foreignpolicy--2020-07-20--EU Economic Negotiations Enter Overtime

EU Economic Negotiations Enter Overtime

Here is today ’ s Foreign Policy brief : EU leaders still deadlocked on fourth day of European Council summit , heavy flooding hits China and India , the world this week .
We welcome your feedback at morningbrief @ foreignpolicy.com .
Talking face-to-face was supposed to make things easier .
Instead , negotiations between heads of government and state representing the 27 European Union member states have dragged on to an unprecedented fourth day , as disagreements over how to disburse recovery funds continue to hold up any deal .
They reconvene today at 4 p.m. in Brussels ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ biggest point of division lies in the proposed €750 billion economic recovery fund , which initially was to take the form of €250 billion in loans and €500 billion in grants .
The balance of those two mechanisms has shifted as negotiations progressed over the weekend , with the so-called frugal four of Austria , Denmark , the Netherlands , and Sweden ( along with frugally-leaning Finland ) pushing for less money toward grants and tighter accountability measures .
European Central Bank Chief Christine Lagarde has urged all sides not to move hastily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s better to agree on an ambitious facility along these lines , even if it takes a bit more time .
I would hope that the leaders agree on something that ’ s ambitious rather than fast , ” Lagarde told Reuters .
Tempers frayed over the course of the weekend .
French President Emmanuel Macron at one point compared the apparent obstinacy of the frugal four to the behavior of former British Prime Minister David Cameron .
Raphael Glucksman , a French member of the European Parliament , went further on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ haven ( un paradis fiscal ) and accusing the frugal four of holding the rest of the EU hostage .
Funding unity .
As Susi Dennison wrote in Foreign Policy on July 17 , the division is also reflected by citizens in European countries , according to a poll taken by the European Council on Foreign Relations ( ECFR ) : countries that would benefit from the recovery fund generally support it , but citizens in countries that would be net contributors to the fund do not .
Some good news ?
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s future , according to the ECFR poll , even if today ’ s talks end without agreement : 63 percent of Europeans believe the pandemic has shown the need for more European cooperation , especially when it comes to dealing with global threats .
Russians protest over governor ’ s arrest continue .
Thousands of Russians took to the streets of Khabarovsk , a city bordering northeast China , on Saturday to protest the arrest of Governor Sergei Furgal .
The protests—the biggest the city has ever seen—have grown since Furgal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the alleged murder of businessmen in 2004 and 2005 .
Furgal , who defeated the Kremlin-backed candidate in the 2018 gubernatorial election , remains in detention in Moscow .
Flooding in Asia .
Nearly four million people in Nepal and India ’ s northeastern state of Assam have been displaced by heavy flooding caused by monsoon rains .
Officials on Sunday said that 189 have died so far in the flooding , caused by an overflowing Brahmaputra River .
“ The flood situation remains critical with most of the rivers flowing menacingly above @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Resources Minister Keshab Mahanta told Reuters .
In China , authorities dynamited a dam on the Chu river , a tributary of the Yangtze , in an attempt to lower water levels swollen by heavy rainfall .
The rains have caused 1.8 million people in the country ’ s central and southern regions to be evacuated so far .
Iran suspends triple execution .
Iran has suspended the executions of three Iranian men , aged 26 to 28 , charged in connection with anti-government protests in late-2019 .
Appearing to acknowledge a Farsi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ block the executions , government spokesman Ali Rabiei called the social media campaign “ a civil action by citizens ( trying ) to be heard.
” Iran had been urged by U.S. President Donald Trump as well as human rights groups not to go through with the execution .
The sixth round of Brexit negotiations between the European Union and United Kingdom begin on Tuesday , July 21 .
The agenda includes talks on a “ level playing field ” for economic competition , fisheries , and law enforcement cooperation .
Also on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pompeo visits London for a day of talks with British counterparts .
He is scheduled to meet with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to discuss China and Hong Kong as well as a U.S.-UK free trade agreement .
