Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said policy differences toward Israel between her and President Biden won’t stop her from supporting him in the November general election.

“Of course,” Omar said Tuesday, when asked by CNN’s Abby Phillip on “NewsNight” whether she would vote for Biden if the election were held that day, in a clip highlighted by Mediaite. “Democracy is on the line, we are facing down fascism.”

“And I personally know what my life felt like having Trump as the president of this country, and I know what it felt like for my constituents, and for people around this country and around the world,” Omar continued. “We have to do everything that we can to make sure that does not happen to our country again.”

  • OccamsTeapot@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    So someone said, “why does Biden keep supporting Bibi?”

    You said

    Because USA is the 2nd most jewish country in the world.

    But now it’s

    for Jewish people, the probability of supporting Israel is higher compared to non-Jewish ones.

    Which is thankfully no longer antisemitic but then now we’re back to the original problem: how is that worth it for Biden?

      • OccamsTeapot@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        But we just went over that. The Jewish community has a plurality of opinions, and even though it may be more likely that they support Israel in general, that doesn’t mean they (e.g.) don’t want a ceasefire or think that weapons sales should stop during a plausible genocide. Assuming otherwise is antisemitic, unless you have evidence?

        As for the partner in the middle East I really think this point is bullshit. Why have a partner that’s been committing war crimes for 5 straight months now? Well longer, but you know. Does the US actually have bad relations with Jordan, for example? Plus their influence in the region would grow substantially if they openly opposed the apartheid state (which basically all of the middle East doesn’t like) and sent that money to someone else instead. I’m sorry I know this is the common wisdom but I really don’t get it. “No influence whatsoever” is obviously taking it too far, but even the general point I find questionable

          • OccamsTeapot@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Both US and Israel are democratic countries

            Doubt. Can you be an apartheid state and democratic at the same time? Can you approve illegal settlements in Palestinian territories while giving the Palestinians no say in this and truly be a democracy? Seems suspect at best.

            The US also clearly does not agree with this. So I would say their values do not appear to be so close either.

            I’m also not sure that siding with a country that is hated in the entire region is the best defense against Iran. Would that not push everyone else in the region to a more anti-US position? I’m sure the US would deter Iran from becoming a nuclear superpower just fine even without Israel’s “support” (in quotation marks because I am not sure what exactly they do for the US specifically).

            whilst Israel’s actions may not be ideal

            Well we agree here at least, lol. Not “ideal,” yes quite. Ideally we wouldn’t be starving children to death but boy aren’t you happy the Iranians are slightly less bullish, maybe.

            Regarding Jordan, their values are not so close to the ones of US. Also, not that long time ago they were in a war and in the last days, they seem to get closer and closer to Iran.

            I think the US has good relations with Jordan though? Also I haven’t heard about the recent thing with Iran.

            But overall, I think it’s questionable at best to support Israel right now because of “Iran” when you know full well that any weapons you send will be used to kill innocents within a few days. Why not support Israel against Iran, when relevant, but not support them when they’re doing a genocide?

            It seems so basic I feel like I’m going insane. Are these the people you share values with, seriously? Yeah you’re a monster but the enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that.

            The US seems to be changing tack on this and my only complaint is that it didn’t happen months ago. Too many people have died and too much suffering has taken place. Israel deserves to be a pariah state