Rahm Emanuel, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate with close ties to Israel, issued scathing remarks criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling for a reassessment of U.S. aid to the embattled country during a speech at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday.
The remarks marked a dramatic shift in tone for Emanuel, who has supported Israel for decades despite what he has described as “politically costly” consequences.
“Over the last five years, Israel has evolved from being lauded as the start-up nation to becoming, in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s words, a modern-day Sparta,” Emanuel said. “You have turned from being known for your technological prowess to being considered primarily a territorial pariah.”
Emanuel claimed Netanyahu’s focus on aggressive military campaigns rather than building peace in the region has caused Israel to lose support from some of its allies.
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“Support for Israel is plummeting around the world. You’ve lost Europe. Your scientists face exclusion from international research networks,” he said.
Netanyahu’s relationship with President Donald Trump has turned rocky in recent weeks over Israel’s continued strikes on Lebanon while the U.S. was trying to negotiate a peace deal with Iran. Emanuel said “without question” that the U.S. alliance with Israel “is at a crossroads.”
In an apparent nod to his widely speculated upcoming run for the presidency, Emanuel promised to take direct action against Israelis for attacking Palestinians civilians.
“If I have anything to say about it, every Israeli found attacking Palestinian civilians or their property in the future will be sanctioned,” Emanuel said.
Emanuel is Jewish and his father was born in Jerusalem. For decades, Emanuel has spoken out in support of Israel, and even left his role directing Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1991 to work as a civilian volunteer on an Israel Defense Forces base.
“I have spent 30 years standing up for Israel when it was politically costly and watching the window for peace narrow, not because peace was impossible, but because leaders on both sides found conflict more convenient than compromise,” Emanuel said.
When Emanuel was a senior adviser in Clinton’s administration, he had a key role in negotiations in the Middle East, often advocating for strengthening the U.S. relationship with Israel while backing the two-state solution, which would establish separate, independent nations for Israelis and Palestinians.
Emanuel maintained this stance when he was President Barack Obama’s chief of staff from 2009 to 2010. He helped set the U.S. posture on Israel, but directly clashed with Netanyahu over expanded Israeli settlements in the region.
As Chicago’s mayor from 2011 to 2019, Emanuel also invested in close relationships with the Jewish community.
On Wednesday, Emanuel called the two-state solution a “now-discredited path.” He instead championed a “23-state solution,” calling on 21 Arab nations to “stand up a governing authority capable of accepting the historic Jewish connection to this land” as well as a Palestinian nation-state.
Emanuel’s fiery speech comes as the Democratic Party is facing calls from voters to take a more critical stance toward Israel.
At least 80% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have an unfavorable view of Israel, according to a poll conducted in March by the Pew Research Center. Support for Israel is dwindling for Americans across the ideological spectrum.
“In both political parties, majorities of adults under the age of 50 now rate Israel and Netanyahu negatively,” Pew reported.
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