DNC Heartbreak, American National Interest, and a Widening War

The absolutely most heartbreaking moment of the DNC Convention was the appearance of Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, American-Israeli parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The entire crowd was in sympathy and in tears as Rachel and Jon told the story of their son’s kidnapping and the 109 people, including 45 Americans, who were still held hostage in Gaza.

Their testimony was absolutely devastating – I was bawling like a newborn the entire time. Their dignity and deep pain were keenly felt by all present. If you didn’t catch their testimony, you should watch it now. You can get only a smidge of the feeling of love and support that poured out for them, and all the hostages and their families, inside the venue. I was too moved to want to watch them through a camera, so I, unfortunately, did not film their appearance myself, and can’t I find any public version that includes all of their time on stage and the accompanying media presentation that was played.:

I was deeply saddened to hear that the bodies of six hostages, shot by militants “shortly” before they retreated, were discovered in a tunnel by advancing Israeli forces. One of them was the corpse of their son Hersh.

It is infuriating that our supposed ‘ally’ in Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, seems to highly value clinging to his power by expanding and sustaining the war, and places very little value on retrieving the hostages; which, I remind you, include over 40 Americans. Bibi’s cynical warmongering and continued unwillingness to place a higher priority on securing the release of the hostages is also roiling Israeli society, prompting mass protests across Israel and cratering public opinion and support for Bibi’s government:

In the week after the attack, 65% of Israelis supported an “extensive” ground operation, according to a poll by the newspaper Maariv. But another poll Thursday found that 49% favor waiting, which the newspaper attributed to the growing support for freeing the hostages.

NBC News

From a perspective of strictly American national interest, I believe that our main strategic interest in the Gaza war is to secure the release of all the hostages, especially those who are American citizens. Also important is to avoid a wider war in the Middle East between Israel and the proxies of Iran – and certainly to avoid war between Israel and Iran itself, and to limit the harm to non-combatants in Gaza and other emerging fronts. But from a strictly (dare I use the phrase? I do…) America First perspective, our chief interest is the return of our own nation’s hostages. That is what the American government should be focused on, and, indeed, it remains top of mind for Biden/Harris. Rachel and Jon being the only presenters at the DNC to focus on Gaza is in token of that top priority for Harris/Walz. The protestors outside the venue were not granted a speaking slot to not pull focus from the American families whose loved ones remain our foremost national interest in the conflict. That’s the thing about top priorities – there can be only one.

But Bibi’s continued leadership is an impediment to America’s top priority, as well as the other goals I highlighted. Bibi is failing to give any serious priority to hostage negotiations, refusing even a cease-fire for the purpose, let alone any exchange of prisoners for hostages. Meanwhile, Bibi continues to take actions that seek to promote and court a wider war – in the West Bank, in Syria, in Lebanon, and in Iran – that he sees as helpful to sustaining his coalition and support for his Prime Ministership as a war leader (not to mention keeping him personally out of the dock and out of prison).

Bibi hopes to drag the United States back into war in the region against Iran. He believes that if a war with Iran’s rogue regime were to break out, the United States could not remain aloof, and his ability to keep control of his coalition and remain Prime Minister would be enhanced by that war. He’s playing a dangerous game with thousands – if not millions – of lives – including American lives – for the sake of his own political interest.

Despite our strong influence with Israel, there is a limited menu of what we can do to constrain their behavior in war, even when it is deeply offensive to our values. We rightly remain committed to the security of Israel, but even completely and immediately pulling the plug on our financial ties and military support and aid to Israel would have very little effect in the near term on Israel’s behavior. We cannot simply dictate to Israel’s government, which is mainly responsive to the Israeli electorate, without losing what influence we have, despite the delusions of the black-shirted Gaza Justice movement.

Bibi and his apologists claim that they are prioritizing re-establishing credible deterrence and keeping control of areas of Gaza and the West Bank that are vital to Israeli security, but that is a weak case getting ever weaker as militaries around the world scramble to adjust to a new era of warfare characterized more by advanced missile and anti-missile systems, intel/C&C/combat drones, and by good humint and sigint than by boots occupying strategic ground. There will come a time – not long from now – that the IDF and the Israeli people will understand that, too.

It is time for new leadership in Israel that is not trapped by the traumas of Israel’s past nor by retribution for Oct 7th, and instead can provide progress toward peace to the region through military strength and a genuine settlement with the Palestinian people. Oppression and dispossession of others will never lead to permanent security for Israel, it will only perpetuate conflict while immiserating many and betraying the deepest beliefs that the Jewish people have held dear through their long and troubled history as victims of the very kind of violence and discrimination Israel now perpetrates. An Israel not guided by the accumulated wisdom and ethics of Judaism across the millennia of exile is not worthy of its great people. Bibi fundamentally rejects such a view and has built his career on cranking down tighter and tighter on the non-Jewish portion of Israel’s population and the occupied territories. Yet somehow the inevitable explosion born of that increasing pressure always comes as a surprise? For any progress to occur, Bibi’s political career has to finally be ended by the Israeli electorate.

Don’t mistake me for an apologist for Hamas: they are scum-of-the-earth terrorists who all richly deserve death for what they have done to oppress and exploit the people of Gaza, not to mention the horrors of Oct. 7th. But they are NOT the Palestinian people of Gaza – they are a cancer upon them. They made promises to the people of Gaza they never intended to keep to gain power and then ruthlessly held on to it through oppression, corruption, and violence. The Palestinians of Gaza are almost entirely also victims of Hamas, do not support Hamas, and do not deserve the atrocities visited upon them by the IDF as a result of Hamas’s ghoulish attacks on Oct 7 upon equally innocent Israelis and the international youth merely attending a music festival. But Bibi’s government’s goal of ‘eradicating’ Hamas is not and never has been achievable. At this point, Bibi’s administration is only acting as a recruiter for the next generation of Hamas’ leadership.

Approaching the Israel – Palestine issue by taking sides, or by drawing non-negotiable lines in the sand, or trying to impose a settlement from without is a certain guarantee of failure. Such attempts are a failure to understand the conflict, and a failure to perceive any way out of it. I do not claim to be an expert, but I can tell you this: if the path forward does not emerge from the democratically empowered will and support of both peoples, it is doomed to failure. Peace cannot be imposed on such an inter-generational conflict, it must grow out of it.

The future peace of the Middle East, and the fate of our hostages, too, will be on the ballot in November. Do you want a proven Democratic team of foreign policy and military experts and strategists giving the best advice and intel to a coolly analytic President Harris in charge of Team America, or do you want erratic, demented, and personal profit-driven Donald Trump making decisions based on his gut (as he will not read the intel assessments or listen to anyone with actual expertise – instead he’ll listen to his donors and random golf buddies at Mar-a-Lardo) as Bibi tries to provoke a wider war? Do you want someone in charge of Team America who will blow off even conservative experts because Bibi said nice things about him? I know which option Bibi wants!

Hersh lost his young life due to Bibi’s corrupt war-mongering and abandonment of the hostages. Will more than 40 more Americans and their families suffer this ultimate loss due to Bibi’s perfidy and hubris, and Trump’s cupidity and gullibility? We can write our part of the story as Americans on our ballots in November. I know who I’ll be voting for to manage the future of this crisis and to try yet again to ameliorate or end the Israel-Palestine conflict. Not voting is still making a choice, and THAT choice will favor Trump. Anyone who stays home out of pique that the world will not conform to their highest ideals and hopes is pissing away the only leverage they have as Americans to improve the future of the Palestinian people.