On Wednesday , July 22 , Pompeo will visit Denmark .
There he will meet with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod , as well as Faroese Foreign Mininster Jenis av Rana , and Greenland Foreign Minister Steen Lynge .
On Wednesday July 22 , Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin delivers his annual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the government .
On Sunday , July 26 , it will be 100 days until the U.S. presidential election .
Gutteres calls for new vision post-pandemic .
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres has called for a new approach to global governance in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic .
“ It is exposing fallacies and falsehoods everywhere : The lie that free markets can deliver healthcare for all ; the fiction that unpaid care work is not work ; the delusion that we live in a post-racist world ; the myth that we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Guterres said while delivering the annual Nelson Mandela lecture .
Guterres also called for universal healthcare , debt write-offs for the developing world , and stiffer carbon taxes .
German state leaders lobby against troop reduction .
The premiers of the four German states of Bavaria , Hesse , Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate have called on the U.S. Congress to block White House plans to reduce the number of U.S. troops in their country by 9,500 .
All four states currently house U.S. military bases .
The premiers made the request in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican Sens .
Inhofe and Romney .
Rouhani says almost a third of Iranians may have had coronavirus .
Up to 25 million Iranians—more than 30 percent of the total population—may have been infected with the coronavirus , Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech on Saturday .
The number is far higher than the official count of 271,606 reported on Saturday .
An official from Iran ’ s coronavirus task force clarified that the 25 million represented “ mildly affected patients who … did not need to seek medical advice.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of coffee beans from Medellin , Colombia that would have given a bigger kick than a triple espresso .
Upon seizing the package , police found approximately 150 grams of cocaine had been painstakingly inserted into each coffee bean .
According to police , their suspicions were raised when the shipment ’ s addressee “ Santino D ’ Antonio ” matched the name of the crime boss in the action movie John Wick II .
The coronavirus pandemic has coincided with a decline in the number of premature births , according to emerging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Denmark .
The phenomenon has also been observed in the Netherlands and in Australia .
It ’ s not yet known what caused the drop , although the positive effects of lockdown—cleaner air , less exposure to infection generally , and less time commuting—have been suggested as possible reasons .
For more from FP , visit foreignpolicy.com , subscribe here , or sign up for our other newsletters .
Send your tips , comments , questions , or corrections to morningbrief @ foreignpolicy.com .

Here is today’s Foreign Policy brief: EU leaders are still deadlocked on the fourth day of the European Council summit, heavy flooding hits China and India , and what to watch in the world this week .
Here is today’s Foreign Policy brief: EU leaders are still deadlocked on the fourth day of the European Council summit, heavy flooding hits China and India, and what to watch in the world this week.
If you would like to receive Morning Brief in your inbox every weekday, please sign up here.
‘Frugal’ Four Holds Firm as EU Negotiations Enter Fourth Day
Talking face-to-face was supposed to make things easier. Instead, negotiations between heads of government and state representing the 27 European Union member states have dragged on to an unprecedented fourth day, as disagreements over how to disburse recovery funds continue to hold up any deal. They reconvene today at 4 p.m. in Brussels (10 a.m. in Washington).
The biggest point of division lies in the proposed €750 billion economic recovery fund, which initially was to take the form of €250 billion in loans and €500 billion in grants. The balance of those two mechanisms has shifted as negotiations progressed over the weekend, with the so-called frugal four of Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden (along with frugally-leaning Finland) pushing for less money toward grants and tighter accountability measures.
European Central Bank Chief Christine Lagarde has urged all sides not to move hastily. “From my perspective, it’s better to agree on an ambitious facility along these lines, even if it takes a bit more time. I would hope that the leaders agree on something that’s ambitious rather than fast,” Lagarde told Reuters.
