Rahm Emanuel's Tel Aviv audition: The Jewish face of American pressure on Israel

Rahm Emanuel delivered a speech in Tel Aviv that some interpret as an audition to become the "Jewish face of American pressure on Israel." The former White House chief of staff, mayor of Chicago, and ambassador spoke to an Israeli audience, framing his remarks as "friendship, realism, and concern."

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He delivered it in Tel Aviv, inside the Jewish state, in the language of friendship, realism, and concern.

The article argues that Emanuel's speech was dangerous because it used "partial truths about Israel’s failures to sell American coercion as realism, friendship, and Jewish responsibility." His credentials, experience, Jewish identity, and "tough love" approach were seen as a way to offer Democrats a bridge between the traditional pro-Israel consensus and the growing anti-Israel sentiment within the party.

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That was the staging. That was the power move.

Emanuel's critique identified real problems, such as Israel's "strategic-conversion problem" of winning militarily without translating that into political strategy. He also noted that the Arab world cannot use Palestinians as a permanent excuse while refusing responsibility. However, the article contends that his conclusions collapse under scrutiny, particularly his "23-state solution" which is deemed useful for bringing Arab states back into the conversation but insufficient without their commitment to demilitarizing Palestinian territory, dismantling terror financing, and recognizing Israel.

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He did not sound like an enemy. He sounded like a friend.

The author suggests Emanuel's speech was crafted to make American pressure on Israel sound responsible, inevitable, and even Jewish. This approach is seen as valuable for the Democratic Party, which may not be ready for the more radical left but could be receptive to a Jewish validator of a policy retreat from strong support for Israel.

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That is what made the speech dangerous.