Ben Rhodes, a former national security aide to President Barack Obama, told the New York Times this week that the “donor class” had prevented Obama from taking more anti-Israel steps than the administration had wanted to take.
Rhodes spoke to author Nathan Thrall for a feature article titled, “How the Battle Over Israel and Anti-Semitism Is Fracturing American Politics.” The headline describes “politics,” but Thrall focused on policy debates within the Democratic Party, which has seen the rise of an assertive anti-Israel constituency in recent years. That constituency has included overtly and unabashedly antisemitic critics, largely but not exclusively from the Muslim community.
Thrall writes about the “boycott, divestment, sanctions” (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel as apartheid South Africa was once isolated — a comparison that BDS critics find not only factually wrong, but also offensive.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), whose recent antisemitic remarks sparked turmoil within the House Democratic caucus, supports BDS (though Omar suggested otherwise to voters in her Minnesota’ district during the 2018 election).
One of Omar’s most notorious remarks was, “It’s all about the Benjamins,” followed by a claim that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) bribes members of Congress to support Israel. (AIPAC does not endorse or donate to candidates.) Thrall notes that Jewish donors do figure disproportionately among the Democratic Party’s largest donors — though he allows that few of them “prioritize pro-Israel policies above all other issues.” – READ MORE