NYC Dems AWOL on Israel
How about that: President Biden betrays Israel, and most of New York City’s congressional Democrats try not to take a firm stand. It’s no surprise that radical Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cheered Biden’s pause in much military aid, nor that Rep. Ritchie Torres damned it.
And Nassau’s Tom Suozzi wound up on the right side. But most of the rest — even including Sen. Chuck Schumer, that self-declared guardian of Israel — are laying low.
Bowman (D-Bronx/Westchester) at least read Biden right, tweeting, “Protesting is working”; AOC’s “Biden has not ‘lost his mind’ ” looks a bit over-optimistic.
Torres got it exactly right: “As the leader of the free world, America cannot claim that its commitment to Israel is ‘iron-clad’ and then proceed to withhold aid from Israel.” And: “The mixed messaging makes a mockery of our credibility as an ally. No one will take our word seriously.”
Schumer, the nation’s top Jewish elected official, was quieter than a church mouse: On X, he posted about border security, FAA reauthorization and infrastructure projects.
Suozzi’s instant reaction on X was soft: “I urge the Biden administration to resolve any differences with our ally Israel regarding arms shipments immediately.” But he soon redeemed himself, joining Torres in signing Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s letter blasting Biden for a move that “emboldens” terrorists.
But last we checked, the rest of the local Dems were betraying the metro area’s 1.9 million Jewish New Yorkers with cowardly silence. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn), Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens), Dan Goldman (D-Manh/Bklyn) and Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan) all withheld immediate comment.
Nadler, the dean of New York’s delegation, did post a link to an irrelevant op-ed (“Here’s why I voted against the House antisemitism bill”).
Pathetic. Gottheimer’s letter gets at the central issue: “Public disputes with our critical ally only embolden our mutual enemies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other Iranian-backed proxies.”
Yet, aside from Torres and Suozzi, no other Democrat that New York sends to Congress seems to care about the president turning his back on America’s closest ally in the Middle East during its ongoing hours of need.