Rhodes’s Moral Tale of Israel and the Democrats Leaves Out the Most Important Facts

Rhodes ignores Hamas, misreads Biden’s policy (and mistakes), and erases the strategic realities that shaped both the conflict and decades of U.S.–Israel ties

The first thing I found peculiar in Ben Rhodes’s New York Times op-ed - certainly not the last - was this paragraph. I read it over and over; it felt off, and it took some time to put that unease into words. See if you can spot it:

“Democrats have long held virtuous reasons for supporting Israel. Louis Brandeis saw Israel’s socialist kibbutzim as a haven for European Jews and as part of a global effort to advance progressive policies. Harry Truman’s recognition of Israel was a commitment to security for the Jewish people after the Holocaust. Jews marched alongside Black people in pursuit of civil rights and joined them as a core of the Democratic Party’s base. Through the Cold War, Israel retained the dual status of an underdog and a democratic ally.”

None of the reasons Rhodes gives include the tiny-winy major reason that Democrats -or Republicans - valued Israel: it was important and proved its worth throughout the Cold War. What he writes about the Cold War reduces Israel to being an “underdog” and a “democratic ally.” Narrative. Framing. Sentences that work nicely for a speechwriter.

In Rhodes’s telling, Democratic support for Israel is not a question of national interest but an expression of the party’s own moral and identity-based architecture.