Tempers frayed over the course of the weekend. French President Emmanuel Macron at one point compared the apparent obstinacy of the frugal four to the behavior of former British Prime Minister David Cameron. Raphael Glucksman, a French member of the European Parliament, went further on Twitter, labelling the Netherlands a tax haven (un paradis fiscal) and accusing the frugal four of holding the rest of the EU hostage.
Funding unity. As Susi Dennison wrote in Foreign Policy on July 17, the division is also reflected by citizens in European countries, according to a poll taken by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR): countries that would benefit from the recovery fund generally support it, but citizens in countries that would be net contributors to the fund do not.
Some good news? But there is some good news for Europe’s future, according to the ECFR poll, even if today’s talks end without agreement: 63 percent of Europeans believe the pandemic has shown the need for more European cooperation, especially when it comes to dealing with global threats.
What We’re Following Today
Russians protest over governor’s arrest continue. Thousands of Russians took to the streets of Khabarovsk, a city bordering northeast China, on Saturday to protest the arrest of Governor Sergei Furgal. The protests—the biggest the city has ever seen—have grown since Furgal’s arrest on July 9 for the alleged murder of businessmen in 2004 and 2005. Furgal, who defeated the Kremlin-backed candidate in the 2018 gubernatorial election, remains in detention in Moscow.
Flooding in Asia. Nearly four million people in Nepal and India’s northeastern state of Assam have been displaced by heavy flooding caused by monsoon rains. Officials on Sunday said that 189 have died so far in the flooding, caused by an overflowing Brahmaputra River. “The flood situation remains critical with most of the rivers flowing menacingly above the danger mark,” Assam Water Resources Minister Keshab Mahanta told Reuters.
In China, authorities dynamited a dam on the Chu river, a tributary of the Yangtze, in an attempt to lower water levels swollen by heavy rainfall. The rains have caused 1.8 million people in the country’s central and southern regions to be evacuated so far.
Iran suspends triple execution. Iran has suspended the executions of three Iranian men, aged 26 to 28, charged in connection with anti-government protests in late-2019. Appearing to acknowledge a Farsi hashtag calling on the Iranian government to block the executions, government spokesman Ali Rabiei called the social media campaign “a civil action by citizens (trying) to be heard.” Iran had been urged by U.S. President Donald Trump as well as human rights groups not to go through with the execution.
The World This Week
The sixth round of Brexit negotiations between the European Union and United Kingdom begin on Tuesday, July 21. The agenda includes talks on a “level playing field” for economic competition, fisheries, and law enforcement cooperation.
Also on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits London for a day of talks with British counterparts. He is scheduled to meet with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to discuss China and Hong Kong as well as a U.S.-UK free trade agreement.
On Wednesday, July 22, Pompeo will visit Denmark. There he will meet with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod, as well as Faroese Foreign Mininster Jenis av Rana, and Greenland Foreign Minister Steen Lynge.
On Wednesday July 22, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin delivers his annual address to parliament on the performance of the government.
On Sunday, July 26, it will be 100 days until the U.S. presidential election.
Keep an Eye On
Guterres calls for new vision post-pandemic. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a new approach to global governance in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. “It is exposing fallacies and falsehoods everywhere: The lie that free markets can deliver healthcare for all; the fiction that unpaid care work is not work; the delusion that we live in a post-racist world; the myth that we are all in the same boat,” Guterres said while delivering the annual Nelson Mandela lecture. Guterres also called for universal healthcare, debt write-offs for the developing world, and stiffer carbon taxes.
German state leaders lobby against troop reduction. The premiers of the four German states of Bavaria, Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, and Rhineland-Palatinate have called on the U.S. Congress to block White House plans to reduce the number of U.S. troops in their country by 9,500. All four states currently house U.S. military bases. The premiers made the request in a letter to 13 U.S. lawmakers, including Republican Sens. Inhofe and Romney.
