{"id":24242,"date":"2025-06-30T10:39:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T07:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/?p=24242"},"modified":"2025-06-30T20:55:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T17:55:58","slug":"can-pro-israel-democrats-finally-say-thank-you-president-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/can-pro-israel-democrats-finally-say-thank-you-president-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Pro-Israel Democrats Finally Say \u2018Thank you President Trump\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"Speak to friends in the Israeli community if you want to better understand how a justified war can potentially create a more just world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The political challenge of the moment is clear: can longstanding opponents of President Donald Trump from the pro-Israel community loudly, unambiguously, say \u201cThank you for doing the right thing and attacking Iran\u2019s nuclear weapons facilities\u201d?<\/p>\n

My daughter-in-law woke my son on Sunday morning in Jerusalem to Lee Greenwood singing \u201cGod Bless the USA.\u201d Most Israelis woke up that morning \u2013 to another round of sirens blaring, yet another missile barrage, which makes many of us think, \u201cIt would be so much worse if we hadn\u2019t hit Iran now and the Mullahs had nukes!\u201d Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed: \u201cPresident Trump is courageously leading the free world. He is a tremendous friend of Israel, an unparalleled friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, so many American Jews and non-Jewish members of the pro-Israel community detest Donald Trump. Too many stayed too quiet when he moved America\u2019s embassy to Jerusalem in 2018 and brokered the Abraham Accords two years later, let alone spearheaded an overdue fight against campus antisemitism. But, now, with Trump\u2019s base splitting, with most journalists prereporting the troubles Trump\u2019s \u201cgamble\u201d will cause as he \u201cPulls U.S. Military Back into Middle East Wars,\u201d those who care about Israel should stand up for Israel \u2013 and applaud Trump\u2019s noble action, which put America First, too.<\/p>\n

In a healthy, sophisticated democracy, it\u2019s possible to agree with a president sometimes without betraying your best friends, your party, your country. Moreover, there was an American tradition, especially during the Cold War, of bipartisanship in foreign policy, consecrated by the expression, \u201cpolitics stops at the water\u2019s edge.\u201d It\u2019s also basic gamesmanship \u2013 you gain credibility to fight on other fronts by sifting, not being fanatic. Saying \u201cthank you\u201d when your president does good, buys street cred to blast him when he doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

In his fascinating, timely new book, \u201cBeyond Dispute: Rediscovering the Jewish Art of Constructive Disagreement,\u201d Israel\u2019s former ambassador to the U.K., Daniel Taub, urges us to recreate the Talmudic approach to argument, politics and life, which involves living humbly with complexity, ambiguities, even contradictions. The typical political argument, these days, Taub laments, \u201cis not really an argument at all, but rather a form of political performance art or a protestation of identity, such that it might be better avoided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here, then, is a compelling opportunity to resist the all-or-nothing polarization of today, which is hurting America\u2019s body politic and Americans\u2019 souls. Go deep and be bold. Don\u2019t just approach this transactionally, thinking, \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll thank Trump today so I can blast him tomorrow.\u201d The most ardent never-Trumpers should be asking themselves, without abandoning valid criticisms of other actions, if there\u2019s anything good about Trump, especially regarding foreign policy. It\u2019s worth contemplating what positive impulses and insights led him to make this move that few believe Kamala Harris would have made.<\/p>\n

Many Americans \u2013 and American Jews especially \u2013 should scrutinize their current worldviews, which often rely too much on diplomacy, underestimate the evil of some enemies, downplay genuine threats to America, and don\u2019t appreciate the power of a little unpredictability at the top. Start this long-term reevaluation with so many Americans\u2019 refusal to see how deranged, dangerous, and dishonest the Iranian Mullahs and Revolutionary Guards have been for decades.<\/p>\n

In the short-term, however, there\u2019s a crisis and a need to stand tall. Give this whole debate an ally-check.\u00a0 <\/span>The far-Left and far-Right horseshoe alliance opposing Trump\u2019s Iran bombing provides moral clarity. Who wants to ally with Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib? If they all agree on something \u2013 that\u2019s a warning to reevaluate that position!<\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t you rather join the Muscular Middle supporting Trump in degrading a regime that has killed as many as 1,000 Americans, spread terrorism worldwide, threatened America, Israel and the West with destruction, is rushing to go nuclear, and amassed hundreds of ballistic missiles it\u2019s now aiming at civilians who live 1,000 miles away?<\/p>\n

