Bernie’s Israel Heresy
There is often something sickening about the continent — Europe — on which Jews were slaughtered reproaching the descendants of those who survived for absorbing the lesson that military might matters.
.. Jews account for about 2 percent of the United States population; most of them live in New York and California, which have voted Democratic in national elections for a quarter-century.
.. But voting is one thing, funding another. As Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, a growing pro-Israel group that is critical of settlement growth and the occupation, told me: “The longtime perception was that the only way to get money was to toe the Aipac line.
.. My sense is that he will not pay a political price for his stance because there is an emergent constituency, particularly among young Americans, for a different approach to Israel that underwrites its security without writing a blank check for its every policy. Whether Sanders will benefit is another matter
.. “There comes a time,” said Sanders, “when if we pursue justice and peace, we are going to have to say that Netanyahu” makes mistakes.