My father zt”l would recall witnessing prominent Jews on their knees, being forced by the Nazis to scrub the streets of Vienna, sometimes using toothbrushes. It was a major blow to the morale of the Jewish citizens to see their rabbanim and rebbes degraded in such a public fashion.
Sorry to say, but Senator Charles Schumer’s Israel-bashing speech delivered in the Senate last week was reminiscent of that scene. Before you go into knots, let me make it clear that I am not comparing anything in this administration to the Nazis, G-d forbid. I am the last one to compare any event of today to the Nazis, especially since we do owe President Biden a big thanks for his self-sacrificing support for Israel till this point.
What I mean to say is that it is quite demoralizing to see Mr. Schumer, the self-proclaimed “shomer Yisrael,” Guardian of Israel, used as a prominent Jew to do the bidding of the Biden administration when it comes to pressuring Israel and its intractable Prime Minister, Netanyahu.
It was immediately understood that the Biden administration had their fingerprints all over the speech, which was needed to placate Dearborn, Michigan, and the growing leftist flank in the Democratic Party. When asked if Schumer cleared the speech in advance with the president, Mr. Biden said he was aware of the speech in advance and thought it was “very good.”
Ed Koch, mayor of New York City in the 1980s, would often say of Mr. Schumer: “Chuck Schumer would parade down Fifth Avenue in his underwear if it would get him a picture in the press.” Koch had his number.
So, the White House had the perfect candidate. When he needs to be a blowhard at Jewish gatherings to tell them how much he’s done for Israel – and no doubt he did – he preens. When he needs to vote against the Obama Nuclear Deal for local political consumption, he does so, after he is assured that it has the votes to pass without his vote. When he needs to approve of a mosque on the site of the World Trade Center, he does, but will not confirm when asked. When he needs to publicly coddle a Syrian refugee while shedding a tear, he does. When he needs to condemn the anti-Semitism brought about by these very same refugees, he does so from the Senate floor, despite his being fully responsible for the damage done.
I remember being in a state of mild depression when Schumer first beat the indefatigable senator, Alfonse D’Amato. D’Amato had done so much for the Jews, including railing against Saddam Hussein, calling him the Haman of today, obtaining major funding for Holocaust victims, and rallying behind the Jews of Crown Heights when Yankel Rosenbaum was murdered.
I knew that, ultimately, Schumer would be a sellout for the right price. I never voted for him, including in the last election, as I voted for the solid Republican, Joe Pinion.
Last week, I quoted Menachem Begin, who said, “Goyim kill Goyim and they blame the Jews!” Now we can say, “Jews condemn Jews, and we are saved by the Goyim.” Non-Jews, such as Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, immediately leveled their criticism of Schumer, wondering how he could treat an ally of the United States in such a shabby manner. Kudos, as well, to Democrats Hakeem Jeffries (House Minority Leader) and Senator John Fetterman for saying the right things in this matter. Locally, we need to acknowledge the very forthright statement of Councilman Jim Gennaro on the Schumer speech. Little, if anything, was heard from any of the other locals.
My political instincts are pretty good. Although not always popular with some of the activists, I have been proven right in most of my assessments. The way it goes with liberals is they need a popular slogan and will stick to it no matter how illogical it is and how it has been proven wrong.
The “blame it on the Settlers” battle cry was what the Left used for years to find a kosher way to blame Israel for a lack of peace in the Mideast. As though to say, if only the Settlers would go away, the Palestinians would be happy with their land and all would be well. That is why Biden needs to manufacture violent Settlers if they don’t exist. The Two-State Solution is a classic. Arabs and Jews must agree to live side-by-side in peace and harmony in their own assigned states. If you opposed that, you are touted as a rabid right-winged war-monger. It all fit so neatly into the leftist messianic narrative.
We all knew it was impossible to really happen. The Palestinians rejected every possible offer for a state for the last 25 years. Then came October 7. If it made anything clear, it was that the Palestinians have no interest in a state alongside Israel. They want dead Jews. Period. The slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which is espoused by Palestinian sympathizers throughout the world, means just that: one state. And it does not include Jews.
Yet, like a walking Zombie, the vaunted Two-State Solution is the mantra that the left cannot let die. It is all they have to offer to claim to create peace. Somehow, Donald Trump managed to create peace in the region without two states. People like Schumer and Biden will not let go.
Here is my prediction about Charles Schumer. He will offer some mealy-mouthed explanation of his treacherous speech, and the establishment will be back to inviting him to their receptions and fawning all over him. I do hope that, by that time, he will do t’shuvah. We always must have hope.
If only Mr. Schumer would listen to Mordechai’s admonition to Queen Esther (Esther 4:14): “And who knows whether it was for just such a time as this that you attained the royal position!”
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
