The U.S.-Israel Relationship Is One Thing, But The GOP-Netanyahu Relationship Is Something Entirely Different

I was born the same year as Israel and I grew up committed and proud of the socialist-run Jewish state. Watching the Sacha Baron Cohen Netflix mini-series, The Spy, I remembered it-- or at least the conclusion of it-- vividly, in real time, when I was getting ready to graduate high school and go to college. The pictures of Eli Cohen hanging in Damascus covered in Arabic placards were seared into my memory and shocked when when they appeared in the TV show over the credits. Too real. That Israel is long gone-- no longer a heroic David facing Goliath but more like an oppressive, fascist apartheid state that makes me feel shame for once having wanted to go there and join their military.





On Tuesday, Trump's first Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, was interviewed for 90 minutes at Harvard, as part of the American Secretaries of State Project, by a distinguished panel of academics. According to the Harvard Gazette, Tillerson "called Netanyahu 'an extraordinarily skilled' politician and diplomat, albeit 'a bit Machiavellian,' who forges good and 'useful' relationships with leaders and nations he anticipates he’ll need at a future time.

Tillerson said despite Israel’s closeness with the U.S., “In dealing with Bibi, it’s always useful to carry a healthy amount of skepticism in your discussions with him,” recounting that Israel would share "misinformation" to persuade the U.S. of something if necessary.

“They did that with the president on a couple of occasions, to persuade him that ‘We’re the good guys, they’re the bad guys.’ We later exposed it to the president so he understood, ‘You’ve been played,’” said Tillerson. “It bothers me that an ally that’s that close and important to us would do that to us.”

When he entered office, Tillerson, who had deep familiarity with leaders and issues in the Middle East, including conditions surrounding the Israel/Palestine peace negotiations, said he thought there was a chance-- finally-- for peace.

“I did believe that we were at a moment in time where perhaps we could chart a way where the Arab world could support an outcome that the Palestinians might not think was perfect-- and in the past, if it wasn’t perfect, it didn’t happen-- but with enough encouragement, pressure from the Arab world, that we could get it close enough that the Palestinians would finally agree,” he said. “And in my view, it was a two-state solution.”

But his plans were hampered by a frosty relationship with President Trump, who solicited foreign policy advice from an array of outside sources and delegated several key portions of the portfolio, like drafting an Israeli/Palestinian peace accord, to his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

So, in the end, Tillerson took a back seat on most issues involving the Middle East and served as an informal counselor, offering his input “to help them identify obstacles or gaps to the [peace] plan to give it the highest chance of success,” he said.

So far there are 3 Republicans competing take on Democratic Senator Tina Smith in 2020, a far right paintball store owner (Forest Hyatt), composer Rob Barrett and recently defeated Republican Congressman Jason Lewis. Lewis seems to be making an unusual bet. Last year he was defeated by a mediocre Democratic candidate, Angie Craig. His old congressional district (MN-02) has a PVI of R+2, much easier for a Republican than the D+1 PVI for Minnesota statewide. The vast majority of votes in the district come out of Dakota County, which, like most of the Minnesota suburbs, has turned into a Democratic bastion. Last year Amy Klobuchar won it with 61.3%. In the gubernatorial race, Tim Walz won it with 53.9% and in her own race, Tina Smith took the county with 52.9%. Dakota performed at a D+11 level for Angie Craig against Lewis and he lost the district 177,958 (52.8%) to 159,344 (47.2%). If he couldn't win a Republican-leaning district how does he think he's going to win a Democratic-leaning state? Especially with the detested Trump-- minus 14 points approval statewide-- at the top of the ticket?

Yesterday, Lewis, a former Hate Talk radio host, made news back home when tapes of him talking about the Republican Party's relationship with Israel surfaced. The topic was touchy one: "dual loyalties." He said that support for Israel was based on a "very strong American Jewish lobby" (AIPAC), a position that conservatives always label as anti-Semitic.

Lewis, who also argued that the Israel lobby controlled the Republican Party, said in a February 2013 radio show that many in the party viewed the country as the "51st state." He claimed policymakers in President George W. Bush's administration, including former UN Ambassador John Bolton, were dual citizens of Israel and the United States. (Bolton, who was fired last week by President Donald Trump, is neither Jewish, nor is he a citizen of Israel.)





"You've got a number of dual citizens, by the way, citizens of Israel and citizens of the United States serving in government," Lewis said. "In any other country that might be seen as a problem, but it's not here because of that special relationship."

"John Bolton's a dual citizen for instance of Israel and America," Lewis added later. "There's no question that there are a number in-- during the Bush years-- there were a number of dual citizens, citizens of Israel, citizens of America who were making policy."

Lewis made his comments during the confirmation process of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who faced criticism for his use of the phrase "Jewish lobby" during an interview in 2006 to describe the lobbying power of pro-Israel groups. Lewis defended Hagel's comments, adding that Republicans knew they would lose money from "AIPAC or Jewish Americans or Sheldon Adelson" if they voted for Hagel's confirmation.

Asked for comment, Lewis blamed the focus on his past commentary on his opponents and "pawns in the partisan media." He called the scrutiny "pathetic" and a "worn-out playbook of attacking my 25-year career as a political commentator-- which naturally meant asking rhetorical questions, challenging audiences, playing devil's advocate and seeing both sides of every issue."

But on the substance of his views on Israel he drew a contrast between his criticism in 2013 and his voting record, during his one term in the US House of Representatives, saying "as my voting record clearly demonstrates, these are not my views about American support for Israel, period." His campaign also forwarded along a fact sheet on his votes titled: Congressman Jason Lewis & the 115th Congress: Supporting the Israeli/U.S. Relationship.

Lewis also pivoted to criticize Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar saying she has "genuinely anti-Israel views." Omar faced widespread condemnation, including from many fellow Democrats, earlier this year for comments similar to those Lewis made on his show... [At the time, he had accused Ilhan] of "anti-Semitic rants" and "throwing our foreign allies under the bus," adding in a radio interview in early September, "I don't think the Jewish community is happy with Ilhan Omar at all. They've got every reason to be upset."

...Lewis said on his radio show in 2013 he was speaking out on the issue because he believed the Republican Party was controlled by the Israel lobby.

"One of the reasons that I'm speaking out on this particular issue is not because I'm a big fan of Chuck Hagel," Lewis said. "It's not because I think that the Israeli lobby controls the country. There are plenty of Democrats or liberals that oppose them, but they do have, they do control of the Republican Party right now. The Republican Party is essentially a neo-conservative party that believes on unending support for Israel. A blind loyalty towards Israel is the linchpin of being a good Republican. And when you get those sort of dual loyalties, what happens if it's not in America's best interest?"





"I don't think the Jewish lobby, the Israeli lobby controls America because there are plenty of opponents," he later added. "I do believe, as I said, they are controlling the Republican party."





Lewis later speculated that Republicans knew they would lose money from prominent Jewish organizations for supporting Hagel.

"I think Lindsey Graham and John McCain and every Republican, including Ted Cruz, know exactly how much money they will lose if they support Chuck Hagel from AIPAC or Jewish Americans or Sheldon Adelson for that matter," Lewis added. "I don't think there's any doubt about that."





Lewis said he did not subscribe to the idea "Jewish cabal" controlled the country, but said neo-Conservatives viewed Israel as the 51st state.

"Look, let me be clear about what I'm saying here. Is this nation controlled by a Jewish cabal? The Jewish banker theory? Of course not," Lewis said. "Is the Republican Party, however, unduly influenced by AIPAC and the Israeli lobby? Of course they are. The neoconservatives in the Republican Party from John Bolton on down view Israel as a 51st state. And if you dare, dare not to support what Israel does, if you dare not support going to war with Iran-- so Israel is safe-- you are not only not a good Republican, not fit to be Secretary of Defense, you are an anti-Semite."





Speaking on why the Republican Party supported Israel so strongly, Lewis said one reason was because of the influence of supporters.

"Contrary to what the punditry class said, AIPAC and a very, very strong American Jewish lobby," he added. "I don't say that as a negative. I mean, I think they'd been very proficient and they're successful people and therefore they've got power in Washington."