America’s Relationship with Israel

By Zacharia Sonallah

Last week, Freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar came under criticism from both Republicans and Democrats after she criticized the role of pro-Israel lobbyists in the United States discourse.  Omar responded to a Tweet critical of lawmakers in the U.S. who defend Israel with the phrase “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.” The line, popularized in a 1997 rap song by “Puff Daddy & The Family,” uses the term “Benjamins” to refer to hundred-dollar bills.  Omar’s comments received a wide array of reactions.  Some leaders accused Omar of anti-Semitism, while fellow lawmakers, such as congressmen Dan Kildee, Steny Hoyer and Rashida Tlaib all defended Omar against the accusation.

Omar’s comment, and its divided reception, comes as the latest incident indicating a deepening political disagreement over the United States’ seemingly unqualified support for Israel, particularly a disagreement among Democrats.  Recent polls have indicated sharp drops in Americans’ support for Israel, particularly among Democrats, minorities, and young people.  Still though, the United States’ overall support for Israel is an anomaly.  In the past, Israel’s flagrant violations of International and Human Rights Law have drawn widespread condemnation from the World, with the consistent exception of the United States.  For instance, in 2016 when the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) urged countries to take steps to divest from Israel, or break ties altogether, U.S. Congressmen introduced the “Israel Anti-Boycott Act,” which explicitly opposed the HRC resolution.  States have passed similar laws in support of Israel, many of which are facing Constitutional challenges in court.   Last year, directly in contravention of International Law, the United States relocated its Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  The United States was the only country to make that move, and one of very few countries that even recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital. The United Nations quickly condemned the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and many other World Leaders joined the criticism.[1]

Undeniably so, the United States is consistently an ardent supporter of Israel, even when it isn’t popular, convenient, or even legal. This begs the question, why is this support so strong?Congresswoman Omar faced accusations of anti-Semitism for suggesting that it might be because of Pro-Israel lobby. According to “Open Secrets”, the Pro-Israel lobby is “[o]ne of, if not the most, powerful” international issue lobbies in the United States.  In 2018, Pro-Israel lobbies contributed nearly 15 million dollars in the midterm election and spent around 5 million dollars on lobbying.  For perspective, the Gun Rights interests, including the NRA, contributed around 4.5 million and spent nearly 11.5 million on lobbying. While AIPAC, cited by Omar as a source of Pro-Israel “Benjamins” in American politics, doesn’t have a Political Action Committee, it spent more than 3.5 million dollars on lobbying in 2018. Likewise, there are many industries and private corporations that stand to benefit from improved relations with Israel and are also pouring their own contributions and influence into American elections.  For example, Lockheed Martin, one of the top spenders in 2018, spent 13.2 million dollars on lobbying in 2018.  That same year Lockheed Martin was awarded a 150-million-dollar deal with Israel.

This past year has seen 300 Palestinians killed, and many others falling victim to home demolitions, forcible eviction and relocation, widespread torture, and other practices that have long been criticized by the International Community.  Now, Israel is reportedly preparing for a new military offensive on the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza.  The last war on Gaza left nearly 1,500 Palestinian civilians and 6 Israeli civilians dead. A United Nations report accused Israel of war crimes including targeting residences with precision and using loose rules of engagement.  Another war could foreseeably be just as destructive and bloody for the Palestinians, as 2014 was. As Israel continues its behavior, some lawmakers, like Congresswoman Omar, will undoubtedly continue to voice their dissents and criticisms, which may lead to an even greater decline in American support for Israel.

 

References

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/12/693916631/trump-calls-on-rep-ilhan-omar-to-resign-over-remarks-criticized-as-anti-semitic

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-ilhan-omar-criticized-by-fellow-democratic-lawmakers-no-place-for-anti-semitism-1.6931288

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/fellow-democrat-dan-kildee-defends-ilhan-omars-comments-on-israel-and-aipac

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1697

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-poll-shows-support-for-israel-plummeting-among-u-s-liberals-millennials-and-women-1.6594182

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/support-israel-continues-drop-liberals-youth-181103094721225.html

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/427488-dem-leaders-defend-freshmen-tlaib-omar

https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/divide-over-israel-widens-in-democratic-party

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/16/us-israel-golan-heights-syria-un-resolution-oppose

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/120-countries-at-un-condemn-israel-over-gaza-violence-133259

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/anti-bds-laws-are-popular-that-doesnt-mean-theyre-constitutional/2018/12/18/8c0e122e-0300-11e9-b5df-5d3874f1ac36_story.html?utm_term=.6da6dc8a2c9c

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/17/after-us-embassy-move-to-jerusalem-more-countries-follow-its-lead.html

https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/AboutUs/NY/GA73/A_73_45717.docx

http://statecrime.org/state-crime-research/forced-evictions-in-israel-palestine/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_israel_palestinians/maps/html/1967_and_now.stm

https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/08/israel-jerusalem-palestinians-stripped-status

https://www.btselem.org/jerusalem

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/israel-evicts-palestinians-jerusalem-home-190217192515937.html

https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=Q05

https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=Q13++

https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/background.php?ind=Q13++

https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=2018&indexType=s

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000104

https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2018/02/06/lockheed-martin-israel-f-35.html

https://ips-dc.org/why_the_us_supports_israel/

https://www.mepc.org/special-relationship-israel-it-worth-costs

https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-said-to-tell-cabinet-israel-preparing-for-gaza-offensive/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33223365

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/27/israel-kills-more-palestinians-2014-than-any-other-year-since-1967

https://www.ochaopt.org/content/2018-more-casualties-and-food-insecurity-less-funding-humanitarian-aid https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-palestinians-who-died-during-great-march-return

[1]   Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967, even though under the 1949 Armistice line, East Jerusalem was to remain under Jordanian rule of Palestine.  In 1980, Israel passed legislation to annex East Jerusalem, in violation of the 1949 Armistice and International Law. Since annexation, Israel has maintained policies of forcibly evicting Jerusalem’s Arab residents, and building settlements exclusively for Jewish inhabitants, amounting to war crimes under the Rome Statute and the Geneva Conventions.