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Israel-Firsters Seen Edging Toward Trump

I

n his AIPAC speech in May, Donald
Trump blasted the Iran nuclear agree-
ment, asserting that he would “disman-
tle the disastrous deal.” A few moments later,
he declared that he would “enforce it like
you’ve never seen a contract enforced before.”
Confusing? Welcome
to Trump World, where
political positions and
statements come and go,
with the presumptive
Republican presidential
candidate’s views on
Israel and Mideast peace
indicative of his dizzy-
Gary
ing approach to so many
Rosenblatt
issues in this uniquely
bizarre campaign.
I’ve been asking people who care deeply
about Israel whom they prefer between
Trump and Hillary Clinton. The results have
been fascinating and disturbing, suggesting
that voters are guided more by emotional
instincts than a candidate’s record or posi-
tions. And the allure Trump has for so many
Americans, like the British vote to leave the
European Union, seems to indicate that in
seeking a form of rebellion against ruling
elites, people are ready to try even desperate
tactics as a means of expressing their deep
dissatisfaction with the status quo.
I can’t help thinking that our celebrity-
driven culture has morphed into the political
sphere, with many people feeling that while
a Clinton presidency would be more of the
same — “been-there-done-that” of the last
eight years — Donald Trump in the White
House would stir things up and be far more

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interesting, like a good TV show.
cause deep concern in Jerusalem, in
I know that “disruptive innova-
the midst of an already chaotic, vola-
tion” is a trendy form of societal
tile region.
impact, but are people ready to risk
Indeed, an inconsistent and per-
worldwide chaos by promoting a
haps reckless U.S. approach to the
novice narcissistic bully as leader of
Mideast could jeopardize the strong
the Western world?
U.S.-Israel alliance and damage
Among “Israel firsters” — those
Israel’s security.
who vote primarily on what they
And then there is the issue of
Donald Trump
believe is best for Israel — I find
allowing a laser focus on Israel, how-
more and more people saying they
ever well-intentioned, to override
may well vote for Trump, based on
recognition of Trump policies and
their dislike and distrust of Clinton
declarations that clash with Jewish
and their reasoning that Trump
and Western values regarding moral-
will stand up for Israel more force-
ity, human rights and respect for all
fully and openly than Clinton.
of God’s creations. The candidate’s
They note that Trump is against
degrading comments on women,
the Iran deal, highly critical of
minorities and the disabled, and his
Hillary Clinton
Obama, heaps praise on Israeli
initial resistance to distancing himself
Prime Minister Netanyahu, wants
from the likes of Ku Klux Klan leader
to see the settlements expand and pledges
David Duke and others who spout anti-Sem-
to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to
itism, are somehow seen as less important to
Jerusalem.
Jews who base their votes solely on what they
“We love Israel,” Trump said after receiving feel is best for Israel.
an award from the Algemeiner newspaper
While Trump establishes his Jewish bona
earlier this year. “We fight for Israel 100 per-
fides by telling audiences that he was the
cent, 1,000 percent.”
marshal at the Salute to Israel parade in New
Such statements tend to override more
York in 2004 and has a Jewish son-in-law, his
troublesome comments Trump has made
Democratic opponent has a long, substantive
during the campaign, like questioning
record of support for Israel. But sentiments
Israel’s commitment to peace, asserting that
can outweigh logic when it comes to the topic
he would take a neutral position on peace
of Hillary Clinton.
talks with the Palestinians, calling for Israel
For example, when people tell me they
to pay for U.S. support and advocating for a
can’t vote for Clinton because they don’t trust
“certain amount of surprise, unpredictability” her on Israel, I note that she had an excellent
in deal-making. That approach, combined
voting record on Israel in her eight years as
with Trump’s remarkably limited knowledge
U.S. senator from New York, and that she
of Mideast history and complexity, is sure to
has always professed support for the Jewish

continued from page 5

I feel OK using his first name. The more essential point
is that survivors have always been our friends, broth-
ers, sisters. Beyond the inevitable rhetoric in which we
encase them — the witness, the legacy, the trauma, the
memory — survivors are us. That, and the dead behind
them who are also us, is what the rhetoric conceals.
Agi Rubin, a survivor-friend for more than 30 years,
once exclaimed. “I am not a quote-unquote, capital S
‘Holocaust Survivor.’ We have had enough of categories,
of things. I am me!” As she often did with friends, she
added playfully, “Whatever that means!”
Some argue that Elie himself contributed to the
ritualized veneration of capital S “Holocaust Survivors.”
I think there is some truth in that. Survivors must
negotiate with our expectations about who they are
and what they have to retell. During the decades before
they were celebrated, survivors were mostly ignored or,
worse, dismissed as damaged goods — guilty, ghostly
and estranged. Survivors have responded to their more
recent elevation variously, parlaying our assumptions in
ways that seem to them most useful and, yes, personally
gratifying.

8 July 14 • 2016

Although I did not always agree with him, I believe
Elie Wiesel made enormously helpful use of the venera-
tion he inspired. He remained our teacher, even when
we assumed that we had nothing new to learn. He
remained our friend and our brother, a man and not a
god, even when it was difficult for us to let him be. He
once wrote, “Men cast aside the one who has known
pure suffering unless they can make a god out of him.”
Sanctification quarantines as effectively as asylums.
Different as our particular paths, we and Elie and all
survivors share the same essential road, the same infi-
nitely wondrous and infinitely horrifying world.

*

Henry Greenspan is a playwright and psychologist who has been
teaching about the Holocaust for 40 years at the University of Michigan
Ann Arbor.

CLARIFICATION
• In “What’s In A (Jewish) Name?” June 16, page
34, Craig and Melissa Neumann of Commerce
Township should have been identified as Mia Harper
Neumann’s parents.

state. As senator, she made incitement against
Israel in Palestinian textbooks a key concern.
She is widely viewed as more hawkish than
President Obama on the Mideast and she
defended Israel’s conduct in the most recent
Gaza war, most notably in her debates with
Sen. Bernie Sanders. Clinton’s willingness to
project American power in terms of foreign
policy would, on the face of it, appeal to
Israel-firsters.
But the usual response I get is, “Yes, but
she kissed Mrs. Arafat.” (That incident took
place in 1999, and Clinton claims that due to
spotty translation, she was unaware of how
offensive Suha Arafat’s remarks were during
a joint appearance in Ramallah. Mrs. Arafat
blamed Israel for poisoning Palestinian
women and children with toxic gas.)
More substantive and worrisome to me
is that Clinton has never spoken out against
the rabidly anti-Zionist writings of Max
Blumenthal, regularly sent to her by Sidney
Blumenthal, Max’s father and a trusted, long-
time adviser to Clinton.
Many people I have spoken to tell me they
are unhappy with the choice of Clinton or
Trump, and more than a few say they’ll just
sit this election out.
There is still a long way to go to November,
but I hope people will remember that a
strong and respected U.S. makes for a stron-
ger Israel, and that in a presidential election,
focusing on any one issue, to the exception of
virtually all others, can seriously impair one’s
perception of reality.

*

Gary Rosenblatt is editor and publisher of the Jewish
Week, where this essay first appeared.

