The president of Israel reminds the US Congress that criticism of his country must not deny its right to exist

While most legislators enthusiastically applauded his speech, a handful of progressive Democrats on Wednesday boycotted the presence of Isaac Herzog, President of Israel, before the US Congress, meeting in joint session. Herzog, the second president of the country to address the US legislature after his father, Chaim, in 1987, has said he understands the criticism of his country but marked a red line, that of the right to security and defense, in reference to both the Palestinians and the threat that Iran poses to the region.

Israel, Herzog has declared, has taken “clear steps” toward peace with Palestine, but “true peace cannot be anchored in violence,” which “undermines any possibility of future peace.” On Iran’s regional aspirations, and his intention to “wipe Israel off the map,” the president has called for bilateral collaboration “to prevent Iran’s threat to international security.” “The stronger Israel is, the more secure the US will be,” he added.

As he did the day before in his meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House, Herzog tried to reassure Israel’s great ally about the state of democracy in the country and the strength of the bilateral relationship, in a speech that officially marked the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish State and in which he recognized the “intense and painful debate” on the actions of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, especially the controversial reform of the Supreme Court. The opposition to this project – which seeks to greatly undermine its independence and subordinate it in practice to the Executive – has brought tens of thousands of people to the streets in the last 28 weeks. The mobilization has grown this month with the prospect of approval, next week, of a key law.

The deep discontent in the Biden Administration and among Democratic legislators over said judicial reform and over the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank has not prevented Congress from approving this Tuesday with massive bipartisan support ―412 votes in favor and only nine against― a resolution of “unconditional” support for Israel. The initiative represents a clear disavowal of the Democratic congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who on Saturday described Israel as a “racist state” and was in favor of self-determination for the Palestinians, although the “dream” of the two-state solution, she said, “no longer seems possible.” The congressional resolution, promoted by the Republicans, reiterates its “unconditional” support for Israel and stresses that it is not a “racist” state or with an apartheid regime. The text does not mention Jayapal, but it is a clear condemnation of her statements.

“Criticism of Israel must not cross the line of denying the State of Israel’s right to exist. Questioning the right of the Jewish people to self-determination is not legitimate diplomacy, but anti-Semitism”, Herzog said in his speech. “I am no stranger to criticism among friends, including some voiced by respected members of this House. I respect criticism, although one does not have to accept it, ”he added.

democrat division

Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, retracted her comments the next day, insisting they were directed at Netanyahu’s “far-right government” and not Israel. Fellow Democrat Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American congresswoman on Capitol Hill, boycotted Herzog’s speech and criticized her peers’ resolution for “normalizing violence” against those living in the occupied West Bank, alluding to settlement expansion plans. Tlaib did call Israel’s policy toward the Palestinians apartheid. Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, from the most progressive wing of the Democrats, and the leftist Bernie Sanders were also absent during the speech. Despite the resolution of support, Herzog’s visit has revealed the deepening division among Democrats over the degree of support for Israel, or even on the advisability of supporting their traditional ally in the Middle East, along with Egypt.

After appearing before Congress, Herzog returned to the White House, where the day before he held a meeting with the president, Joe Biden, to meet with the vice president, Kamala Harris. Both leaders had planned to announce an investment of 70 million dollars in five years to launch sustainable agriculture programs.

Herzog’s is a high-level political visit, despite the ceremonial role of his position. In fact, until this very Monday it was seen as a slight to Netanyahu. But on Tuesday the White House issued an official invitation to the prime minister, still without a specific date or place, who has eased months of tensions with the head of government and opened the doors of Washington for him for the first time since he resumed power in December. The invitation reversed Biden’s last decision, last March, to avoid any meeting with Netanyahu “in the short term.”

This Tuesday, before Biden and Herzog met behind closed doors for about 40 minutes, the Israeli president, who has spent months trying to stem the crisis unleashed by the controversial judicial reform, pointed out that “some” common enemies “sometimes confuse the fact that we may have some differences with damage to our unbreakable bond.” Biden used the same qualifier to define the bilateral relationship. “My heart and soul are also in Israel, in the heated debate that we are experiencing as a society. It’s a heated debate, but it’s also a virtue and a tribute to the greatness of Israeli democracy. Let me reiterate that Israeli democracy is strong and resilient. We are experiencing painful situations, heated debates, challenging moments, but I sincerely believe (…) that we should always try to find a friendly consensus, ”Herzog concluded, according to the transcript released by his office.

The controversial reform of the Supreme Court, the expansion of the settlements in the West Bank and the retroactive authorization of colonies that were built in that territory without approval, such as Eviatar —one of the so-called output, illegal both by Israel and by international law — are reasons for concern and criticism for Biden. White House officials on Monday declined to comment directly on the president’s motives for extending the invitation, although they did clarify that the prospect of a meeting does not imply that the president will abandon his objections to some of Netanyahu’s more extreme measures. Biden himself has described the current Israeli government as “one of the most extremist Israeli coalitions” that he has seen since his relations with the country began in the 1970s.

The announcement puts an end to an anomaly: Netanyahu is the first Israeli head of government since 1969, when Richard Nixon hosted Golda Meir, who has not officially visited Washington at this point, almost seven months after returning to power. The statement does not specify, however, that the invitation is to the White House, only to the US.

protests

While Biden and Herzog met, tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in different parts of the country against judicial reform. It has been one of the so-called “Days of Resistance”, with dozens of protests in different parts of the country that complement the massive demonstrations that take place every Saturday, with Tel Aviv as the epicenter, since last January. This type of conference was common until last March, when Netanyahu was forced to temporarily paralyze the reform and start a dialogue process, with the mediation of the president, who has collapsed. On Wednesday, former Defense Minister and leader of the National Unity party, Benny Gantz, urged Netanyahu to agree on reform guidelines to unite the country in the face of the “most challenging security situation since the Yom Kippur War” in 1973.

The failure of the negotiations and Netanyahu’s willingness to go ahead with the reform have led his detractors to resume this type of protest and step on the accelerator in recent weeks, with actions such as trying to block the country’s main airport (Tel Aviv ), highways and train stations. Especially now that the Government is determined to carry out the law that would deprive the Supreme Court of the ability to annul those decisions of the Government, ministers or elected public officials that it considers “unreasonable”. The Knesset, the national Parliament, is scheduled to vote next week on the last two readings (usually on the same day) necessary for the text to become law, after its approval last week at first reading.

The opposition to the reform has an important derivative in the army, where hundreds of reservists and even active soldiers had already threatened to stop carrying out certain orders if the reform continued its course. Since Tuesday, hundreds of Air Force reservists, including several commanders, and members of the military medical corps (doctors, nurses and mental health experts) have announced that they will stop going to their posts, which are voluntary, as a measure of pressure to stop the parliamentary annulment of the reasonableness clause.

Within this pulse against time, the protesters have taken to the streets again this Tuesday. The Police have arrested 45 people – a similar number to the previous similar days – and used water cannons to disperse the crowd that blocked an avenue in Tel Aviv. The organizers have also announced the start of a march on foot, about 60 kilometers away, from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, seat of the Government and Parliament.

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