Chuck Schumer’s speech castigating Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling for a new election there is indicative of the Democratic Party’s shifting stance on Israel, National Review senior writer Michael Brendan Dougherty said on today’s Editors episode. And it could cost them, he said.
“I really believe that this opinion cascade on the Left on Israel is the most consequential political development of the year,” said Dougherty, “and it’s probably as consequential as the election. . . . Schumer is utterly fooling himself, in my opinion, if he thinks he can translate or speak to what’s happening on the left by being anti-Bibi.”
Dougherty said that the Left won’t be satisfied by this speech or a pier in Gaza as the Biden administration is pursuing: “They want the United States to force Israel into a cease-fire, or they want the United States to abandon Israel the way, you know, 26 out of 27 EU member states would abandon Israel. That’s the way it is.”
Dougherty sees this stance as politically dangerous, and said, “I think this is a disaster for Democrats because they’re letting a very small, but highly influential minority of a minority influence their party’s policy and expressions on this and bouncing them into this muddled middle where they’re basically showing no leadership whatsoever.
“There’s no clarity to their position on Israel. . . . This issue might cost Joe Biden the White House.”
The Editors podcast is recorded on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and is available wherever you listen to podcasts.