Biden and Israel’s Protest Movement

On the “day of disruption,” when hundreds of thousands took to the streets in protest against the planned repeal of the reasonableness clause, thousands gathered in front of the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, waving American flags alongside Israeli ones. The protesters’ demand from US President Biden is clear: “don’t give in,” and don’t invite Netanyahu to the White House as long as he doesn’t reject the anti-democratic legislation. In an interview with Fareed Zakaria two days before the demonstration, Biden spoke harshly against the Netanyahu government, defining it as “the most extreme in the history of Israel.” Biden clarified that not only the legal coup bothers him, but also the composition of the current coalition and its fascist positions.

To remove any doubt, New York Times commentator Thomas Friedman “translated” Biden’s intention. Friedman wrote that for generations, American administrations maintained special relations with Israel based on a “fiction” that Israel acts according to its acceptance of the two-state principle. On this basis, American administrations regularly vetoed any condemnation of Israel in the UN Security Council. Now, however, Israel’s right-wing government has put an end to this fiction. The appointment of Bezalel Smotrich as governor of the West Bank essentially buries the idea of two states. Smotrich intends to officially perpetuate the apartheid regime that Israeli governments set up for him in the West Bank. Thomas Friedman goes further and proposes, according to this logic, not to exempt the half million settlers from visas to the US, unless the same exemption applies to the 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank.

The Biden administration, whose support the protesters requested in front of the embassy, also presents them with a challenge. The administration is troubled not only by the judicial coup, but also by the fate of Israel, because it continues to control 5 million Palestinians who lack all rights or status. After all, the connection between the coup and apartheid is clear: first the High Court is eliminated, then the West Bank is annexed.

The American perspective is much broader, and stems from internal and global interests. The Biden administration is fighting for America’s soul. It stands against Trump and his fascist movement, which is an existential threat to the US and the world, no less than the messianic right is an existential threat to Israel. It is no coincidence that from the beginning of his term, Biden divided the countries of the world into two camps, the democratic versus the autocratic. If the judicial coup succeeds, Israel will belong to the autocratic camp represented today by Putin, Orban, and Xi Jinping.

Biden is surely aware of the dangers arising to any democracy following adoption of the market-based neoliberal approach. This conservative theory, the so-called “trickle-down economy,” was enthusiastically embraced by Netanyahu. Yet this economy, in the US as in Israel, has created tremendous social gaps, which have led to poverty and despair concerning democracy, and through which nationalism, racism, homophobia and fascism have penetrated. When elected president, Biden presented a new-old paradigm, returning to Roosevelt’s New Deal updated for the 21st century. The state, that same “fat” apparatus that Netanyahu loves to vilify, returns to play a central role in the economy.

Biden declared himself the best friend of organized labor. Today, instead of favoring multinational corporations, he prioritizes the middle class and the workers. He invests hundreds of billions to advance high-tech enterprises, renewable energy, public infrastructure and support for students and poor families. In this way he is changing the face of the United States. This is how the “Bidenomics” economy was born, putting an end to 40 years of “Reaganomics.” Biden’s victory over Trump was a direct result of huge protest movements that swept the US. Black Lives Matter and the women’s movement, among others, brought Biden a victory by 7 million votes over Trump, who to this day refuses to acknowledge these results.

Herein lies the great difference between the Israeli protest movement and the American. In the Biden administration, white, black, Latina, indigenous and LGBTQ persons serve side by side, in a tremendous display of tolerance and diversity. In contrast, Jewish Israel expresses a religious, national, and gender monolith. To eradicate Israeli messianism, much more is needed than halting legislation. Those who seek Biden’s support must look at and embrace the principles of Biden’s politics and their assimilation into Israeli reality.

Since the Israeli protest aims at the broadest common denominator, it ignores the above-mentioned “fiction” of an eventual two-state solution, taking care not to mention the “occupation” (a taboo word). This is perhaps the greatest victory of the messianic camp. Although the protest movement sees this camp as the root of all evil, detesting its claim that “we are all brothers,” it may be laying the foundations for dealing with the “fiction” after overthrow of the government. Yet that overthrow would also leave us with an unresolved issue: we don’t have a Biden, and we don’t have a party similar to the Democrats, which includes all the protest movements. The candidates to replace Bibi are Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, both of whom advocate a hawkish security policy and the same neoliberal economic platform that created the enormous social gaps on which Bibi’s populism rides.

And another obstacle: when the Israeli protest movement waves the American flag, the Arab society in Israel and the Palestinians in the occupied territories remain indifferent and inactive. While the black movement in the USA supported Biden wholeheartedly and rallied for his victory, here the Palestinians and the Arabs in Israel cling to the old clichés. They view Biden as a representative of “American imperialism” that supports Israel unconditionally. This is a great historical tragedy. Not only does the Israeli protest remain without a Palestinian ally, who could influence its attitudes and shape the identity of a future state, but the Palestinians themselves are perpetuating the horrible reality in which they live. The anti-democratic and homophobic movements set the tone, and all that is left for the Palestinian intellectual is to blame the occupation, Israel, the protest, Biden, the Arab world and the rest of the world for his troubles, never himself.

The guarantee of the protest’s success is not only the infinite dedication of its members, but also the support of the American government. However, in order to turn this support into a sustainable relationship, the protest must embrace Biden’s worldview, his fight for democracy at home and abroad, his uncompromising support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion, and an economic doctrine that strengthens democracy in the United States and in the world. Biden’s victory will guarantee the victory of democracy in the United States, in the world and in Israel. A Trump victory would give Israeli fascism a huge boost, and be a fatal blow to the protest movement.

The Israeli protest movement is moving in the right direction. The very fact that it knew how to draw the dividing line between democracy and dictatorship puts it on the right track, and it flows with the direction of human history. If one day millions of Palestinians join it in a broad Jewish-Arab democratic movement, democracy will win and ensure its existence for many years.

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