Doublespeak…at High Noon

John Kirby, National Security Council spokesperson, has been busy walking back some of President Joe Biden’s unhelpful pontifications criticizing Israel’s ongoing struggles to revise its judicial process. Biden had said, “Like many strong supporters of Israel, I’m very concerned. And I’m concerned that they get this straight. They cannot continue down this road.” Kirby, later offered that the US was, “…pleased with Netanyahu’s pledges to negotiate with opponents to his court proposals.” It’s Doublespeak.

President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu have been friends for nearly forty years. But Biden soon punished Bibi by withdrawing an invitation to visit the White House. And, in spite of Biden’s claim that he is a “…strong supporter of…” Israel, his Administration is overloaded at senior levels with proven anti-Zionists.

This confusing Biden-Kirby doublespeak undermines how allied sovereign countries demonstrate respectful interactions. As a contrast, Bibi chose not to weigh in on the Democrat’s plan to expand the Supreme Court or add a 51^st State.

We all remember President Obama declaring “I have Israel’s back…” and then stabbing this very same back with his support for United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334. Israel cannot tolerate duplicitous doublespeak from a “friend.”

Along with the catastrophic failure to control American borders, we hear DHS Secretary Mayorkas, Vice President Harris and President Biden doublespeak that the border is “secure.” At the current rate of border crossings, by the end of Biden’s term, more illegals (including Chinese nationals) will have crossed into the United States than there are Jews in Israel or Irish in Ireland. All in all, this kind of doublespeak doesn’t instill confidence in our leader’s awareness, truthfulness or reliability.

People opining and bashing Israel’s struggles to revise the judicial system warrants eye-rolling. These hubristic critics should remember Israel will soon celebrate the 75th anniversary of her May 14, 1948 Declaration of Independence. Israel had to immediately fight a bloody war for survival against their Arab neighbors. Over those 75 years, Israel has had to fight multiple wars with her neighbors and to withstand terrorized streets. She had to absorb millions of Jewish refugees expelled from Judenrein middle eastern countries and Europe’s deportation camps.

These self-righteous detractors ought to remember that the United States, in 1948, safe behind two oceans and flush with unprecedented economic power, still had a full twenty years to go before it passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. That step to grant all citizens fair schooling, voting, and employment followed directly after the tumultuous civil rights movement. It came nearly two hundred years after our Constitution and Bill of Rights were written, and a civil war to end slavery was fought. Cavalier pronouncements, riddled with double standards, do not help anyone’s understanding.

With Israel’s constant struggle for security, and the challenge to provide basic care for the country’s growing citizenry, a Bill of Rights and Constitution was never written. A parliamentary government was instituted and Basic Laws were enacted as the building blocks of its nascent judicial system. Minorities are represented in both the Knesset and in the Judicial system.

The balance of power among the various Israeli branches of government now needs recalibrating in light of changing politics and the desire of the people. The gritty politics of Israel, like our own contentious electorate and government, will need to work out a compromise.

Both United States and Israel are democratic countries, albeit with different founding objectives. Both have heterogeneous populations deserving fair treatment and protection by ironclad laws. The much-photographed Israeli street demonstrations, strikes and protests have been peaceful and without wanton destruction like the recent Black Lives Matter rampages.

With the concurrent existential challenges of Iran, China, North Korea and Russia affecting the security of both the United States and Israel, steady hands must be on the American tiller. It is said, “nature abhors a vacuum” and our enemies, sensing weakness and disharmony, will surely rush in. National leaders, and American Jewish leaders too, ought to proceed carefully… and speak honestly.

For the greater good, hyperbolic doublespeak should be reined in.