Thread by @DrMikeH49, A thread for my friends in Israel. בוקר טוב חבריםMany of you [...]

A thread for my friends in Israel.
בוקר טוב חברים
Many of you have probably wondered at times over the
past few years why American Jews didn’t support Trump. After all, he moved the Embassy to Jerusalem (where it belongs), he sent Soleimani to hell (where he belongs)... 1/

And he recognized that the JCPOA led straight to an Iranian nuclear weapon. But most of us here— even many genuine Zionists who fight the good fight in person and on social media— would not endorse his re-election. And now you know why. 2/

You’ve seen this at a distance over 4 years. We’ve seen it up close and personal. You’ve had your country to worry about (and it’s not like there isn’t a lot there to worry about, even before COVID!). 3/

So you see the Embassy move, the recognition of the Golan, the actions against Iran, and of course the brokering of the momentous Abraham Accords.
But we also got to see the cruelty, the self-dealing, the racism and we knew that in those settings, antisemitism thrives. 4/

The “good people on both sides” of Charlottesville led to armed insurgents, encouraged by Trump, roaming our Capitol building flying Confederate flags and wearing “Camp Auschwitz” and “6MWE” (6 million weren’t enough) logos. You might have been surprised. WE. WERE. NOT. 5/

Dismayed, furious and deeply worried? Hell yes. Surprised. Not one damn bit. This is Trump’s base, that he has openly catered to the entire time. He violated democratic norms, he violated the law, he violated the Constitution. Nakedly, daring us to stop him. 6/

So some of did support him (not because of those things, but despite them). Because they felt the benefits outweighed the risks, the good (with respect to Israel) outweighed the bad. 7/

But for me and for so many others, a weakened America, with ethnic tensions exacerbated, democracy challenged, and a notoriously fickle autocrat in charge was not a reliable ally for Israel. 8/

And that was all before his criminally negligent approach to the pandemic. You had your problems with erratic lockdowns with exceptions for the politically powerful and special interests too. But Bibi didn’t tout quack cures and gaslight you about the severity of the problem. 9/

No—Bibi made sure that the citizens of Israel were going to be protected. He has his own problems with corruption and undermining democracy too, but at least he didn’t go golfing instead of working on the problem. 10/

My daughter told me before she went on Birthright in 2019 “I really don’t like how Israelis love Trump.” So we talked about how what you saw was the embassy move and the actions against Iran, and what we saw was so much more. She understood. 11/

And that’s why I wrote to you now. I don’t condemn you for not seeing the full picture. I just want you to understand that so many of us saw this happening from the beginning. And we saw that the direction this would go was very dangerous. 12/

Is Biden going to be as good on Israel policy? Highly doubtful. Will he be as bad as Obama? If so, I’ll fight just as hard as against Obama’s. But we could not go on this way and continue to be a safe place for Jews. 13/

And if the Zionist Jews all go to Israel and you have an America whose Jewish population is Satmar antiZionists and “progressive” antiZionists, is that an America that will help Israel in a moment of crisis? 14/

I wrote this back in 2018: “if his Administration is brought down by scandal, all of his policies may be tainted by association. The ties connecting pro-Israel policies to Trump may be just as binding going downhill.” 15/

And as you read how America is trying to come to grips with him, and how even some of his own enablers are trying to back away from the political carnage, now I hope you understand. Fin/שלום

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