Sanders's human rights proposal against Israel endangers Jewish lives - editorial

First, the good news: the US Senate decisively voted 72-11 on Tuesday to reject a proposal that could have threatened US aid to Israel.

The measure called for investigating Israel for human rights violations and potential war crimes and could have initiated a process culminating in a cutoff of aid to Israel just as it is fighting Hamas in Gaza and skirmishing with Hezbollah in Lebanon. That would have been a huge blow to the country.

Thirty-seven of those senators who voted for the measure were Democrats, while only nine Democrats voted against it. The margin of Israel’s victory would have been considerably greater were it not for weather issues that tangled up air traffic and prevented some of the senators from showing up. Of the 17 senators not in the chamber, 15 were Republicans who most likely would have voted the proposal down.

This indicates that despite the anti-Israel protests in many US cities, despite very critical voices of Israel amplified in the media, despite a strong anti-Israel feeling among many Progressives, Israel retains strong bipartisan support in Congress. Maybe not to the same extent as in years past, but much more than the prevailing narrative that most Israelis see in the media would indicate.

That’s the good news.

Sanders reinforces a false and hateful narrative

Now the sad news: the proposal was brought by none other than Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. What makes that sad is that Sanders is a Jew.

Sanders’ hostility toward Israel is well known – he couches it in an enmity to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the policies of right-wing Israeli governments, but for years, it seems to go well beyond that.

What makes Sanders’ proposing this resolution so sad is that it reinforces the narrative that Israel, by defending itself against a group that wants to destroy it, is allegedly guilty of war crimes and human rights violations.

Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-Maryland) said that what Sanders proposed “would be a gift to Hamas, a gift to Iran. It’s an indictment against Israel, make no mistake about it.”

And Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) commented that “Israel is locked in a life-or-death struggle against a terrorist organization sworn to annihilate it and the Jewish people.”

A cutoff of aid to Israel would embolden Hamas and help it achieve its nefarious designs. It is staggering that it is a Jewish legislator who is leading the charge.

But it shouldn’t be so staggering.

Sanders is part of a shocking sliver of Jews – including groups like IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace – working against their brethren at a time when Israel is locked in an existential battle. There may be those who take issue with that characterization, stating that Hamas cannot destroy Israel – and they are correct.

Hamas cannot destroy Israel. But if Israel does not roundly defeat this terrorist organization, if it does not soundly degrade its military capabilities, then others in the region – such as Iran and Hezbollah – will be emboldened, perceive Israel as weak, and seek to destroy it.

Hamas’s attacks on October 7 stirred something deep in the collective Jewish soul leading to an outpouring of solidarity not seen in decades. Suddenly, many Jews, both in Israel and the Diaspora, felt a strong bond of brotherhood, shared fate, and common destiny.

A November poll conducted by the Jewish Electorate Institute found that 82% of the 800 self-identified Jewish respondents said they feel a strong emotional attachment to Israel. This represents a 10% jump in only five months and was undoubtedly the result of the Hamas attack, and the antisemitic backlash that followed it.

Many, but not all Jews, felt those stirrings of solidarity. Sanders is among the exceptions. His action aimed at restricting US military aid to Israel endangers Israeli and Jewish lives.

It is always hurtful to hear allegations of war crimes, human rights violations, and charges of genocide leveled against Israel for merely trying to defend itself.

It is doubly hurtful, however, when these accusations, and the attempts to tie Israel’s hands, come from Jews. But one shouldn’t be surprised: Jewish history, with all its glory, is replete with instances of Jews blind, indifferent, and worse, to the plight of their brethren.