It seems that if one wants to run for elected office in the US and is a Democrat or even, in some rare cases, a Republican, it is now necessary to denounce any support from AIPAC, recommend that if state retirement funds are invested in Israel, they should be divested, and that federal foreign aid to Israel should be eliminated as well.
Standing on these points helps to guarantee “kosher” certification, and if one is a Jewish candidate, it is even better, as “obviously,” if a Jew is making these claims, they carry more weight.
Often, these positions are supported by an array of “facts” which, upon examination, are generally found to be prone to misstatement in order to make the point.
Check your facts
The latest example of this is in New York State, where Drew Warshaw is running for the position of state comptroller. He recently posted an op-ed in The Forward titled: “I’m a Jewish candidate for New York comptroller. Our state must divest from Israel bonds.” Talk about checking all the boxes, it does not get any better than this as fodder for our enemies.However, the formulation that he uses on which to base his position is replete with errors.
For example, he states that “The New York state and local retirement fund owns $368 million in Israel bonds… and most New Yorkers have no idea that their tax-funded pension fund, as invested by (current) State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, helps finance Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wars.” He pledges to make sure New York State divests from Israel bonds.
However, Israel bonds are used by the State of Israel to fund general government expenditures, including national infrastructure development, economic initiatives, and strengthening the country’s economy, not to finance Israel’s wars. They act as loans to the Israeli government, raising foreign currency, and have been used for development in the hi-tech, green-tech, and transportation sectors.
Clearly, Warshaw does not understand this and, just as clearly, he seems to have it in for Netanyahu as well.He also fails to point out that the total value of New York’s retirement funds, as of December 31 last year, was $297.8 billion. Therefore, the $368m. Israel bonds represent just 12/100th of a percent of the state’s total fund value, minuscule by any measure.
On the Israel side, the government’s defense budget is $45.8b., so even if the $368m. went for defense, it would be just 8/10th of a percent of the total, or a meaningless amount of money when the whole picture is examined.In a word, Warshaw is creating a tempest in a teapot.
He continues, stating: “Netanyahu’s government has unleashed overwhelming killing power, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians dead and millions more displaced and destitute. It has leveled a stretch of land the size of Brooklyn and Queens.”Not quite true.
Use reliable sources when introducing data
First of all, the casualty figures in Gaza are those of the Gaza Health Ministry and are generally known to be unreliable and most probably inflated for public relations purposes.
In addition, the combined land area of Brooklyn and Queens is 180 square miles, while Gaza is just 141 square miles, or 78% of the combined area of those two boroughs. Here, he has taken a bit of literary license to try to make his point, as if the relative land area even matters to his argument.
Regarding Israel’s activities in Judea and Samaria, he claims, “It [Israel] has also sponsored a newly energized and brutal expansion of settlements in the West Bank; just this week, the government approved 34 new settlements. And it has now invaded Lebanon, after joining the US in a bombing war against Iran.”
Not sure at all how the decision to authorize new settlements can be termed brutal when they have already been occupied by Israelis for some time.
As for the referenced invasion of Lebanon, he conveniently omits any mention of the fact that Israel’s operations in Lebanon are a result of Hezbollah attacking Israel because the US launched a war against Iran, which was joined by Israel. Convenient to do so, perhaps, but dishonest, as the whole truth was not shared by him.
I do give him credit for ultimately acknowledging that New York State also holds investment stakes in three other countries – Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Canada. It is unknown how much is invested in each, but most probably the Saudi investment significantly dwarfs that for Israel. He adds that he believes the state should divest from all four.
At the end of his op-ed, he invokes the Torah when he says: “The words of Exodus 23:9 leap off the page: ‘No stranger shall you oppress, for you know the stranger’s heart, since you were strangers in the land of Egypt.’ This is our call, as Jews, to fight for the stranger wherever they may be.”
Indeed, that is all true, but we are also enjoined by the words of Numbers 31:2, where God orders the Israelites to “take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites.” Later on, in Deuteronomy 20:16-17, God declares, “However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them… as the Lord your God has commanded you.” Lastly, in Samuel I, 15:18, God says, “Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.”
It is all well and good to care for the stranger because we were once strangers ourselves. However, if the stranger you are caring for turns on you and attacks you, God encourages us to protect ourselves.
Finally, Warshaw may not fully understand that the job he is after may not give him the authority to deliver on his campaign promises.
Don’t cherry-pick information
Donald Boyd, the head of Boyd Research LLC, the Center for Policy Research at Rockefeller College in South Cambridge, New York, posted the following on Warshaw’s LinkedIn page: “Either Mr. Warshaw doesn’t know what the state comptroller does and is running anyway, or knows and is intentionally misleading.
The comptroller analyzes and comments on the state budget; prepares the state’s financial reports; audits state activities and spending; reviews and comments on local government finances; and manages the state pension fund. These are important responsibilities, but they don’t control how much the state spends, how it spends, how much it taxes, or how it taxes. That’s the governor and the legislature. There’s plenty to be unhappy about with them. Sounds like an early start on running for one of these positions.”
Warshaw may want to score points with the electorate by taking what is becoming a popular anti-Israel position in order to get elected. However, candidates who conveniently omit clarifying facts because they may upend their theses are practicing a level of electoral dishonesty that will surely come back to haunt them.
The writer, a 42-year resident of Jerusalem, is a former national president of the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel, a past chairman of the board of Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and a board member of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce.
Source:
www.jpost.com
