PHILDELPHIA, Pennsylvania — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spent the hours leading to the Sabbath last Friday by having Israel’s back while getting his inspector general off his back.
Israel’s reputation has long been impaired in part by the concept of intersectionality, and what happened Friday exemplifies how resentment of President Trump can undermine support for Israel.
Pompeo warned the International Criminal Court against prosecuting Israel for alleged war crimes after ICC lead prosecutor Fatou Bensouda ruled the ICC has jurisdiction involving cases in “Palestine,” which Bensouda claims is a state.
Yet Friday night, Trump informed Congress that – at Pompeo’s urging – he had fired his fourth inspector general in six weeks, this time the IG for the State Department. Congress is already gearing up to investigate the dismissal of IG Steve A. Linick, who was investigating the secretary’s possible misuse of a political appointee to perform personal tasks for Pompeo and his wife, Democratic sources told a New York Times reporter.
So, detractors of Trump can now use this new scandal to slam Pompeo’s credibility in defending Israel. He is repeatedly accused of abusing his power in Washington and even in his home state of Kansas, so his critics can readily conclude that Israel must be abusing the poor Palestinians.
Advocates for the Palestinians have proved expert at linking issues in Israel to domestic concerns. They have charged that police officers sent to Israel for counter-terrorism training returned to their hometowns to apply brutal methods to oppress racial minorities.
Recalling personal experiences, I once clashed with a senior manager where I worked, a city agency in Philadelphia, who posted messages on her bulletin board comparing conflicts with the Palestinians to the civil rights movement. You would never guess which sides were taken by Bull Connor and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.
Jewish employees were livid and the manager, who is African-American, was barely touched by her bosses, who sent her a letter of reprimand. If you think politics is crazy in your town, you have never spent much time in Philadelphia. She should have been suspended or demoted, and I’m sure most readers would accuse me of being easy on her.
This manager certainly does not represent the entire Black community, as I have known many Black people since junior high school. However, this woman is known to have played the race card frequently, which makes it all the harder for Black people with legitimate racial concerns to obtain justice.
Among other situations, a Jewish colleague told me he overheard an African-American woman at the office utter into her phone: “This is a Jew war.”
As crudely as she worded it, it is understandable how many in the Black community have come to believe that Middle Eastern wars are rooted in protecting Israel – after conservative Jews pressed for such military conflicts and Israel’s history of conflicts with hostile neighbors. Then young Black men join the military to escape poverty and end up risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, as Black communities continue to struggle with horrid conditions, it is not lost on African-Americans that Israel receives billions of dollars in military aid each year.
Black citizens need to be made aware that the vast majority of American Jews vote Democratic. If Jews here supported the Iraq war, why do they consistently vote for Democrats for president and most other offices? African-Americans also do not recognize that racial issues go unaddressed in Washington because both parties support Israel while only Democrats attempt to resolve ills that especially affect racial minorities.
Pompeo challenged the ICC decision two days after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Benny Gantz and Israeli security officials, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported. He wrote that the U.S. disagrees that the Palestinians qualify as a “sovereign state,” and dubbed the court a “political body, not a judicial institution.”
The secretary’s action should be appreciated, as are other administration actions helpful to Israel. Yet how can anyone take him seriously when he always seems to be investigated for some kind of abuse of his office and then exerts his power to rid himself of his investigator?
Pompeo said in an interview with a Washington Post reporter on Monday that he asked for Linick’s dismissal because the inspector was not “performing a function” that was “additive for the State Department.”
The Times reported that it is not clear why Trump on Friday night ousted Linick, who headed two investigations directly involving Pompeo and issued two reports last year critical of some political appointees at the State Department, some of whom work closely with Pompeo. He also played a role in Trump’s impeachment.
Linick was last investigating if the Trump administration illegally declared an “emergency” to bypass a congressional freeze on arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Times. Lawmakers from both parties oppose Trump’s push to resume arms sales, especially after the killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, and some Foreign Service officers argue that the president’s desire to win arm sales for American contractors overrides human rights protections.
“We don’t have the full picture yet, but it’s troubling that Secretary Pompeo wanted Mr. Linick out before this work could be completed,” said Rep. Elliot L. Engel, a New York Democrat and a staunch supporter of Israel.
A Democratic aide told the Times that Linick also investigated Pompeo for possibly having a political appointee perform personal errands for him and his wife, Susan Pompeo, such as walking the family dog, Sherman; picking up dry cleaning; and making restaurant reservations. Pompeo has also been subject to questions about misusing taxpayer funds including frequent trips aboard department aircraft to Kansas, where he has considered running for the Senate.
As late as Wednesday, Pompeo issued an oddly-worded denial: “I’ve seen the various stories that someone was walking my dog to sell arms to my dry cleaner. It’s all just crazy. It’s all crazy stuff.”
Trump is not solely responsible for damaging Israel’s image in the minds of Americans. Republican policies have been antagonizing Americans for years. If Republicans in Congress and the presidency oppose gun control, health-care coverage and poverty programs, then they must be aiding an oppressive government that many people regard as “an apartheid state.”
Most American Jews and other supporters of Israel know better. They vote for Democrats because they agree that their policies are best for all Americans, and at the same time they care deeply about Israel’s future. They may not care for some government policies – such as the annexation threat – yet overall they believe that Israel deserves their support and that of the American public.
Those who do not follow Middle East issues closely are not so discriminating. Would anyone be shocked if the Pompeo affair reinforces negative attitudes toward Israel?
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Bruce S. Ticker is a freelance columnist based in Philadelphia. He may be contacted via bruce.ticker@sdjewishworld.com