When prime minister Menachem Begin sent F-16 fighter jets to Osirak, Iraq, to destroy a nuclear reactor in June 1981, US president Ronald Reagan supported a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel and even initiated a temporary arms embargo.
Begin, whose family was murdered in the Holocaust, explained that he needed to prevent Iraq’s evil dictator Saddam Hussein from obtaining weapons of mass destruction that he would use to eliminate the Jewish state. He even timed the attack to prevent environmental damage and did it on a Sunday when Christian workers were off duty so they would not be harmed.
Nevertheless, the president of the United States was livid, because antisemitic defense secretary Caspar Weinberger had his ear and told him Begin had violated an agreement to only use the American planes for “defensive measures.”
When prime minister Ehud Olmert ordered the September 2007 strike on a Syrian nuclear reactor, he did it with US president George W Bush agreeing to turn a blind eye. Olmert had asked the US to do it and only did the deed when Bush refused.
There were no condemnations that time – and certainly no embargo – but the thank you to Israel from the White House happened only privately.
Reagan and Bush were two Republican presidents who are remembered for being pro-Israel. When Democrats were in the White House, Israeli leaders did not even try to take such courageous steps to prevent their enemies from obtaining nuclear weapons.
This historical context is necessary to understand that when it comes to being a friend to Israel, US President Donald Trump is in another league – a nuclear league – with a bond no weapon could ever break.
When it came time for the most dangerous and most fortified nuclear sites in Iran to be destroyed, Trump did not sit back and let Israel do it by itself. He made sure to finish the job with more than 200 tons of explosives.
US strikes on Iran
WHEN CHAIRMAN of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine was asked at a press conference on Sunday about Israeli involvement in the strike, he responded that it was purely an American operation.
“We made sure we were not in the same piece of airspace and sky,” he said. “Aside from that, that was the extent of it.”
This time, the gratitude was mutual and expressed very publicly. Immediately after the strike, Trump thanked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally and publicly. Netanyahu not only expressed his appreciation by video, he later went to the Western Wall to thank God for the American president’s courage.
Just like there are pro-Israel Republicans, and then there is Trump in another league, there are also different levels of opposition to Israel among Democrats.
There are Democrats whose condemnation of the Jewish State no longer shocks anyone, no matter how egregious. The best example is Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. She called for Trump’s impeachment for the strike.
“The president’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,” she said. “He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”
Calling for ousting the president for taking action to prevent the most dangerous weapons from landing in the hands of an Iranian regime that has taken 66 Americans hostage and murdered nearly 1,000 in several countries is outrageous.
Still, no one expected AOC to sing “Hatikvah,” the Israeli national anthem, so it is anything but shocking.
THE BEST example of a Democrat whose behavior toward Israel is shocking is my senator in New York, Charles Schumer, who has called himself one of Israel’s closest friends throughout his decades in politics.
Schumer has made a point of saying in countless speeches that his name means “guardian” in Hebrew and that he saw it as his duty to safeguard the Jewish people and the Jewish state.
Unfortunately, when push came to shove following Saturday night’s strike, Schumer proved himself to be not only one of the worst ever traitors to Israel and the Jewish people but also one of the most hypocritical politicians to ever disgrace the oath he took upon assuming office.
“The danger of wider, longer, and more devastating war has now dramatically increased,” was how the senator reacted to the defanging of a country that has engaged Israel in a seven-front war since October 7, 2023.
Schumer has attended enough AIPAC events over his career to know better than that. He has received enough intelligence briefings on the maniacal intentions of Iran’s leaders and the dangers of their bombs to not say something so stupid.
Like AOC, he took issue with Trump attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities without asking for permission from Congress. But unlike AOC, he should know better, because he was around for plenty of operations authorized by Democratic presidents who did not seek approval first.
Schumer owes Netanyahu an apology for calling for his ouster in March 2024. Since then, Netanyahu has taken important courageous steps throughout the Middle East to protect Israel that any true friend of Israel in Washington should appreciate.
“If Prime Minister Netanyahu’s current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down and continues to pursue dangerous and 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,” Schumer warned back then.
Thankfully, Netanyahu stood up to Schumer, stayed in power, and proved his heroism to his people, to Israel’s enemies and allies, and to the world.
The behavior of Trump and Schumer and their parties must never be forgotten. The next time everyone who cares about Israel casts their ballots, they must keep in mind what the top official in each party did at this fateful time.
The writer is chairman of Religious Zionists of America, and a committee member of the Jewish Agency. He currently serves as a member of the US Holocaust Memorial Council. He is the author of In Praise of Donald Trump, available at Amazon. The views expressed here are his own. Martinoliner@gmail.com