Rouhani says almost a third of Iranians may have had coronavirus. Up to 25 million Iranians—more than 30 percent of the total population—may have been infected with the coronavirus, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech on Saturday. The number is far higher than the official count of 271,606 reported on Saturday. An official from Iran’s coronavirus task force clarified that the 25 million represented “mildly affected patients who … did not need to seek medical advice.”
Odds and Ends
Italian police have intercepted a shipment of coffee beans from Medellin, Colombia that would have given a bigger kick than a triple espresso. Upon seizing the package, police found approximately 150 grams of cocaine had been painstakingly inserted into each coffee bean. According to police, their suspicions were raised when the shipment’s addressee “Santino D’Antonio” matched the name of the crime boss in the action movie John Wick II.
The coronavirus pandemic has coincided with a decline in the number of premature births, according to emerging research discovered separately in both Ireland and Denmark. The phenomenon has also been observed in the Netherlands and in Australia. It’s not yet known what caused the drop, although the positive effects of lockdown—cleaner air, less exposure to infection generally, and less time commuting—have been suggested as possible reasons.
That’s it for today.
For more from FP, visit foreignpolicy.com, subscribe here, or sign up for our other newsletters. Send your tips, comments, questions, or corrections to morningbrief@foreignpolicy.com.


foreignpolicy--2020-07-20--All the Dictator’s Sheikhs

All the Dictator’s Sheikhs

On June 20 , Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promised military intervention in Libya if forces supporting the U.N.-backed government tried to retake the strategic city of Sirte .
While Sisi has yet to follow through on his threat , he ’ ll have backing from a higher power if he does so .
Two days after Sisi ’ s announcement , Egypt ’ s top official religious institutions offered resounding endorsements .
Al-Azhar , one of the most respected religious institutions in the Sunni Muslim world , issued a statement supporting Sisi ’ s political stance on Libya .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a step further , urging Egyptians to back Sisi ’ s threats and saying any opposition would be considered haram , or forbidden under Islamic law .
In a Twitter thread , Dar al-Iftaa told its 320,000 followers that Egyptians had a religious duty toward their leadership , whom they should obey and support otherwise they “ don ’ t deserve the honor of belonging to the country.
” Such commentary may seem out of place for a body chiefly concerned with Islamic law .
But in the six years since Sisi came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ religious institutions and figures have grown increasingly embroiled in secular affairs .
Sisi grabbed power after a military coup in July 2013 against President Mohamed Morsi , Egypt ’ s first democratically and freely elected president , whose nascent party was an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood .
He ran on an anti-Islamist platform , claiming that religion and politics should not be mixed .
However , since he took office , Sisi has been utilizing religion to advance his political agenda and to justify his repressive and populist policies .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been turned into a religious propaganda tool frequently used to sanction the leader ’ s political agenda .
Religion is a key component of Egyptians ’ daily life and the state controls the religious sphere .
Egypt ’ s three main religious institutions—Al-Azhar , Dar al-Iftaa , and the Ministry of Religious Endowments—are regulated , administrated , and run by the state .
As a president , Sisi has the power to hire senior sheikhs and imams , determine religious institutions ’ budgets , and oversee their activities .
Since it was founded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Egypt ’ s political regimes and leaders with few exceptions .
But it is only under Sisi that the body has been turned into a religious propaganda tool frequently used to sanction the leader ’ s political agenda .
Over the past six years , Dar al-Iftaa has issued numerous statements and fatwas that support or legitimize Sisi ’ s internal and external policies .
Fatwas are supposed to cover primarily religious matters , but about 81 of the 224 statements issued this year thus far have been related to political issues .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ government ’ s procedures to fight COVID-19 , to praising Egypt ’ s army campaign against radicals in Sinai , to attacking Islamists and Turkey .
Dar al-Iftaa ’ s sheikhs and imams have also offered their voices in support of Sisi in a manner unprecedented in the institution ’ s history .
