In an interview with Ynet Prof. Alan Dershowitz spoke about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent clip accusing the U.S. of withholding arms shipments, the rift with the Biden administration and Netanyahu's upcoming speech in Congress.
So what do you think about Israel's situation?
I think that the Jewish community in Israel is facing its greatest crisis since the Holocaust. I think we're seeing pervasive antisemitism throughout the world. In every corner of the world from Australia to Europe to Africa. Never before have the Jewish people and the nation-state of the Jewish people been subject to so much antisemitism and it grows not out of the strength of Israel but out of its weakness.
Interview with Alan Dershowitz
(Video Yaron Brener)
The antisemitism began on October 7 when Israel showed weakness. Gaza is just an excuse and a recruiting mechanism for getting people from around the world to attack. Israel, and the Jewish people today are not prepared to respond to this multi-front attack we're getting a five-front attack against Israel militarily, but a pervasive attack against the Jewish people throughout the world. And we don't have the preparation necessary to fight back. So we're in a major crisis.
So what do you think about the current crisis between Israel and the Biden administration?
It's a symptom of a larger crisis. We have a problem in the United States. Because Israel is no longer a bipartisan issue. Israel has become a partisan issue with the Democrats, particularly on the left doing everything to weaken Israel and some Republicans as being in support, of Israel. I don't think that what Netanyahu is doing is wrong. I think that he's right to come to the United States and to appeal to the people who support Israel and try to increase support for Israel.
He's also right in complaining about the withholding of military shipments. These are again, just symptoms of a much, much deeper problem. The deepest problem is that the enemies of the Jewish people and the enemies of Israel tend to be young and these are our future leaders. So, I see darkness at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the role of Jews and the role of Israel in the world in the future years. I'm talking 10, 20, 30 years from now.
In your opinion, was Prime Minister Netanyahu wrong when he published this video claiming the Biden administration delaying armed shipments?
100% right. You have to fight back, showing weakness, is a cause of antisemitism. You know, King David got it right when he said, The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace. The only way the Jewish people will ever get peace is through strength. And Netanyahu has to show strength. The Israeli people have to unite and show strength. The Jews and other supporters of Israel around the world have to show strength we can't give in. We can't act like Israel and the Jews are second class. When Israel is not being treated right by the United States, Netanyahu is perfectly right to fight back and to use strength, not weakness.
Mr Desowitz, how disappointed are you as a Jew and a big Israel supporter with President Biden and the administration?
I think Biden is trying very hard to strike an appropriate balance. He has a real problem. He has young people on the left who hate Israel including Jewish people. Jewish Voice for Peace is a horrible organization. Other organizations are likewise very opposed. So Biden tries very hard to strike the balance. He has a good heart. The problem is that the left of the Democratic Party people like Bernie Sanders will do anything to destroy and defeat Israel. And so, again, the only response is strength, not weakness, not compromise.
Do you think by then we lose the Jewish vote?
No. Most Jews in America think of Israel in a secondary way, they care more about their own status just like the Jews in America were not supportive of the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust. They wanted to live their own lives, they wanted to maintain their own status. Jews in America care more about other issues than they do about Israel. So the Democrats will maintain the support of a majority of Jews. There will be more Jews voting Republican and there would be even more Jews voting Republican if Trump wasn't the candidate. A lot of Jews have a lot of problems voting for Trump, but they have fewer problems voting against the Democrats. So I think what we're seeing is Israel becoming a partisan issue. And we're seeing that around the world in Great Britain, it's a partisan issue in Spain. It's a partisan issue in France. It's a partisan issue and we're seeing Israel getting more support from the right than from the left. And that's a very dangerous phenomenon for Israel's future.
We see Iran getting close to a nuclear bomb. The Biden administration is doing nothing.
Israel has to act on its own. Israel has to understand that it can never again count on the unequivocal support of the United States. It can count on some support from the United States, but Israel has to make its own decisions, its own military decisions, and its own diplomatic decisions. Israel is alone in the world in many aspects and it has to act unilaterally in many instances it cannot allow Iran to develop a nuclear arsenal and do whatever it takes.
Israel has to respond to that. The problem is Israel is fighting a multi-front war. And Iran is the major enemy as long as Iran and the Mullah stay in power, Israel will be on the defensive because Iran has figured out how to defeat Israel by sending surrogates to kill Israelis, making Israel respond, and turning the world against Israel. Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah won this war. And Israel and those of us who support Israel have to insist that Israel fight back with strength and not with weakness.
We hear that some Democrats going to boycott Netanyahu's speech in Congress. Is it smart?
Not many democrats will attend anti-Israel Democrats like Elizabeth Warren and others will boycott the speech and we have to fight against them. We have to defeat electorally. Those Democrats who will boycott the speech. We have to put people up against them. And this is very important that we make politicians pay a price for turning against Israel. And I certainly will never support any Democrat who doesn't appear in Netanyahu's speech. Remember some of the same democrats didn't come to Netanyahu's speech several years ago before we had Gaza.