Marc Ginsberg
Former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco
and Deputy Senior Adviser on Middle East Policy to President Carter
I wonder if Trump would have been
accorded the collective one-hand clap if his AIPAC audience knew he had just
declared his intention to substantially reduce America’s commitment to NATO.
Doubtful, given NATO’s importance to Israel’s military. Why would Trump hand
Mr. Putin such a brass ring?? Only Trump knows.
Yet, for the first time in the
history of 2016 Trump TV the master barker delivered a teleprompter-fed speech.
It was vintage Trump -- part vainglorious, part extemporaneous, with a welcome
dose of rip and read substance largely focused on the evilness that Iran poses
to Israel and the rest of the world. Trump knew he was standing before an
informed jury that would not stand for his usual hijinks.
But compared to a far more eloquent
and knowledgeable John Kasich who stole the show at AIPAC's GOP afternoon of
speakers Trump was just praying for a pass/fail. Judging by his reception Trump
managed to pass (if barely), but to pass he had to do his homework.
Until his AIPAC appearance, Trump
showcased his support for Israel via vacuous platitudes: 1) one of his
daughters is a convert to Judaism; 2) he was the Grand Marshal in the Israel
Day parade in New York; and 3) some of his closest friends are Jews (any
self-respecting Jew knows what that means); and 4) he has “won so many awards
from Israel.” These sappy salutations are red flags to any self-respecting
supporter of Israel – Republican, Democrat or Independent. So Trump came to conquer
his past.
He put on his best pander to place
his flip-flops behind him.
n
At a Republic Jewish Coalition December gathering Trump refused to recognize
Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but in the same breath promised to move the U.S.
embassy currently in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Tonight, he vowed to recognize
Jerusalem as Israel’s capital AND move Embassy Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
n
Diving into the deep end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump had
inexplicably declared his intention to be “neutral.” After taking heat in
recent weeks, he then danced around that assertion so often that no one, least
of all Trump, knew exactly what he meant by it. Nevertheless, it habitually
sounded grandiose to the pompous Trump because it involved grand deals.
However, “neutral” to any Israeli is code for “anti-Israel.” Tonight, Trump so
demonized the Palestinian Authority that any fear among AIPAC attendees that he
could ever be considered “neutral” evaporated into thin air. So much for the
art of the deal.
During a previous Republican debate
Marco Rubio correctly derided Trump’s utter lack of knowledge about the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict when he turned to Trump and shouted “…this is not
a real estate transaction!” Well, in reality, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
is a real estate conflict, but not the type of real estate deal that Trump could
remotely fathom, much less serve as the lead negotiator.
Just before his AIPAC address, Trump
released the names of his foreign policy advisers. That, too, is an important
step in the right direction, so to speak. They are credible, if not well-known
advisers. Presumably, those advisers had a hand in his AIPAC address, but
probably not in his off-the-cuff NATO remarks to CNN.
God have mercy on whoever would have
the courage to be his secretary of state.
It’s not that Trump is just
dangerously ignorant about foreign policy. It’s that his witlessness is
lathered with an unprecedented degree of narcissistic prejudice and unbalanced
hubris. Halfway through his Iran litany he declared that “no one knows the Iran
nuclear deal better than me!” Oh, really? Read it cover to cover, Mr. Trump? I
bet you 725 Fifth Avenue you didn’t.
Putting his serial bravado aside,
there was nothing in his speech that rose to the level of yet another
Trump-created fact. Congratulations! For that alone Mr. Trump deserves a fist
bump…so much progress in such small doses.
Americans Jews, who much like the
American electorate, have had ample opportunity to watch Trump on the stump.
Regrettably, there are no polls I am aware of that have specifically measured
American Jewish views of Trump. The widespread view I derived from a survey I
undertook of progressive and conservative Jewish American media is that across
the Jewish political spectrum they harbor deep doubts about Trump’s fitness to
serve as a stable Commander-in-Chief, or as a unifying, thoughtful, reflective
president.
Even those, like myself, who believe
Israel’s long term security is served by attaining an eventual two state
solution, find Trump’s sloganeering just more self-serving chutzpah.
Israel aside, Trump has touched a third
rail among most Jewish Americans. He has trafficked in Jewish stereotypes. He
was shamed into distancing himself from David Duke, the former Klu Klux Klan
Grand Wizard. He courts white supremacists and denigrates Latinos. And as much
as Trump may dislike the Muslim world, Jewish Americans will never condone
religious discrimination. We know all too well that to vanquish ISIS, America
needs Arab support. We know also, all too well, that America’s Muslim
population is patriotic and just as determined to rid the world of Islamic
radical terrorism as any American. Trump is too prejudiced a person to
appreciate these facts.
Mr. Trump has much work to do to
repair the damage his brand has incurred among America’s Jews. The vast
majority of Jewish Americans are not about to give him a pass merely because he
derided the Ayatollah and the Palestinian Authority. His AIPAC speech may have
satisfied his acolytes, but the American Jewish community is not going to be
swayed to vote Republican, much less for Mr. Trump, merely because he
disciplined himself to read a red-meat speech. Trump surely knows that over 70%
of American Jews vote Democratic – which is why Mrs. Clinton received such a
warm reception for her adroit, thoughtful AIPAC address earlier in the day.
So let’s be clear here, Trump was
not speaking so much to AIPAC at large as much as he was speaking to potential
Republican Jewish donors, such as Sheldon Adelson, whom he will need to finance
his general election campaign should he secure the Republican Party nomination
in Cleveland. No self-funder will he be after Cleveland. You can take that to
the bank.
That was, for Mr. Trump, the art in
that spiel.
No comments:
Post a Comment