The former Grand Mufti of Egypt , Sheikh Ali Gomaa , as well as the current Mufti , Sheikh Shawki Allam , are outspoken supporters of the president ’ s policies—particularly his campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood , Sisi ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seventh anniversary of the July 2013 coup , Allam attacked the Muslim Brotherhood and praised Sisi for getting rid of them .
He said he considered the coup a “ prophetic miracle.
” Gomaa , meanwhile , has vehemently criticized the Muslim Brotherhood , employing religious reasoning to justify its repression .
In a leaked video from early August 2013 , Gomaa told an audience of Egyptian military and police officers ( among them Sisi , who at that time was the defense minister ) that they should be ruthless in their response @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them in the heart , ” he said .
“ Blessed are those who kill them , and those who are killed by them .
… We must cleanse our Egypt from these riffraff .
… They shame us .
… They stink .
This is how God has created them .
They are hypocrites and seceders.
” A few days later , on Aug. 14 , 2013 , Egypt ’ s military and police brutally slaughtered about 800 pro-Morsi protesters in broad daylight .
To be sure , religious institutions and clerics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Middle East .
Throughout history and across faiths , despotic leaders have used religion for political ends .
From the Crusades to the expansion of Muslim empires , religious bodies offered justification for conquests , invasions , and power grabs .
Even in established democracies , leaders have relied on religious sentiment to mobilize and galvanize their constituency .
( Look at how U.S. President Donald Trump aimed to galvanize his evangelical Christian followers by holding up a Bible outside the St. John ’ s Episcopal Church in Washington while speaking of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protesters . )
But in Egypt , Sisi has used the religious institutions to justify his repressive policies in a manner unprecedented in the country—causing no small amount of harm to the institutions themselves .
If the sheikhs can secure Sisi their support in the short term , they will see their image , influence , and credibility eroded in Egypt and beyond for decades .

On June 20, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promised military intervention in Libya if forces supporting the U.N.-backed government tried to retake the strategic city of Sirte. While Sisi has yet to follow through on his threat, he’ll have backing from a higher power if he does so. Two days after Sisi’s announcement, Egypt’s top official religious institutions offered resounding endorsements. Al-Azhar, one of the most respected religious institutions in the Sunni Muslim world, issued a statement supporting Sisi’s political stance on Libya. Dar al-Iftaa—Egypt’s chief Islamic authority—went a step further, urging Egyptians to back Sisi’s threats and saying any opposition would be considered haram, or forbidden under Islamic law. In a Twitter thread , Dar al-Iftaa told its 320,000 followers that Egyptians had a religious duty toward their leadership, whom they should obey and support otherwise they “don’t deserve the honor of belonging to the country.”
On June 20, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promised military intervention in Libya if forces supporting the U.N.-backed government tried to retake the strategic city of Sirte. While Sisi has yet to follow through on his threat, he’ll have backing from a higher power if he does so. Two days after Sisi’s announcement, Egypt’s top official religious institutions offered resounding endorsements. Al-Azhar, one of the most respected religious institutions in the Sunni Muslim world, issued a statement supporting Sisi’s political stance on Libya. Dar al-Iftaa—Egypt’s chief Islamic authority—went a step further, urging Egyptians to back Sisi’s threats and saying any opposition would be considered haram, or forbidden under Islamic law. In a Twitter thread, Dar al-Iftaa told its 320,000 followers that Egyptians had a religious duty toward their leadership, whom they should obey and support otherwise they “don’t deserve the honor of belonging to the country.”
Such commentary may seem out of place for a body chiefly concerned with Islamic law. But in the six years since Sisi came to power, Egypt’s top religious institutions and figures have grown increasingly embroiled in secular affairs. Sisi grabbed power after a military coup in July 2013 against President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically and freely elected president, whose nascent party was an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. He ran on an anti-Islamist platform, claiming that religion and politics should not be mixed. However, since he took office, Sisi has been utilizing religion to advance his political agenda and to justify his repressive and populist policies.
