The visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the US has drawn harsh criticism from a number of Jewish American organizations, who see him as a more “palatable” representative of the Tel Aviv government complicit in the occupation and discrimination of Palestinians.
They argued that despite the fact that the 62-year-old Israeli politician, whose position is generally regarded as ceremonial, may not be an ally of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu or an official member of his far-right cabinet, he should not be seen as an outsider to the Israeli regime and its apartheid policies toward Palestinians in the occupied territories.
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Eva Borgwardt, political director of IfNotNow, a movement of American Jews organizing their communities to end US support for Israel’s apartheid system, said that Netanyahu’s role at this time is to prevent international accountability for Israel’s actions at a time when accountability is the only thing that can possibly stop not only Netanyahu’s current authoritarian takeover but decades of illegal occupation and apartheid.
The so-called judicial overhaul and the brutal and violent repression of Palestinians in the West Bank continue, while Herzog continues to call for endless negotiations and compromise with extremists, according to Borgwardt.
IfnotNow and the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) fully supported the choice made earlier this week by a number of lawmakers, including Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Cori Bush, to skip his address to Congress on Wednesday.
Herzog’s visit, according to other Jewish organizations, offers a rare chance for US lawmakers to voice their concerns about the rapidly deteriorating conditions throughout the occupied Palestinian territories.
“I think [lawmakers] should use the spotlight that his visit brings to raise the issues of settler violence, settler expansion, creeping annexation, discrimination in the occupied territories, and raises the issue of Israel’s own struggles – the judicial coup – that is happening,” noted Hadar Susskind, president of Americans for Peace Now (APN).
The goal of the so-called “judicial overhaul” plan is to deny the Israeli Supreme Court the ability to overturn rulings made by the government’s politicians. Additionally, it aims to give the Israeli cabinet more influence over the selection of judges for the court.
According to critics, it will eliminate crucial controls on the political elite’s ability to exercise power.
They claim that Netanyahu, who is accused of corruption on several counts and is on trial for them, is attempting to use the scheme to overturn any judgments that might be rendered against him.
The Knesset approved the first reading of the highly contentious and divisive plan on Monday despite the persistent protests. Before being signed into law, the bill must pass two additional readings.
According to a statement released by JVP on Tuesday, Israel is a “racist” government, and lawmakers “should not be honoring an apartheid politician in the Capitol.”
More legislators were urged by the group to abstain from the speech of the Israeli president.
“Herzog is the head of an extremist government that is dedicated to obliterating Palestinian lives and homes completely.
According to JVP, “Our elected officials ought to be fighting for Palestinian rights, not paying tribute to the leader of an apartheid regime.”
IfnotNow also issued a statement in support of the US lawmakers who opted not to attend Herzog’s speech.
Borgwadt from IfNotNow said that when lawmakers compare Herzog’s record to democratic ideals of freedom and equality, they “are right to find him falling unacceptably short.”.
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), based in New York, declared that it agreed with Bowman and Ocasio-Cortez’s choice to skip Herzog’s speech.
Herzog was cited by JFREJ as a more “palatable representative to conceal the violent reality on the ground.”
“This extremist administration is not the first to use the terms occupation and apartheid to describe Israel. According to Audrey Sasson, executive director of JFREJ, Herzog is a representative of the regime behind those policies as they proceed apace.
In Congress, Sasson declared, “He does not deserve a warm welcome.”
The group of five who chose to boycott Herzog in Congress was praised by outspoken Jewish author Peter Beinart.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that progressives who are waging a losing battle against white nationalists who want to solidify white Christian supremacy in the United States, like Omar, Bowman, and Ocasio-Cortez, would shun an Israeli president who has made Jewish supremacy the cornerstone of his political career, according to Beinart in The Guardian.
At a time when many of them are asking President Joe Biden to put pressure on Netanyahu’s cabinet to stop the mistreatment of Palestinians, rights advocates claim Herzog’s visit will strengthen the unwavering US support for Israel.
