海角大神

When the Durham Jewish Community Center contacted Bruce Jentleson weeks ago about speaking to the group in late July, the Duke University Middle East expert accepted 鈥� but suggested to his host that few would attend 鈥渋n the hot, humid North Carolina summer.鈥�

Instead, more than 100 people showed up. The draw, Dr. Jentleson admits, was not so much him, but the fact his talk just happened to fall last Monday, the same day Israel鈥檚 Knesset passed with the slimmest of majorities the first piece of a judicial overhaul that has drawn huge protests in Israel for over half a year.

鈥淧eople are trying to sort out their support for Israel,鈥� says Dr. Jentleson, a former State Department policy specialist on Israeli-Palestinian issues. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 not just about what the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinians, but to Israel鈥檚 society.鈥�

The turmoil in Israel and the deep political fissures laid bare by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 judicial overhaul are challenging U.S.-Israeli relations to an unprecedented degree, many longtime experts in the relationship say.

Moreover, the rattling extends from the American Jewish community and the broader Jewish diaspora 鈥� traditionally crucial to Israel鈥檚 security and well-being 鈥� to the U.S. government. In the weeks leading up to approval of the law, President Joe Biden became increasingly public with his warnings to Mr. Netanyahu to pursue consensus and compromise on legislation that was clearly tearing Israeli society apart.

For some, the current questioning of support is bound to have long-lasting impact.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be difficult for Americans of all stripes to absorb the news coming from Israel 鈥� the unending demonstrations in the streets, a variety of average Israelis talking about the end of democracy in Israel 鈥� without it taking a toll over time,鈥� says Michael Koplow, chief policy officer at the Israel Policy Forum, a pro-Israel organization that supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

鈥淲ith it coming in a sustained way and from all sorts of sectors within Israeli society,鈥� he adds, 鈥渋t鈥檚 inevitably going to fundamentally change the way Americans view Israel.鈥澛犅�

The measure passed July 24 was championed by Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 far-right government as a necessary shift of power from an unelected Supreme Court to the elected legislative branch.

But for opponents from a broad spectrum of Israeli society who have protested for more than 30 weeks, the legislation dangerously weakens the check the judiciary has exercised on the legislature in what is effectively a two-branch governing system and opens the door to autocratic rule.

Allegations of interference

Once the overhaul was approved, Mr. Biden limited his response to deeming the one-sided passage 鈥渦nfortunate.鈥�

But even that measured comment added to the fire of those in the United States 鈥� mostly Republican members of Congress and conservative foreign policy analysts 鈥� who have condemned the administration鈥檚 public warnings on the reforms as interference in Israel鈥檚 internal affairs.

鈥淭he Biden administration should be very careful not to appear to be interfering in Israel鈥檚 internal politics, but it鈥檚 getting very close to going over the line, if it hasn鈥檛 already,鈥� says James Phillips, a Middle East expert at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

鈥淚鈥檓 skeptical that criticizing directly the Netanyahu government and taking sides in the political controversies inside Israel can do anything other than undermine our U.S. reputation for non-intervention in others鈥� domestic affairs,鈥� he adds. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to fix what鈥檚 going on in Israel with a [6,000]-mile-long screwdriver from Washington.鈥�

He's also dubious of what he calls 鈥渆xaggerated claims鈥� that Israel鈥檚 democracy is in peril.

鈥淪ome would argue that the majority of the voters and the Knesset should be respected, and that denying them the right to approve this judicial reform is taking away democratic rights as well,鈥� Mr. Phillips says.

Some critics of Mr. Biden鈥檚 public pronouncements say they reflect a progressive wing in the Democratic Party that has become increasingly vocal with its criticisms of Israel. They question why the president is zeroing in on Israel, when for example he had nothing to say about French President Emmanuel Macron ramming through an increase in the retirement age despite heavy public opposition and giant protests.

海角大神, and interests

But other experts and Jewish-American supporters of Israel say the Israel case is different because it calls into question the 鈥渟hared values鈥� of democratic governance at the core of the bilateral relationship.