It is only under Sisi that the body has been turned into a religious propaganda tool frequently used to sanction the leader’s political agenda. Religion is a key component of Egyptians’ daily life and the state controls the religious sphere. Egypt’s three main religious institutions—Al-Azhar, Dar al-Iftaa, and the Ministry of Religious Endowments—are regulated, administrated, and run by the state. As a president, Sisi has the power to hire senior sheikhs and imams, determine religious institutions’ budgets, and oversee their activities. Since it was founded in 1895, Dar al-Iftaa has supported Egypt’s political regimes and leaders with few exceptions. But it is only under Sisi that the body has been turned into a religious propaganda tool frequently used to sanction the leader’s political agenda.
Over the past six years, Dar al-Iftaa has issued numerous statements and fatwas that support or legitimize Sisi’s internal and external policies. Fatwas are supposed to cover primarily religious matters, but about 81 of the 224 statements issued this year thus far have been related to political issues. These range from supporting Sisi’s government’s procedures to fight COVID-19, to praising Egypt’s army campaign against radicals in Sinai, to attacking Islamists and Turkey.
Dar al-Iftaa’s sheikhs and imams have also offered their voices in support of Sisi in a manner unprecedented in the institution’s history. The former Grand Mufti of Egypt, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, as well as the current Mufti, Sheikh Shawki Allam, are outspoken supporters of the president’s policies—particularly his campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood, Sisi’s main political foe. On the seventh anniversary of the July 2013 coup, Allam attacked the Muslim Brotherhood and praised Sisi for getting rid of them. He said he considered the coup a “prophetic miracle.” Gomaa, meanwhile, has vehemently criticized the Muslim Brotherhood, employing religious reasoning to justify its repression. In a leaked video from early August 2013, Gomaa told an audience of Egyptian military and police officers (among them Sisi, who at that time was the defense minister) that they should be ruthless in their response to the Muslim Brotherhood. “Shoot them in the heart,” he said. “Blessed are those who kill them, and those who are killed by them. … We must cleanse our Egypt from these riffraff. … They shame us. … They stink. This is how God has created them. They are hypocrites and seceders.” A few days later, on Aug. 14, 2013, Egypt’s military and police brutally slaughtered about 800 pro-Morsi protesters in broad daylight.
To be sure, religious institutions and clerics endorsing authoritarian regimes are hardly unique in the Middle East. Throughout history and across faiths, despotic leaders have used religion for political ends. From the Crusades to the expansion of Muslim empires, religious bodies offered justification for conquests, invasions, and power grabs. Even in established democracies, leaders have relied on religious sentiment to mobilize and galvanize their constituency. (Look at how U.S. President Donald Trump aimed to galvanize his evangelical Christian followers by holding up a Bible outside the St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington while speaking of the need to respond violently to anti-racism protesters.)
But in Egypt, Sisi has used the religious institutions to justify his repressive policies in a manner unprecedented in the country—causing no small amount of harm to the institutions themselves. If the sheikhs can secure Sisi their support in the short term, they will see their image, influence, and credibility eroded in Egypt and beyond for decades.


foreignpolicy--2020-07-20--Is France’s Socialist Party Back From the Dead?

“ Everyone has wanted to put the nail in the coffin of the Socialist Party , ” Olivier Faure , the party ’ s first secretary , told Foreign Policy from his office in the Parisian suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine .
“ Well , we ’ re not dead.
” Faure has spent the last two years making that case to voters .
But the second round of France ’ s local elections on June 28 have added indisputable heft to his argument : Not only did the Socialist Party ( PS ) hold on to its majorities in key cities—fending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rennes , Dijon , and Clermont-Ferrand—but it also flipped a number of major cities in alliance with other left-wing parties , largely the Greens .
Cities that were previously governed by either centrist or right-wing mayors—including France ’ s second- and third-largest cities , Marseille and Lyon—will now be governed by left coalitions with PS backing , as will Bordeaux and Nancy .
