As If We Needed More Evidence That Joe's Judgment Is Shaky

There's a consensus that the Biden administration is shfting its policy away from supporting Israel. Via Politico on Kamala's threats of "consequences" over the weekend:

[I]n the interview this weekend, she didn’t dismiss a possible backlash as the administration continues to warn Israel against a major invasion of Rafah.

The West Wing has supported Harris’ willingness to nudge out slightly ahead of Biden, who spent decades as one of the Senate’s foremost supporters of Israel and has been loath to appear like he is turning his back on the country even amid his growing disdain for its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Indeed, two administration officials not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions said Harris’ remarks have created more space for Biden to slowly — and privately — offer his own rebukes of Netanyahu and his conduct of the war.

But the prevailing stance inside the administration is that Biden and Harris are reading from the same script even if it’s with different emphasis.

“In our view, there’s no daylight and she’s completely in line with the president’s approach,” said a third senior administration official who was granted anonymity to provide the administration’s response and internal thinking.

Via the Washington Examiner:

The Biden administration declined to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution on Monday that aims to limit Israel’s ability to win its war against Hamas. Washington’s action is short-sighted and counterproductive.

. . . For months, the U.S. has worked to prevent the passage of Security Council resolutions that condemned Israel or limited its ability to defend itself. That policy is now at an end. And it’s worth asking why.

The Biden administration has faced growing criticism from the anti-Israel Left, including members of Congress such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and other factions of its progressive base. By some accounts, the administration is concerned about turnout in Michigan, a battleground state in an election year, and hopes to appease anti-Israel members of its coalition.

Unfortunately, domestic political concerns seem to have trumped sound strategy.

As of yesterday, Alan Dershowitz posted a YouTube broadcast from Israel, and if he's over there, it must be for a reason. This story calls him "Netanyahu’s 'attack dog' in the international arena" and "a long-time friend and advisor", but Dershowitz is arguably the most prominent and influential US Jew. I don't think it's a coincidence that Netanyahu responded to the administration's change in policy with Dershowitz apparently nearby:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he will not send a delegation as planned to Washington after the United States refrained from vetoing a U.N. Security Council proposal calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Netanyahu, according to a statement from his office, said that Washington's failure to block the proposal was a "clear retreat" from its previous position, and would hurt war efforts against Hamas, as well as efforts to release over 130 hostages in Gaza captivity.

"In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided the delegation would not leave," his office said.

I've already posted on Dershowitz's warning via YouTube last week that he has a red line over his November vote in the general election, specifically any refusal to supply Israel with the arms needed to defend itself. Vice President Harris's veiled threat of "consequences" over the weekend is likely being taken seriously by Netanyahu and, by extension, Dershowitz.

What's beginning to emerge is a counterthreat from Netanyahu and Dershowitz that a reversal of US support for Israel -- a bipartisan element of US policy since Truman -- would likely trigger a departure of Jews fom the New Deal Democrat coalition, equivalent to the departures of labor and Catholics that have already taken place. About all that will be left will be, as James Carville puts it, "preachy females":

“A suspicion of mine is that there are too many preachy females … ‘Don’t drink beer, don’t watch football, don’t eat hamburgers, this is not good for you,'” he said. “The message is too feminine: ‘Everything you’re doing is destroying the planet. You’ve got to eat your peas.'”

Preachy females joined the Democrat coalition in the 1960s and 1970s and ever since have been driving the traditional elements like labor, legal immigrants, Catholics, and Jews out. I can only think Joe Biden's judgment has been badly clouded if he enables this.