鈥淭his is not just a policy question as it was in France, this is about the fundamentals of democracy, and it鈥檚 not the U.S. saying it but a huge swath of Israeli society saying this is a danger to democratic values,鈥� says Dr. Jentleson. Noting how Mr. Biden has made U.S. support for democracies around the world a clarion call of his presidency, he adds, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see how he could have just said, 鈥楾his is Israel鈥檚 own business.鈥欌��

Others say that any weakening of Israel鈥檚 democratic checks and balances and an increasingly unencumbered path to unilateral Israeli government actions could eventually impinge on U.S. vital interests in the region.

One key example cited: annexation by Israel of the West Bank. The Israeli Supreme Court has stood in the way of steps that could lead to that action. But the new law could pave the way for far-right ministers in the government to move forward on what would be in blatant opposition to U.S. policy supporting a two-state solution.

As for the notion that the U.S. and Israel steer clear of intervention in the other鈥檚 political affairs, Dr. Jentleson says it鈥檚 simply false.

鈥淭he reality is that we have long been involved in each other鈥檚 politics,鈥� he says. He cites President George H.W. Bush cutting off loan guarantees to Israel over illegal settlement construction. Or Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 2015 speech to Congress condemning the Obama administration鈥檚 鈥渧ery bad [nuclear] deal鈥� with Iran.

Then there was Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 tweet in 2017 endorsing then-President Donald Trump鈥檚 border wall with Mexico.

Yet just as Israeli opposition to the judicial overhaul is broad-based, criticisms in the U.S. are not limited to the political left.

鈥淭his is not just coming from the AOCs and the Ilhan Omars of Congress,鈥� says Dr. Jentleson, referring to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Representative Omar, two hard-line critics of Israel and its treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories. 鈥淲hen you have rabbis from the Reform Jewish community issuing a statement saying 鈥� the most extreme members of the Israeli government do not represent Jewish values,鈥� he adds, 鈥渢hat tells you this is different.鈥�

Overcoming reluctance

Indeed, one remarkable feature of the broader U.S. response to Israel鈥檚 turmoil is how mainstream Jewish organizations long reluctant to involve themselves in Israeli politics have embraced more public profiles.

鈥淎s Jewish Americans who care deeply about the security and prosperity and social cohesion of the state of Israel, we may not have a vote but we do have a voice,鈥� says Jason Isaacson, chief policy and political affairs officer at the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in Washington.

Shortly after the July 24 vote, the AJC issued a statement expressing its 鈥減rofound disappointment鈥� at passage of the law 鈥� and warned the judicial overhaul 鈥渃ould weaken Israeli democracy and harm Israel鈥檚 founding principles.鈥�

Such a weakening would be a deep concern to Israel鈥檚 supporters around the world, Mr. Isaacson says, including President Biden.

鈥淭he fact that Joe Biden is a longtime deeply sincere friend of Israel has to be considered when you evaluate how the president and his administration have expressed themselves on this issue,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he president has been clear that this is a matter for Israelis to resolve, but at the same time all of us 鈥� friends of Israel, the Jewish-American community, the Jewish diaspora 鈥� have a stake in the preservation of Israel鈥檚 democracy and preservation of minority rights.鈥�

Still, Mr. Isaacson says the AJC does not agree with organizations like J Street, a Washington-based pro-Israel and pro-two-state-solution organization, that is calling for action and not just words from the Biden administration in the wake of the Knesset vote.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the way friends behave,鈥� he says.

Duke鈥檚 Dr. Jentleson cites a range of actions the administration could take to put teeth into its disapproval. Those could include 鈥渃onditioning鈥� certain parts of the $3.8 billion in annual assistance the U.S. provides, or limiting to core Israeli security matters the use of its Security Council veto.

Others say the U.S. should delay approval of a pending visa waiver program for Israel, something Mr. Netanyahu wants dearly to be able to trumpet.

鈥淚 frankly don鈥檛 foresee the Biden administration taking any of these steps,鈥� Dr. Jentleson says, 鈥渂ut to me measures like that would be pro-Israel because they might help Israel not go down this dangerous path.鈥�

Others say that despite all the pessimism about Israel鈥檚 democracy, they see a ray of hope in the political awakening on Israel鈥檚 streets 鈥� and in how the U.S. has helped uplift that consciousness.

鈥淥ver the past eight months what we鈥檝e witnessed is a legal and democratic consciousness in the public that is growing and growing,鈥� says Masua Sagiv, an Israeli visiting assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. 鈥淚 think it will take us into the future in a very different way.鈥