Eyes on Israel: Rabbi Wolicki compares Schumer to Soviet Union’s “Useful Jews”
Earlier this month, the Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer called for new elections in Israel, harshly criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an obstacle to peace. He added that Netanyahu’s government “no longer fits the needs of Israel”
“As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may. But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice. There needs to be a fresh debate about the future of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said.
“In my opinion, that is best accomplished by holding an election,” he said, adding that it would be a “grave mistake” for Israel to reject a two-state solution.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded in an interview with CNN, saying that U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s speech in which he urged new elections in Israel was “totally inappropriate.”
“I think what he said is totally inappropriate. It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there,” Netanyahu said in the CNN interview.
Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, the Executive Director of Israel365 Action, slammed Sen. Schumer in an Eyes On Israel video that appeared on Real America’s Voice Network.
“Listen up, Chuck, “Rabbi Wolicki began. “First of all, when it comes to the prosecution of the war on Hamas, Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing exactly what needs to be done to ‘break the cycle of violence’. You see, the cycle of violence you refer to actually goes like this. Hamas Islamic Jihad and everyday Arabs in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, (known as the West Bank), attack Israeli civilians, they fire rockets at our towns, they murder Israelis in their homes. They kidnap Israelis and torture them. Israel then fights back. Then there’s a ceasefire. Then it all begins again. That’s the cycle of violence.”
“And the only way to stop this cycle of violence is to destroy the capability that Christians asked for Israel’s credibility on the world stage, Chuck, that’s not why we’re fighting this war. Yes, it’s nice to have friends. But frankly, we prefer victory over an existential threat to credibility on the world stage.”
“And you’re right, Chuck. Prime Minister Netanyahu cannot be expected to work towards a two-state solution. Do you know why? Because nobody wants a two-state solution. Recent polling shows that three in four Israelis are opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state. And just last month, 99 of 120 members of the Knesset voted to reject recent US calls were in a Palestinian state.”
“So you’re right, Chuck. Nobody expects Netanyahu to do these things. They don’t want him to, and as for being stuck in the past, as you say, this entire speech was one long restatement of failed 1990s Mideast policy built on the wishful thinking that led to October 7 in the first place. The fantasy that a moderate Palestinian leadership exists is the definition of being stuck in the past. Hey, Chuck, the Clinton Administration called. They want their foreign policy back.”
Rabb Wolicki then played a clip of Schumer’s speech.
“If he were to disavow ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir and kick them out of his government governing coalition, that would be a real meaningful step forward,” Schumer said. “But regrettably, there’s no reason to believe Prime Minister Netanyahu would do that. He won’t disavow ministers Smotrich or Ben Gvir in their calls for Israelis to drive Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank. He won’t commit to a military operation in Rafah that prioritizes protecting civilian life. He won’t engage responsibly in discussions about a day-after plan for Gaza and a longer-term pathway to peace; Hamas and the Palestinians who support and tolerate their evil ways radical right-wing Israelis in government and society, President Abbas Prime Minister Netanyahu, these are the four obstacles to peace. The Palestinian people must reject Hamas and extremism in their midst, quite frankly, I haven’t heard enough Palestinian leaders Express anguish about Hamas and other extreme elements of Palestinian society. I implore them to speak up now, even when it made the hardest because that is the only true way to honor the lives of all those lost, by transcending the enmity and bloodshed and working together in good faith for a better future. Once a monster is deprived of power, the Palestinians will be much freer to choose the government they want and deserve.”
