This week is the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht. We all thought that this was something that occurred in the past. To our shock, it is back. This past week in Austria, almost to the day, the ceremonial hall in the Jewish cemetery in Vienna was torched, as it was 85 years ago. There were Nazi symbols left on the building. As I have said in the past, the far right and the far left might not agree on much, but they do agree on hating Jews.
Now to my main point. I wrote in my prior column about a potential problem for Israel to obtain additional funding due to MAGA members of Congress who believe in America First. I didn’t think that it would happen right away with the first bill. The House of Representatives, led by the Republican speaker Mike Johnson, passed an aid bill for Israel on the condition that the cost should be offset by reduction for funding for the IRS. They claim they’re worried about the deficit. This is the first time that emergency aid for any country has been linked to so-called deductions. In reality the argument is flawed, since cutting back IRS funding is a money-loser for the country because the lost revenue in taxes is greater than the reduction. To put it in a perspective the Trumpians can appreciate, imagine if President Biden conditioned aid to Israel on hiring more IRS agents and other funding to raise the revenue to pay for it. The Trumpians, including my fellow columnists or letter writers, would be shouting from the hills. I spoke with a couple of Trumpians, both of whom supported the proposal. One of them said Israel doesn’t need the money. I would like to see him put that in writing in a letter to the editor using his real name. It just shows how warped these people are in their support for right-wing Republican plans.
The second problem is that the bill is dead on arrival. The Senate, under the leadership of Democratic Senator Chuck Shumer and Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell, is dead set against this bill. They want a bill to provide support for Israel without any conditions. All the spectacle in the House of Representatives has done is delay necessary funding for Israel. The funding is important in two ways: the tangible obtaining of funds and also showing that the United States Congress is going to put its money where its mouth is. It is nice to pass resolutions supporting Israel and attacking Hamas. However, that has no tangible effect.
I expect some Trumpians to attack the Democrats who voted against the bill supporting Israel and condemning Hamas. They will try to paint the entire Democratic Party as against Israel. Also, they will condemn those who voted against the censure of Rashida Tlaib. Neither one has any practical effect. Yet when it comes to a tangible effect for Israel, denying aid, they are quiet or supporting this approach. Their hypocrisy is nauseating.
Of course, they can’t bring themselves to praise the President or Senator Chuck Schumer. They both went to Israel and are pushing hard for the aid for Israel.
The best proof of how strong the President has been for Israel is listening to his critics on the left. Tlaib accused him of supporting genocide. Arab American organizations are threatening to withdraw their support for Biden in the 2024 election. Speakers at a rally in Washington on November 4 warned that they will not support the President unless he calls for a ceasefire. Also, there have been protesters outside of Senator Schumer’s home. The head of Hezbollah claimed that Israel is the puppet of the United States.
I mentioned in my prior column about supporting Israel on social media and going to rallies. There was one area I left out: We need to write to our elected officials who are supporting Israel, whether it is the president, senators, or representatives in the House. Reliable sources have told me that the other side has been better and more mobilized in sending messages against supporting Israel to these representatives. I call on those who are Republican and might not agree with these representatives on other issues. This is the time to get off the partisan bandwagon and do what’s best for Israel. Don’t be like those individuals who can’t even find fault with a bill linking Israel aid.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
