Jeremy was traveling today, so I hosted Word on the Street Live solo and sat down with my old friend and colleague from the Obama and Biden Administrations, Andrew Miller, for a conversation rooted in what he calls the “Israel Exception.”
Andrew, an alum of the State Department and the National Security Council, argued that Israel gets a level of political, military and diplomatic cover no other ally does, and when there are no consequences for its actions, private pressure simply doesn’t work. That dynamic hasn’t just failed Palestinians; it’s failed Israelis and Americans too. He argues instead that it’s time to “normalize” the US-Israel relationship. That doesn’t mean walking away from the relationship, but putting some limits on it.
We used that lens to talk about Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, Israel’s latest moves in the West Bank, and what a real reset in US-Israel relations could look like.
We also talked about the special election primary in New Jersey and the flood of AIPAC money. I’ve supported building bipartisan backing for the US-Israel relationship – but Andrew and I agree: Dumping Republican money into a Democratic primary and painting mainstream criticism as disqualifying doesn’t build any support for Israel. It creates fear and chaos, and in the long run, is destructive to our democracy.
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