Vox: Buttigieg "has strongly rejected condemnations of Israel"

[Gato malo]

Vox (April 3, 2019):

Pete Buttigieg may be a rising star in the 2020 Democratic field, but his strong pro-Israel views may put him at odds with the increasingly pro-Palestinian left flank in his own party

The 37-year-old openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has in the past described Israel as a model for the US in how to deal with security threats. He’s blamed most of the suffering in Gaza on Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist political organization and militant group that has run the territory since 2007. And he’s strongly rejected condemnations of Israel — and US support for it — made by progressive lawmakers.

That’s not to say he’s completely ignored the plight of Palestinians — he hasn’t. During a March campaign stop in Iowa, Buttigieg said he wants America to help make “a world where Israelis and Palestinians are able to live in peace side by side.” Overall, though, Buttigieg has shown a willingness to back Israel.

That puts him in stark contrast with the more progressive wing of his own party. Poll after poll has shown that liberal Democratic primary voters are less sympathetic to Israel than they were in years past. It also shows he disagrees with some first-term Representatives, particularly Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

https://www.vox.com/2019/4/3/18293545/pete-buttigieg-democrats-president-israel-omar-palestine

[msongs]

1. a world where israelis and palestinians are able to live in peace side by side...

sounds good to me

[Gato malo]

2. I liked that soecific sentence too

The rest of the 31-paragraph article is worth reading.

[SKKY]

6. There is a place like that...

...It's called Haifa, Israel.

[barbtries]

3. he's losing his shine for me.

i don't want him to go away, but i like others more at the moment.

[marylandblue]

5. It was inevitable that negative information would follow the positive.

I am looking at how he responds. If he gives good answers to the new questions, it will help him a lot.

[barbtries]

11. yeah.

at the same time, it's things he's been saying that have turned me off. but we'll see. I am very impressed with him.

[JI7]

25. stop looking for shiny objects

[barbtries]

31. we have an embarrassment of riches.

i'm looking at them all and hopefully will have the opportunity to vote for the one who most closely represents my beliefs.

[marylandblue]

4. That's a minefield for every candidate no matter what they say.

[AnyDemocrat2020]

7. There is much to like about Pete but I hate

to hear “all lives matter” and praise for Netanyahu’s Trump-test-kitchen government.

I love the people of Israel, but Netanyahu is a straight-up apartheidist.

[marylandblue]

10. The article said he did not agree with Netanyahu

He wants a two-state solution and regional security. That's a pretty standard position for a moderate democrat, and definitely not what Netanyahu wants.

[AnyDemocrat2020]

16. Pete "described Israel as a model for the US

in how to deal with security threats” was the part of the article that caused my discomfort. Trump didn’t invent “build a wall” - he got that from Netanyahu.

I love Israel and so I’m anti-Netanyahu because he is leading Israel down a horrible path. The idea of looking to Netanyahu’s Israel as a model for the US to follow on how to deal with security threats is worrisome to me.

I’m not a one issue voter and “dealing with security threats” isn’t even on the front page of my list of key issues, but the notion that the Netanyahu approach to security threats is anyone’s idea of a good model is nothing I want to hear.

[marylandblue]

17. Well, Buttigieg seems to be a pretty thoughtful guy

so I doubt he was talking about the wall either in Israel or here. Sounds to me he was talking about anti-terrorist methods in general, and in practice I'd imagine only some of what works there will work here.

[AnyDemocrat2020]

19. If Buttigieg WASN'T a thoughtful guy, I wouldn't

be disappointed.

[babylonsister]

12. What have I missed with 'all lives matter'?

Which ones don't?

[marylandblue]

13. It's become a sort of cultural touch stone.

If you say "all lives matter" in response to "black lives matter" it is if you are discounting the particular difficulties black people have with the justice system. Some people do this deliberately. Others, like you, don't realize they stepped on a landmine.

[babylonsister]

18. Thanks. Perhaps Mayor Pete didn't realize

this either.

[customerserviceguy]

23. He's done his share of looking for landmines

His statement reflects what a majority of the American people feel about Israel and Palestine.

[Celerity]

14. he only said what Hillary Clinton herself said

Hillary Clinton’s ‘All Lives Matter’ Remark Stirs Backlash

https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/06/24/hillary-clintons-all-lives-matter-remark-stirs-backlash/

Hillary Rodham Clinton is facing backlash for saying that “all lives matter” in an African-American church in Missouri on Tuesday, offending some who feel that she is missing the point of the “black lives matter” mantra.

Mrs. Clinton’s remarks at Christ the King United Church of Christ in Florissant, Mo. — only a few miles north of Ferguson, where a black teenager was shot by a white police officer last August — came during a broader discussion of civil rights in America.

She was talking about how a disproportionate number of young people of color are out of school and out of work and, explaining that everyone needs a “chance and a champion,” she recalled how her mother was abandoned as a teenager and went on to work as a maid.

“What kept you going?” Mrs. Clinton remembered asking her mother. “Her answer was very simple. Kindness along the way from someone who believed she mattered. All lives matter.”

snip

[elleng]

8. Looks like this needs fleshing out, from him.

'That’s not to say he’s completely ignored the plight of Palestinians.' I'll bet he hasn't ignored the plight of Palestinians at all.

[karynnj]

9. The concluding paragraph is nonsense

I doubt that any Congress people or Senators - other than the 2 named - are in disagreement with what Buttigieg said. You do not define the liberal wing -- as the two most extreme people.