Most Israelis don\u2019t take this war \u2013 or any military action \u2013 lightly. We know what it\u2019s like to see wonderful young people die just because we want to live in the Jewish homeland. In the last week alone, we\u2019ve seen apartment towers collapse, hospitals bombed, research labs destroyed, hundreds injured, and, so far, 24 holy souls \u2014 Arabs, Jews, and Ukrainians seeking cancer treatment \u2014\u00a0 <\/span>murdered.<\/p>\n

So, it\u2019s ironic \u2013 at the risk of over-generalizing: Israelis know what war is like, yet don\u2019t avoid it when it\u2019s justified \u2026 most American Jews have no experience with war but abhor it far more categorically. Since my children enlisted, many American Jews ask me, \u201cHow much longer do your kids have to serve,\u201d as if their sacred army service is a prison sentence; most Israelis ask, \u201cWhere are your kids serving and is it mashmauti, meaningful?\u201d<\/p>\n

These days my most loving, supportive American Jewish friends say, \u201cBoy, I hope this war ends quickly.\u201d Most Israelis say, \u201cI hope this war ends successfully.\u201d<\/p>\n

America\u2019s Silenced Majority must stand up against the fanatics from both extremes and explain why Israel\u2019s actions, and America\u2019s follow-up, sadly, became unavoidable. Make the case for a surgical attack degrading Iran\u2019s nuclear and ballistic power.\u00a0 <\/span>Learn the Iranian dictatorship\u2019s aggressive history, count up its massive weaponry, analyze the perverse, illiberal, inhumane ideology.<\/p>\n

Speak to friends in the Persian community if you believed diplomacy was working or ever would work with Iran\u2019s Islamist theocrats. Speak to friends in the Israeli community if you want to better understand how a justified war can potentially create a more just world.<\/p>\n

Do your homework. Read about Iran\u2019s terrorist crimes over decades, its Ring of Fire strategy to overwhelm Israel, its assaults on the Great Satan \u2013 America \u2013 in Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere. Imagine the inhibiting impact Trump\u2019s actions had on China\u2019s hunger for Taiwan, and other bad actors globally. And before you echo the sloppy talk about the \u201cWar Powers Act,\u201d note that Trump has 48 hours to notify Congress of what he did, cannot keep armed forces in action for more than 60 days without Congressional authorization, and has not brazenly violated the act as Bill Clinton did in Kosovo and Barack Obama did in Libya.<\/p>\n

Finally, as the therapists say \u201cdo the work\u201d \u2013 on yourselves, individually and collectively. Examine your own \u201cconceptzias,\u201d blinding conceptions. Why have so many underestimated the mullahs\u2019 manipulations and overestimated the efficacy of diplomacy for so long? How is it that so many American Jews are still desperately seeking \u201cdialogue\u201d with pro-Palestinian activists who target them, call them \u201cgenocidal,\u201d or, as fellow Jews, use sacred Jewish prayers to pray for Hamas terrorists or Iranian Revolutionary Guards?\u00a0 <\/span>Tolerance, respect for others, empathy, are all noble \u2013 but so are solidarity, caution, and self-preservation. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I have no predictive powers. Trump\u2019s bombing and Israel\u2019s war may prove disastrous. But leaders in tough situations have to make the tough calls. Both Israel and America did what they needed to do, when the opportunity was ripe \u2013 and the Iranians were weak yet still unrelenting in their dastardly plans.<\/p>\n

In wartime, mere inches \u2013 and sheer luck \u2013 determine whether you\u2019re a live hero or a dead fool. Iran seems debilitated and the American-Israel alliance seems headed toward victory. Regardless of tomorrow, Donald Trump\u2019s decision and America\u2019s firepower have brought us closer to that goal \u2013 and are worthy of bipartisan celebrations today.<\/p>\n

Originally published in Jewish Journal<\/a><\/strong>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speak to friends in the Israeli community if you want to better understand how a justified war can potentially create a more just world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":24243,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topics-geopolitics","library-op-ed","library-publications"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24242"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24254,"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24242\/revisions\/24254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}