Rahm Emanuel just proposed his preferred Democratic Party policy on Israel: Our strongest ally must forfeit its historic heartland for the creation of a 22nd Arab state or face sanctions and a severing of the American alliance.
In doing so, he showcased his misunderstanding of reality. Emanuel’s remarks displayed a contrast in how to address failed ideas. President Donald Trump signed an awful ceasefire agreement with Iran just a few weeks ago. After continual violations of the deal by the Iranian regime, he announced the deal was over. Just this week, the president explained he soured on Iran’s newer regime leaders after getting to know them. Better to cut one’s losses, despite the embarrassment. Contrast this with Emanuel’s recalcitrance.
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Emanuel admitted Palestinian leadership is corrupt, funds terrorists who kill Jews, and teaches young children to hate Jews. He acknowledged they rejected three successive peace offers since the early 1990s, responding with the terrorist intifada. Yet Emanuel’s only suggestion was for Israel to consider suicidally trying to redo the same failed overtures. After embracing the two-state solution under former President Bill Clinton, the Democratic Party policy establishment is now incapable of admitting that the idea has disastrously failed. Instead, they’ve stood firm on the notion.
Emanuel’s case rests on four fundamentally flawed premises. First, he labeled Israel a “pariah state.” Yet Israel’s stock exchange is setting new all-time highs this year, largely due to foreign investment flows. The Israeli shekel is among the world’s strongest-performing currencies, buoyed by an influx of foreign currency. For the first time, Israel deployed troops to defend a foreign country (the United Arab Emirates) and entered a framework for peace with Lebanon, a nation technically at war with Israel since 1948. Israel also achieved numerous diplomatic breakthroughs in Latin America. Many Democratic activists in Emanuel’s orbit consider Israel a pariah, despite this reality. His perception reflects the radicalization of his party.
Similarly, Emanuel laments that Israel has “lost Europe.” This simply isn’t true. Left-wing European parties, especially those with large Islamic factions, are increasingly hostile toward Israel. However, right-wing nationalist parties are pro-Israel and gaining popularity. While Spain’s left-wing government imposes a boycott, Slovenia is moving its embassy to Jerusalem and revoking recognition of a Palestinian state. This mirrors the political dynamics in the United States.
Emanuel claims Israel is “less safe today, not more” because of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This simply isn’t true. Hezbollah is on the cusp of eradication, and Lebanese leaders are at last working to eject it. Both Sinwar and Nasrallah are dead. Iran’s air defenses are largely destroyed, its navy mostly sunk, its enriched uranium buried, and its nuclear program set back years. And it was Israeli air superiority that opened the skies for American B-2s to reach Fordow last summer. Far from isolated, Israel found allies in the war against Iran with the UAE, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. Many Syrians, including the Druze, cheered Israel’s efforts against the regime that tormented them.
Lastly, Emanuel references Israel’s “occupation” of Judea and Samaria (the so-called West Bank). He’s wrong. Occupation, under international law, means seizing the sovereign territory of another state. Some basic history is required here. Israel didn’t acquire Judea and Samaria from a Palestinian state. No such state has ever existed there. Both the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and the League of Nations in 1922 had designated Judea and Samaria (the heart of the historic homeland of the Jewish people) for a newly established Jewish national home.
Recall that the Allies in World War I defeated the Ottoman Empire, which once held sway over land now comprising 40 modern-day countries, including Jordan and Israel. Months after Israel declared independence, Jordan unlawfully seized this land in 1949 during the brutal attempt by Arab neighbors to extinguish the modern Jewish state in its infancy. Jordan then proceeded to ethnically cleanse the Jews living there. In 1967, Israel reclaimed Judea and Samaria after another defensive war for its very existence, ending the illegal Jordanian occupation. Israel’s claim to Judea and Samaria is strong.
Emanuel relies on a twisted view of international law to demand that Israel block its citizens from raising families and building businesses in Judea and Samaria. Emanuel shamelessly equated the notion of “Greater Israel” with the chant “from the river to the sea.” How absurd. That chant calls for the eradication of the Jewish state and the Jewish people. “Greater Israel” refers to the right of Israelis to live in peace in the region where Jewish families have lived for millennia. This includes Hebron, which is still today the burial place of Abraham, Sarah, and other ancestors.
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Chillingly, Emanuel threatened to sanction every construction company and bank facilitating those communities. This former American ambassador endorsed the BDS movement’s core tactic, using the financial system to deny the Jews the legal and historical right to live in their own homeland.
Ironically, Emanuel referenced the famous quip, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Now, he demands Israel be fooled a fourth time. After proving its capacity to defend itself, Israel has secured lasting peace with Egypt and Jordan. The Abraham Accords with the Gulf states also show much promise. Emanuel says Israel “cannot fight indefinitely against a world that has stopped believing you have the right to fight.” Thankfully, much of the world does support Israel’s right to defend itself. Regardless, Israel can and must fight for her life, even if others deny that right. This strength is the way to peace, not Emanuel’s proposal to forfeit the heart of Israel’s homeland for the creation of a hostile 22nd Arab state.
Joel Griffith is a Senior Fellow at Advancing American Freedom.
