Democracy and two-state solution take centre stage at J Street conference

DAN COLEMAN: To preserve ‘the horizon of hope’ for Israel and Palestine, a strong stance from the US, pushed by robust advocacy from J Street, will be essential.

On December 2, on the eve of its Covid-delayed national conference, J Street announced that it was updating the tag line that had identified the progressive advocacy group since its foundation in 2007. Long touted as “the home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans”, it would now assert itself as the home for “pro-democracy” Americans as well.

The reason for this change is two-fold. First, like no other time in living memory, American democracy is under assault through voter suppression and concerted efforts to enable the overturning of democratically-held elections. In addition, AIPAC, J Street’s conservative rival, showed itself in 2022 to have scant regard for democracy, endorsing more than 100 congressional candidates who had voted to invalidate the election of Joe Biden.

The next day, J Street’s conference kicked off with a keynote address from Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD). The New Republic, which recently returned to its progressive roots after several decades under conservative leadership, has called Raskin, a former constitutional law professor, “democracy’s defender… the man for this historical moment”. The designation is well-earned, given Raskin’s prominent role in Trump’s impeachment and on the January 6 committee.

Raskin called the US “an evolving democracy”, citing Alexis de Tocqueville’s belief that democracy must be either expanding or shrinking. “We must put American democracy back on the growth track,” Raskin exhorted the J Street audience.

For Raskin, the fight for American democracy has vital global implications. “From the autocrats in Moscow to the kleptocrats in Mar-a-Lago to the theocrats in Saudi Arabia and Iran, the enemies of democracy are on the march threatening democracy everywhere,” he said.

“The struggle to defend democracy in America is the struggle to defend democracy and human rights on earth today… stand strong and fight hard against the primitive impulses that have been unleashed across the world.”

As if to confirm that Raskin had the right audience, J Street founder Jeremy Ben-Ami told those assembled “it turns out democracy was the number one issue for Jewish voters”, three-quarters of whom strongly supported the Democrats and rejected Trump-backed election-deniers.

In the second day keynote address, Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a telling linkage between American and Israeli democracy. In a speech that had the tone of a significant statement on US policy toward the Middle East, Blinken highlighted the importance of “holding fast to the values that have anchored the relationship” between US and Israel across “countless transitions”, acknowledging that Israel had just held “free and fair elections… we fully respect the democratic choice of the Israeli people.”

Perhaps giving Israel’s incoming coalition more credit than many of the progressive activists in the audience, Blinken said “we welcome Netanyahu’s commitment to, in his words, ‘work for the benefit of all residents of Israel without exception’.”

Blinken was unequivocal in the administration’s “holding firm to the vision of two states for two people… Palestinians and Israelis, like all people everywhere, are entitled to the same rights… two states based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps is the best way for Israel and Palestine to live side by side in peace and security, with Jerusalem as central to the national identity of both Israel and Palestine.”

In pre-recorded remarks, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh also emphasised the essential nature of the two-state solution: “The alternative to two states is a disaster, where Israel would be neither Jewish nor democratic… the two-state solution is a win-win solution. The Palestinians are extending our hands for peace.”

Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Al-Safadi agreed that while “the prospects of peace [are] slimmer than they’ve been in decades, the two-state solution must be protected as the only path to a just and lasting solution”.

He grimly concluded that “all must act now so the region does not fall into the abyss of hopelessness, violence, and deeper conflict… the US must move from conflict management to actual peace making.”

Blinken had tough words for those pursuing further conflict. “We will oppose any acts that undermine prospects of a two-state solution, including settlement expansion, move toward annexation of the West Bank, disruption of historic status quo at holy sites, demolitions, or incitements to violence. Perpetrators of violence on the West Bank must face equal justice under the law.”

While Blinken was bullish on the Biden Administration’s support for the Palestinians – providing hundreds of millions in aid, working to increase water allocations and work permits to Gaza, creating a special envoy for Palestine – both Shtayyeh and Al-Safadi felt the US should be doing more. Shtayyeh called on the US to remove the terrorist designation from the PLO and to recognise Palestinian statehood.

Blinken’s address had its critics on the American Left as well. Writing in Jewish Currents, Peter Beinart said that President Biden has “repeatedly vowed that ‘human rights will be the centre of our foreign policy’ - even as his administration stood by while Israel criminalised Palestinian human rights groups and demolished homes”.

In a cutting criticism, Beinart pointed out that “on Saturday night, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami castigated AIPAC and other Jewish groups that believe ‘the US should continue to provide billions of dollars without restrictions or oversight’. The next morning, from the same podium, Blinken endorsed AIPAC’s view. America’s ‘security assistance to Israel’, Blinken declared, ‘is sacrosanct.’”

Some were inclined to give Blinken and Biden the benefit of the doubt. Ben Samuels, in Haaretz, quoted one conference attendee who said Blinken’s failure to criticise Netanyahu was because the administration “couldn’t take a pre-emptive strike. This is the US making clear that this is their starting point, and if Israel pushes them, they will fight back.” 

But the notion that Israel’s new government should be given any benefit of the doubt is a bit disingenuous. Netanyahu has a long track record as PM and his coalition partners promise to pull him even further to the Right, with further degradation of the rights and status of Palestinians clearly on the cards.

In the lead up to the US mid-terms, President Biden showed himself well prepared to go in to bat for democracy in America. Whether his administration will do so for democracy in Israel and for the rights of Palestinians remains to be seen. His track record is at best a mixed bag.

This uncertainty, added to  the dire implications of the Israeli elections, has put J Street in what Ben-Ami calls “high-alert mode”. To preserve what Blinken called “the horizon of hope” for Israel and Palestine, a strong stance from the US, pushed by robust advocacy from J Street, will be essential.

Photo: Antony Blinken speaks at the J Street National Conference in Washington, DC, on December 4 (State Department/Ron Przysucha)