U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just led their countries to an astounding victory over their mutual enemy Iran, crushing the world’s greatest sponsor of Islamist terrorism and nuclear wannabe.
Furthermore, in the 20 months preceding Iran’s defeat, Israel effectively decapitated Iran’s terrorist proxies: Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. While Israel scored these victories against its terrorist neighbors mostly alone, its efforts were heavily supported by weapons the United States sold to it.
Ironically, many Democrats and legacy media refuse to take the win for America and its ally, preferring to act as spoilers, disavowing this moment of triumph and its promise of regional security. For these critics, the problem seems to be not the U.S.-Israel victory over evil itself, but rather its architects, Trump and Netanyahu.
American Jews, who traditionally support Israel but also vote Democrat, must be wondering if their party still supports their Jewish priorities. After all, why would Democrats cast aspersions on the defeat of Israel’s greatest enemy and the world’s most vicious promoter of antisemitism?
Fortunately, some prominent Democratic politicians and reliably left-leaning Jewish organizations have stood strong, supporting sound Middle East policy regardless of its leaders, whether Trump or Netanyahu. It remains to be seen if rank-and-file Jewish Democrats will share this courage of their fellow partisans, praising the bold actions of the president and Israeli prime minister in supporting the Jewish state and people, even if they may not be ready to vote for these leaders.
The defeat of Iran’s axis of terror massively changes Mideast history. Iran has long been the primary sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East and beyond, responsible for thousands of deaths worldwide. The Islamic Republic ran a network of vicious terror groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, religiously obsessed with killing Jews and destroying Israel and Western civilization. But U.S. presidents since 1989 largely avoided holding Iran accountable, fearing regional conflagration, thus allowing Iran to evade nuclear restraints.
Suddenly, with Israel’s almost single-handed decapitation of Iran’s terror enterprise, the Middle East stands on the cusp of a new era that promises dramatically greater security and relative peace. Both nuclear and terrorist threats have substantially diminished, and efforts to expand the Abraham Accords regional cooperation have rekindled.
Why are Democrats trying to discredit the Middle East victory? Most Senate Democrats and dozens of House Democrats reacted negatively to Trump’s decision to bomb Iran. On June 22, for example, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democratic politicians condemned Trump’s strike on Iranian nuclear sites, saying his action was unilateral and required congressional approval. What Schumer didn’t mention was that Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Trump in his first term also sidestepped congressional approval of their foreign military strikes.
A Senate motion on June 25 to demand that Trump secure approval from Congress for any military action against Iran was defeated 53-47, largely on party lines. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) joined Republicans, asserting that U.S. strikes provided critical support for Israel’s defense.
Legacy media pile on, citing disloyalty and risks. Some media outlets implied that Trump simply acted for Israel’s sake. A CNBC report said, “Trump’s decision to join Israel’s war against Iran sharply escalates the conflict,” while headlines from both the Associated Press and Axios called the conflict “Israel’s war.” But, of course, Iran is America’s enemy as much as Israel’s. Iran calls Israel “the Little Satan” and the United States “the Great Satan,” and wants to destroy both. For years, Trump has repeatedly promised voters, “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
Other mainstream media tried to deny the success of the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. CNN peddled a report asserting Israeli and U.S. strikes set Iran’s nuclear program back by mere months, citing a Defense Intelligence Agency assessment. The New York Times and The Washington Post followed suit. This initial reporting was based on misinformation from Iranian sources. No wonder CNN originally neglected to mention that U.S. intelligence deemed this assessment “low-confidence.”
Doubts sown by Democrats and legacy media regarding Trump’s motives and Iran’s devastating defeat seem no more than flimsy excuses to minimize the outsized success of the United States and its ally Israel. On its surface, this strategy is contrafactual—an implausible stretch—which intelligent people will not likely believe. The larger, more troubling question: How do Democrats and media outlets win by claiming that America and Israel lost?
Some brave Democrats put partisan politics aside to celebrate America’s victory. They include Reps. Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, as well as Fetterman and Jacky Rosen of Nevada. All have expressed support for Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear program. Gottheimer described Trump’s actions as “critical and decisive.”
Likewise, numerous left-leaning Jewish organizations stepped up to support the American-Israeli victory. Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, said: “The president is right: This is a historic moment for the United States, Israel and the world.” Leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations stated: “This decisive action represents a critical and justified step to confront the existential threat posed by the Islamic Republic.”
While Jewish Democrats may not yet be ready to vote for Trump, they will doubtless find the support of this handful of pro-Israel Democrats and Jewish leadership comforting. Surely this departure from the Democratic Party line gives them cover for standing up proudly to support the defeat of the world’s most antisemitic nation and its murderous, Jew-hating proxies.
A unique chance for Jewish Democrats to soul-search. Those caught in the middle of this rare Democratic split need only ask, “What am I? First a Democrat, second an American and third a Jew?” In which case, you will likely oppose Trump no matter whether his actions support Israel and the Jewish people. Or you may ask, “Am I first an American, then a Jew, then a Democrat?” In which case, you will support leaders Trump and Netanyahu for achieving an indisputably positive outcome for the United States, Israel and the Jewish people.
In short, partisanship should not determine one’s support for actions that advance U.S. interests and make America and her allies safer.
Originally published by Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME).