Haaretz Podcast

'U.S. military aid to Israel is endangered. More people will say it should be cut'


Listen Later

Six months into Israel's conflict with Hamas, the solid support U.S. President Joe Biden's White House gave to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has taken a serious hit.

Following the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid workers, a clash over a possible military operation in Rafah, and Israel's failure to provide a vision for the "day after" the war in Gaza, there has been a "precipitous drop" in the standing of the Israeli prime minister both in the White House and Congress, Haaretz Washington correspondent Ben Samuels tells Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer.

"World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres is a close friend of Joe Biden. And when seven of his employees are killed, that made it personal for the president in a way that unfortunately 30,000 Palestinian casualties has not been," he said, sparking an unprecedented tough phone call from the president to Netanyahu in which Biden "really put his foot down."

Behind the scenes at the White House, Samuels said, officials are "incredibly frustrated, and I think they feel a little personally betrayed by Netanyahu as well.

"I think they really believe that they have been going out on a limb providing coverage and support when it is becoming extremely unpopular both within the United States and in the international community. So I think there is a very real sense of resentment," Samuels said.

Also on the podcast, Hadar Susskind, President and CEO of Americans for Peace Now discusses his organization's support for Congress conditioning aid to Israel, a stance that has traditionally been controversial within the world of American Jewish advocacy groups but is gaining traction on Capitol Hill.

As Susskind sees it, "aid to Israel is endangered" because Israel's behavior in Gaza and the West Bank "often does not align with American policy and American values. When that happens, you will see far greater pushback, as we are seeing right now [with] people saying aid should be cut."

As a result, "if you want there to be a path for U.S. aid to Israel to continue, that aid, like all the other aid we give every other country, "needs to be conditioned."

Susskind, a longtime progressive activist in Washington, also discussed the perception that there is an epidemic of antisemitism on the U.S. left.

"I still think it is overwhelmingly actually on the far right," he contends. "That's not to say it doesn't exist on the left. It does, and I've seen it, but... so much of what is reported breathlessly as horrible antisemitism on college campuses is college students chanting 'Free Palestine.' You may dislike that – it might make you or your kid on campus uncomfortable – but I personally don't believe that saying 'Free Palestine' is itself an antisemitic act."

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Haaretz PodcastBy Haaretz

  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2

4.2

262 ratings


More shows like Haaretz Podcast

View all
Israel Story by Israel Story

Israel Story

1,211 Listeners

What Matters Now by The Times of Israel

What Matters Now

341 Listeners

Israel Policy Pod by Israel Policy Forum

Israel Policy Pod

177 Listeners

Streetwise Hebrew by TLV1 Studios

Streetwise Hebrew

986 Listeners

The Promised Podcast by TLV1 Studios

The Promised Podcast

427 Listeners

Identity/Crisis by Shalom Hartman Institute

Identity/Crisis

201 Listeners

For Heaven's Sake by Shalom Hartman Institute

For Heaven's Sake

437 Listeners

Unpacking Israeli History by Unpacked

Unpacking Israeli History

1,188 Listeners

Call Me Back - with Dan Senor by Ark Media, Ilan Benatar

Call Me Back - with Dan Senor

3,252 Listeners

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing by The Times of Israel

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

1,091 Listeners

Election Overdose Podcast by Haaretz.com

Election Overdose Podcast

14 Listeners

Unholy: Two Jews on the News by Unholy Media

Unholy: Two Jews on the News

594 Listeners

Wondering Jews with Mijal and Noam by Unpacked

Wondering Jews with Mijal and Noam

140 Listeners

Here I Am With Shai Davidai by Shai Davidai

Here I Am With Shai Davidai

354 Listeners

Ask Haviv Anything by Haviv Rettig Gur

Ask Haviv Anything

824 Listeners

Being Jewish with Jonah Platt by Jonah Platt

Being Jewish with Jonah Platt

476 Listeners