“Oh, boy,” Rabbi Wolicki exclaimed. “So first, Chuck tells Prime Minister Netanyahu which members of his government he should fire, then he calls Netanyahu an obstacle to peace. That’s rich. You know, what’s an obstacle, Chuck? A Palestinian leadership that teaches its children that murdering and raping Jews is a sacred act. And Chuck, the reason why you haven’t heard enough Palestinian leaders express anguish about comers is that you haven’t heard any Palestinian leaders denounce come on, and that includes the leaders of the authority, who you somehow think are suitable to lead a state. That would be at peace with Israel. Why would they denounce Hamas? The Palestinian Authority is currently working to form a union government with Hamas. And polling shows overwhelming support for Hamas among Palestinians. Polling from late December, over two months into this war shows that 72% of Palestinians were in favor of the acts committed by Hamas on October 7. Yes, all those atrocities. Let’s remember that Hamas was elected overwhelmingly to govern Gaza and would win an election in Judea and Samaria known as the West Bank, if an election were held today.”
“The reason Chuck hasn’t heard any Palestinian leaders denounce Hamas is that they are Hamas. And that comment about a plan for Rafah that prioritizes civilian life is Chuck Schumer now just parroting Hamas talking points about excessive civilian deaths. To quote John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, who served for 25 years as an infantry soldier and two tours in Iraq. ‘Israel has taken more measures to avoid needless civilian harm than virtually any other nation that’s fought an urban war’.”
Rabbi Wolicki played another video clip of Schumer.
“Israel has the right to choose its own leaders. chips fall where they may,” Schumer said. “But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice. There needs to be a fresh debate about the future of Israel after October 7. In my opinion, that is best accomplished by holding an election, Prime Minister Netanyahu whose current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down and continues to pursue dangerous inflammatory policies that test existing US standards for assistance, then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course.”
“Got that everyone?” Rabbi Wolicki responded. “So point one, Israel is a democracy. Point two, Chuck Schumer is going to stand on the floor of the United States Senate and demand that Israelis, in a different country, hold new elections, even though the overwhelming majority of Israelis do not want new elections, while the war is ongoing. As for confidence in the Israeli government; It’s true that many Israelis are unhappy with Prime Minister Netanyahu for a whole host of reasons. But I assure you, Chuck, it’s not because he rejects the dictates of the Biden administration to accept a push for a Palestinian state. And, Chuck, I promise you that Israelis are most definitely deeply engaged in a fresh debate about the future of Israel after October 7. Thank you for your comments. Among the important lessons about Israel’s future is the realization by a fast-growing number of Israelis that we cannot continue to be so reliant on the United States that we must become a more self-sufficient country so that the US doesn’t have this influence in our national security, decisions. More and more Israelis realize that US policy interests as they relate to Israel have, unfortunately, more and more to do with preserving our relationship with Iran and Qatar that the Biden Administration is so dead set on being friends with and less and less to do with Israel’s needs as a US ally. Chuck, do you know what the fresh debate about Israel increasingly does not include? Any discussion of a two-state solution.”
Chuck Schumer continued.
“Now I know that there are many on both sides and question how we can discuss peace in a moment like this. So many Gazans are displaced from their homes and struggling to meet their most basic needs. Many are still burying and mourning their dead. Entire families have been wiped out.”
Rabbi Wolicki responded.
“Really, Chuck? Is there evidence for this? These are published numbers of civilian casualties provided by the laughable Gaza health ministry run by Hamas Of course, even if we take those numbers at face value, they produce a noncombatant to combat and ratio of 1.4 to one, a ratio so low it is unprecedented in urban warfare, leading military experts like John Spencer, who we just quoted, to praise Israel’s unprecedented ability to protect civilians. But I’d really like to know the details of these entire families that Chuck Schumer says had been wiped out throughout Jewish history.”
“During the centuries of exile under hostile regime, there were always Jews in the community known as court Jews. These Jews would get close to the authorities, they would be granted special privileges. They often became the tax collectors for the Jewish community and in many cases, would end up doing the dirty work of the anti-Jewish authorities aiding and abetting their onerous anti-Jewish policies. In Nazi Germany, they were called the Judenrat. In the Soviet Union, they were called the useful Jews or the pocket Jews and in the United States, 2024. We call them, Chuck Schumer.”
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