For some of us, summer is a carefree time. As one Jew wrote, “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.” There’s at least one wrinkle in the enjoyment of those long summer afternoons: The spoilsport rabbis of yore gave us 22 days of semi-mourning smack dab in the middle of them.
This week, New York State held its Primary elections for the 2020 cycle. The big news coming out of that election is the defeat of Eliot Engel, the 30-year veteran Democrat, to the radically left-wing Jamaal Bowman, who was a Justice Democrats pick in the mold of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib.
As the promised date for annexation of Judea and Samaria draws closer, the debate in Israel is heating up. But surprisingly, even those who have advocated extending the sovereignty of Israel to Judea and Samaria for years are conflicted as to whether to take this bold step now. What is the core of the debate? Why would the much-heralded Trump Plan cause so much debate today? And lastly, will Netanyahu ultimately implement the plan?
What was once a popular movement dedicated to the betterment of the country is now a ridiculous excuse for a political party, dominated by the extremist radicals who make up their base of support. The Democrats have shown their hand many times before this, but they have done what The Fonz did when he donned a leather jacket and water skis: They jumped the shark. They have become so ridiculous that they are no longer recognizable.
We will have to wait a while for the final results, but the main lessons from the June 23 primary are clear: The recent primaries were skirmishes in an ongoing battle. The struggle to defeat the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic forces in the Democratic Party is a fight that will go the distance. There will not be a knockout blow for either side anytime soon. There will be victories and defeats along the way, but it is a battle we must win. A strong US-Israel relationship depends on bi-partisan support – support from both political parties. Fortunately, the battle is far from lost. We will miss the leadership of longtime friends but can take heart from new ones. It is self-defeating to castigate an entire party as anti-Israel and anti-Semitic, when that is far from the truth. We should reach out to the hands that have been extended to us in friendship. It is a time to build bridges, not burn them.