_Jacoby) March 20, 2024
71% of Palestinians approve the Oct. 7 terror attacks.
91% say Hamas committed no war crimes.
59% want Hamas to rule Gaza after the war.
46%, a plurality, favor a strategy of "armed struggle" against Israel.
Hamas does speak for most Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/8VBjCDzEUx
(3) Anything that remotely resembles a political or diplomatic reward for the October 7th atrocities -- which, sickeningly, were widely supported by the Palestinian people -- is unacceptable and provocative. It would invite more terror and puts innocent Israeli lives at further risk. The only just outcome from that attack is a very stark lesson that such actions will result in nothing but crushing punishment and defeat. Period. United States Senators racing out to propose unilateral Palestinian statehood, absent bilateral talks with the Israelis (a gratuitous, pro-Palestinian break from longstanding US policy) sends precisely the wrong message, at precisely the wrong time -- on top of the profound impracticality of it all, as outlined above. The lawmakers' letter is a foolish, ill-conceived, entirely political document that will achieve nothing of value. And it isn't likely to placate radical Hamas supporters like this, who've long existed as part of the Democratic base (in case you missed it earlier):
This man -- who runs a domestic hate group that's long been afforded false legitimacy by Dems & media -- gave an impassioned speech in support of Hamas' 10/7 slaughter of 1,200 Israeli civilians. Incredibly, his org (CAIR) exists to lecture Americans about 'Islamophobia.' https://t.co/ghBaW87SaV
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 20, 2024
If the Palestinians wanted their own state, in exchange for peaceful co-existence with a Jewish state, they would have gotten one long ago. They don't. Until that changes, likely alongside massive de-radicalization efforts (as seen in post-War Japan, albeit much harder in an age of social media), Western "proposals" like this are useless, at best.