I think his support of the 2 state solution - and condemning Hamas is the position of the rest of the liberal caucus. This sentence is designed to harm how people describe "liberal Democrats". The reason Democrats are less supportive of the LIKUD GOVERNMENT in Israel is that it has moved considerable to the right over the Netanyahu years.

In fact, one group where support for the Israeli government has fallen significantly is the American non-orthodox Jewish population. Unlike any time in the past, many rabbis opt not to bring up controversial issues concerning Israel.

Not to mention, Netanyahu is actually campaigning using giant posters of himself with Trump -- and he has an ad out that shows him talking to Obama, MISCHARACTERING what Obama had said - now positioning it as himself "schooling" President Obama.

Nothing Buttigieg said there was different from what Obama, Biden, Kerry, the Clintons, Carter would believe -- and they are NOT all in the exact same position. His comments were obviously not intended to be controversial.

[Celerity]

15. Alex Ward (the author of your article):Trump has a strong foreign policy narrative for 2020

If you think foreign policy might be a weakness for Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, think again.

https://www.vox.com/world/2019/4/1/18285395/trump-2020-foreign-policy-democrats

President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign will surely be helped by the foreign policy story he can sell to voters.

Foreign policy isn’t something Americans usually care about at the ballot box — they mostly have domestic concerns — although a major foreign policy blunder could weigh down a candidacy.

But it helps that Trump’s Democratic opponents aren’t particularly strong on foreign policy — in fact, only two have seriously put forward their ideas so far. And more importantly, Trump actually has a pretty good story to tell.

Consider what he could conceivably say:

He defeated ISIS.
Nuclear and missile testing by North Korea has stopped, and negotiations to end its nuclear program are underway.
He’s made Israel really happy.
He’s pushing back on regimes in Iran, Venezuela, and Russia.
He’s fixing long-standing trade problems with Mexico and Canada as well as China.
Military spending is on the rise.
Europeans are finally allocating more money for defense.
His administration has gotten further than his predecessors in the Afghanistan peace process.
When asked to describe his foreign policy, Trump campaign national press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told me “President Trump’s foreign policy accomplishments are vast” and that he “has undeniably put America First and exhibited strength on the world stage.”

[Maven]

20. Question: Do you have anything positive to post about Democrats?

You're on quite a roll after only 29 posts.

[Devil Child]

21. Maven, we share the same question

As I have noticed the same pattern.

[Celerity]

24. bzzzzzz

[PatrickforO]

29. Yeah, seems like we need to quit playing 'gotcha' with our candidates and

judge them moving forward. As to Buttigieg, he's a veteran military intelligence person, so I'm thinking he probably has some chops in mid-east foreign policy.

Netanyahu hasn't been in power forever, and Israel has survived several wars, is surrounded by countries who don't think it should exist, and has sustained attack after terrorist attack. So, yeah, not negotiating with terrorists, hitting them back harder. That may be what Buttigieg is saying.

That said, it's a really good idea to start trying to get rid of this Netanyahu right-wing apartheid thing, and really get going on some peace talks. The Palestinians should have their own state. If you study history, basically when the Brits left, they gave Palestine to the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust and the people who lived there before have been displaced these 70 years.

Israel needs to fix this, and they need our help.

[Devil Child]

22. This induces no outrage in me.

This article smells like an attempt at fostering internal divisions among Democratic voters.

[Gato malo]

26. Gabbard

If Assad didn't induce outrage, very few things will.

[sellitman]

27. As a Pro Israeli Democrat I find this refreshing

Yes....there still are a few of us on DU.

[sfwriter]

28. I read that article. It's pretty nonsensicle.

It implies things and then makes like the Democratic party are anti-semites that can't accept him. It also buries its supporting evidence far from its statements citing them. That is deceptive writing.

Here is the quote where he is cited as "blaming" Hamas.

“There really is not a unified or single voice for the Palestinian people,” Buttigieg said. “Most people aren’t aware of the difference between what’s happening in Gaza — run by Hamas in a way that is contributing to a lot of misery there — but also totally different than an environment where you’d have a negotiating partner across the table.”

It's part of a broader discussion and hard to argue with.

Here is him describing "Israel as a model for the US in how to deal with security threats."

"Seeing the way that a country can be on the one hand very intentional, very serious, and very effective when it comes to security and on the other hand not allowing concerns about security to dominate your consciousness,” he said, “I think that’s a very important lesson that hopefully Americans can look to when we think about how to navigate a world that unfortunately has become smaller and more dangerous for all of us.”

Again, nuance and hardly approving of Netanyahu government policies.

It is hard to read an article that is so disingenuous as to present its view by twisting the quotes out of context and them bring them below the fold in hopes you won't read that far. I expect more of this line as Russia and the GOP try to paint Democrats as anti-semitic and inflame a division that does, justifiably, exist on our relationship with Israel.

[mahina]

30. Ya know what? I'm not interested in what anyone else says one of our candidates said.

At least I hope not!

Tell me what’s good about your guy. If you’re going to spend your time slamming the other guy I’m just uninterested in that.

Maybe because I got played before. Maybe because we have to rise, Indivisible. It’s a tough bar, I realize.

Incidentally I don’t support anyone who signed on to the anti boycotting Israel bill.

Not naming names.