Jerry Nadler and Chuck Schumer are proof that a community’s representation in Congress can be worse for that community’s interests than having no seat at the table. I would sleep better at night if the New York nudniks weren’t constantly getting in the way of those Gentiles who work tirelessly for their Jewish constituents, like Ritchie Torres and John Fetterman.
The very least Nadler and Schumer can do is avoid turning their intracommunal grouchiness into an international incident. Unfortunately that was too much to ask of them this week. A shanda fer die goyim, if ever there was one.
What happened was this. Vice President Kamala Harris declined to fulfill her vice presidential duties and preside over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress later today. She had to decide whether to stick with the stalwarts or the boycotters in her party, and she chose the latter. But no worries: The Senate majority leader, who happens to be the country’s highest-ranking Jewish lawmaker, would be there. That would make for a better moment anyway, what with the vicious outbreak of anti-Semitism this past year. Surely he would preside?
Alas, Schumer was not deemed an appropriate backup for Harris because in March, for reasons still unknown, Schumer stood up on Capitol Hill and called for the end of Netanyahu’s forty-year political career. So the Democrats had to scramble to find someone else to preside over the Israeli leader’s speech, as the fallout from Schumer’s poor impulse control continues through the summer.
Yet as exasperatingly counterproductive as Schumer’s remarks were, they could not hold a candle to the performance by Rep. Jerrold Nadler on Tuesday. Nadler was announcing that he would attend Bibi’s speech while also making clear he that he—as-a-Jew—despises the Israeli government that is currently embroiled in a multi-front war against enemies seeking to eliminate the Jewish people from the surface of the earth. Nadler collapsed under the pressure and tweeted what can only be described as a cry for help:
“Benjamin Netanyahu is the worst leader in Jewish history since the Maccabean king who invited the Romans into Jerusalem over 2100 years ago. The Prime Minister is putting the security of Israel, the lives of the hostages, the stability of the region, and longstanding Israeli democratic norms in perilous jeopardy, simply to maintain the stability of his far-right coalition and absolve him of his own legal troubles. Tomorrow’s address is the next step in a long line of manipulative bad-faith efforts by Republicans to further politicize the U.S.-Israel relationship for partisan gain and is a cynical stunt by Netanyahu aimed at aiding his own desperate political standing at home. There is no question in my mind it should not be happening.”
And yet, he said, “I have not given up on the dream of an Israel that can live in peace with its neighbors.” Therefore, he is attending the speech.
There are three things happening here, all of them deeply destructive. The first has nothing to do with the Jewish angle of this debacle. That is the diplomatic malpractice. America has a serious amount of power and lately an unserious way of wielding it.
Set aside the hysterical tone of Nadler’s post. Does anyone in Congress talk about any other ally this way? We have had a series of incompetent prime ministers in Britain over the past few years, one of whose term was outlived by a head of lettuce. We did not have members of Congress ranting about how Liz Truss was her country’s worst leader since Britain was Roman. That’s because they would look completely insane even publicly contemplating the question. If Nadler wants to retire to become a blogger at The Nation, he is more than welcome to. It’s a low bar, but more is expected of members of the United States Congress, especially those in senior positions.
Or we can turn to Canada, where the remedial-class prime minister likes to play dress-up more than think about politics, like some kind of ancient child-king. Is Schumer out on the floor ranting about how he loves Tim Hortons but the coffee will taste bitter to him until Justin Trudeau resigns to join the Ontario community theater?
The second and third problems here are related. The Democratic Party has made Israel so toxic that it is no longer possible to console ourselves with the fact that the overt anti-Semites are very few in number. Power is what matters, and Democratic floor leaders are terrified of the few but apparently scary bigmouths in the Squad and the legions of social media trolls they command. This, despite one Squad member losing his primary last month and another in danger of meeting the same fate next month. You don’t have to join them, you can just beat them.
Relatedly, it matters that Nadler and Schumer are high-profile Jews. Every time they dare to say anything nice about Israel or the Jewish people, they now caveat it to hell and back. The incentives are materially worsened by doing so, because those with even less power know they’ll be hung out to dry by leadership if and when they show a smidgen of Jewish pride.
