Elizabeth Warren at J Street: All Stick for Israel, All Carrot for Palestinian Arabs
David Lange
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Back in 2019, US senator Elizabeth Warren told a J Street conference that she would “immediately resume aid to the Palestinians and financial support to UNRWA.”
No strings attached. Such funding would not be predicated on things like the PA ceasing payments to terrorists and the families of terrorists who have murdered and maimed Israelis. Or UNRWA no longer employing teachers who routinely incite to antisemitism and Jihadi terrorism.
That is not to say she did not support the “stick” approach where necessary – to be solely used against Israel it would seem.
Fast forward to this year’s J Street conference, and while Warren claims to care about both Israeli and palestinian lives:
her comments betray a very one-sided approach.
For a start, she wants to undo pretty much everything the Trump administration did, moves that sent a message to the palestinians that terror does not and will not pay.
When it comes to Israeli PM Netanyahu – who she sees as being corrupt – anything goes. She thinks it is perfectly ok to interfere in Israel’s internal politics:
Yet when it comes to PA President Mahmoud Abbas – who she also sees as corrupt – there are no such similar calls to oust him:
And while she admits Hamas is a terror organization:
there are no calls to condition aid on their ceasing terrorism.
In fact, she sees their impact on palestinian lives as an obstacle to peace, and not their impact on Israeli civilians – through terror support and terrorism – as such:
And while interfering in the Israeli elections is fine and dandy, the opposite applies to palestinian elections:
In Warren’s worldview, it is all about the power imbalance between Israel and the palestinian Arabs:
The reasons this exists (palestinian Arab refusal to cease terrorism and instead state-build, for example), or the fact there is no power imbalance if you look at the Middle East and see Israel in a sea of belligerent neighbors, are not relevant to her it would seem.
So what does Warren think the US administration now needs to do?
Firstly, insist Israel does more to help palestinians get vaccinated (and in doing so, she is repeating the vaccine libel while ignoring the Oslo accords and the PA’s initial response to the idea of Israel assisting)
Secondly, undo much of what the Trump administration did by unilaterally restoring aid and reopening the US consulate to palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem and the PLO Delegation office in Washington – no strings attached:
Thirdly, have Israel reduce restrictions on Gaza before insisting on Hamas cessation of terrorism:
Fourthly, conditioning Israeli military aid to Israel on non-use in the so-called “occupied territories”:
True, there is this almost throwaway line near the end suggesting that US engagement is predicated on palestinian non-violence:
but everything she has said until then shows the exact opposite.
Warren’s approach is the exact opposite of what is needed to achieve peace. And whatever you think about President Trump as a person or about his domestic policies, he did seem to understand that the palestinian Arabs need to be shown that violence and terrorism does not pay if you want peace to be achievable.
Having said that, this capitulation by Warren is still not enough for those who want Israel destroyed. Although if she gets her way, it will make things easier for them to achieve their goals.
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David Lange
