Dear Madam Vice President:
In a phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month, Donald Trump said: “Do what you have to do,” according to six people familiar with the conversation.
You should be all over that comment, which amounts to an unqualified endorsement of any Israeli military action it is taking or will take against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. Yet Trump is said to be making inroads among Arab American voters, whose anger at President Biden’s inability to stop Netanyahu from seeking “total victory” has alienated many of them from you.
Trump’s comment provides an opening for you to distance yourself just enough from the President to assuage the concerns of Arab Americans. I believe you can take a more independent stance that conveys that, as President, you would restore control of U.S. policy consistent with our interests and values. Here is what you might say:
“Donald Trump has given Israel’s government a green light to do whatever it wants in the war. That is an immoral and foolhardy policy. It surrenders our interests and undermines our values. As President, I would never give an ally a blank check when it is at war, using American weapons, receiving billions of dollars in aid, and relying on our political support. Prime Minister Netanyahu said the other day that Israel’s interests are not American interests. The opposite is also true, for when Israel, in defiance of our best advice, rejects one cease-fire offer after another; kills tens of thousands of innocent civilians; and destroys countless homes, businesses, health care facilities, and places of worship, the U.S. cannot sit by and pretend those actions are also in our interest. The U.S. has consistently stood up for Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism, and I reiterate that right. But the wanton destruction that we see in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon today surely goes beyond self-defense. I cannot support that—it is not what Israel ‘has to do.’”
The exchanges of fire between Israel and Iran now threaten to widen the war in ways that threaten the peace throughout the Middle East. Unless these retaliatory attacks stop, they will lend support to Iran’s nuclear program and encouragement to all the militant groups in the region that want to destroy Israel.
And make no mistake about it: If a full-scale war erupts between Israel and Iran, the U.S. will be drawn into it. That’s an outcome Donald Trump evidently hasn’t considered.
Finally, let me reiterate that I firmly support statehood for the Palestinian people. The longer the war goes on, the more difficult it will be to accomplish that aim. The Palestinian people have the right to a peaceful future, and you might well say, “it is my intention, as President, to do everything possible to give them that. They, the Israeli people, and all others in the Middle East cannot benefit from endless war.”
To be honest, I have held my punches in writing this open letter. I have crafted it with my sense of what is currently politically possible in Washington. Thus, I have not included ideas that I believe should be key components of U.S. policy, such as: an embargo on U.S. arms transfers to Israel—at the least, transfers of non-defensive weapons, such as the 2000-pound bombs that are being used in assassinations; pressure on Israel to accept a permanent cease-fire as part of the end game of negotiations with Hamas; and resumption of nuclear arms discussions with Iran that Trump cut off and Biden has tried to resume.
Mel Gurtov, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Portland State University and blogs at In the Human Interest.
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