During the past week and half, terrorists were viciously attacking one of America’s greatest allies. Israelis were sheltering from a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas, a known terrorist organization. Hamas fired more than 4,000 rockets over the course of its attack, targeting apartment buildings, schools, and any other area where it might inflict civilian casualties. No other country besides Israel is expected to tolerate this kind of devastating violence from known terrorist groups. The Republican Party unreservedly stands with Israel. President Joe Biden’s Democrats would be hard-pressed to say the same.
This recent spate of violence shows that Biden’s abdication of leadership has undone former President Donald Trump and Republicans’ historic progress in promoting peace in the Middle East. By securing peace deals between Israel and Bahrain, securing peace deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and moving the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Trump and Republicans cooled tensions in the Middle East while wholeheartedly affirming support for our Israeli allies. It only took Biden four months to undo that relative peace, and Israelis paid the price.
When you consider the anti-Israel, antisemitic rhetoric from Biden’s Democratic Party, his refusal to lead here becomes less surprising. In recent years, the Democrats have elevated antisemitic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan as leading faces of their party. Omar has accused Israel of “hypnotizing the world,” alleged that Jews buy influence with money, and submitted a resolution to the U.S. House comparing boycotting Israel to boycotting the Nazis. Her rabid antisemitism earned her the Jerusalem Post’s 2019 “antisemite of the year” award, as well as a full-throated endorsement from notorious white supremacist David Duke.
Tlaib, for her part, once posted a tweet promoting Hamas’s slogan “from the river to the sea,” amplifying a group that both the United States and European Union classify as a terrorist organization. This earned multiple rebukes from antisemitism watchdog organizations. Just days ago, she spoke to and affirmed a group of protesters chanting that very same slogan. That is unrepentant behavior, and it speaks to her true disregard for the Jewish state’s right to survive.
These are some of the leading voices in Biden’s party, key figures on the far-left wing who drive so much of his radical policy. His own Vice President Kamala Harris joined a long list of 2020 Democrats in boycotting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference last year, a break from long-standing bipartisan support for AIPAC’s mission. Well-known, leading Democrats such as Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are calling for America to withhold aid to Israel. Biden’s party is allowing antisemitism, implied and outright, to seep into its ranks, even as Hamas has unleashed more violence against Jews.
By contrast, the Republican Party understands that our shared history, shared interests, and deep bond with Israel compel us to support Israelis at every turn. Despite what violent Hamas terrorists or antisemites might believe, Israel has a right to exist, and America must make clear we stand with our Israeli friends, especially when they are under attack. I urge Biden to stand up to the antisemitism in his party’s ranks.
Ronna McDaniel is chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.