And in Paris , Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo held onto her seat .
The Socialists may not return to their old heights on the national level anytime soon , given @ @ @ @ @ @ @ low polling and image problems that date back to the spectacularly unpopular presidency of François Hollande .
A survey from February found that only a third of French voters view the party favorably , while more recent ones have shown that less than 20 percent have a positive image of Olivier Faure , who remains remarkably unknown for someone in his position .
Far more have no opinion of Faure at all .
Still , last month ’ s results highlight the fact that a large swath of the public is willing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And for the PS leadership , the elections are only fueling a sense the party has a critical role to play as the 2022 presidential race approaches—this time , in alliance with the Greens .
A joint presidential ticket would face obstacles , ranging from the approval of both parties and the adoption of a common platform to the delicate question of selecting a candidate .
Nevertheless , Faure argues that unity with the Greens could pave the path to victory—no matter if the candidate his party ultimately endorses isn ’ t a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emergence of a socialist-ecological bloc that is a possible alternative to the liberalism of Emmanuel Macron and the far-right of Marine Le Pen , ” Faure said .
“ We ’ re not condemned to a choice between the liberals and the nationalists , but in fact , the opening of another political chapter is possible.
” The party ’ s fall from grace was epitomized by the 46 million euro ( $ 53 million ) sale of the PS ’ s headquarters on the Rue de Solférino on Paris ’ s Left @ @ @ @ @ @ @ PS ’ s transition from opposition to government , the glitzy building had been acquired in 1980 , just months before François Mitterrand became the first Socialist president in the history of the French Fifth Republic .
But while the PS suffered ups and downs over the subsequent decades , the costs of the party ’ s shellacking in 2017 were ultimately too great to bear .
Facing a steep drop in state subsidies tied to its poor election results ( the party ’ s annual budget plummeted from 28 million euros to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decided to decamp to the southeastern suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine in the fall of 2018 , setting up shop in a nondescript building near the train tracks .
Faure has overseen the painful rebuilding process .
Much of the job has involved apologizing for the Hollande years—which disappointed many traditional PS supporters , but especially inflamed more left-leaning voters who had propelled the president into office , eager most of all to give the boot to his conservative predecessor , Nicolas Sarkozy .
“ Not only we were not up to the expectations that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ François Hollande , but even worse for the French people , we were capable of doing the opposite of what we had been expected to do , ” Faure said .
“ This creates a problem , a feeling of betrayal that runs deep.
” On the campaign trail , candidate Hollande famously declared that his “ adversary ” was “ the world of finance.
” But once in office , the president did little to tackle inequalities at home or use France ’ s leverage to rein in austerity measures across the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approved reforms to make it easier to lay off workers , defying protests from trade unions , while in the aftermath of the 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the Bataclan , the party leaders proposed legislation to strip convicted terrorists of French nationality .
Hollande ’ s government ultimately withdrew that proposal , but not before sparking immense backlash and provoking the resignation of the country ’ s well-liked justice minister , Christiane Taubira .
Under Faure ’ s leadership , by contrast , the Socialists have aimed to recast themselves as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appetite for Macron ’ s agenda .
In the National Assembly , the party has regularly voted with deputies from the Communist Party and Mélenchon ’ s party against the president ’ s pro-business reforms , from changes in labor law and the pension system to cuts in unemployment benefits .
Under Faure ’ s leadership , the Socialists have aimed to recast themselves as a left-wing opposition party , showing little appetite for Macron ’ s agenda .
Faure believes the old left-right divide is alive and well—and that the president fits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s what French people say , it ’ s what political scientists say , and it ’ s what I say , too , ” he said .
“ It ’ s a fact—he ’ s overseen policies that François Fillon very well could have overseen in his place , ” he added , referring to the former prime minister under Nicolas Sarkozy and the mainstream right presidential candidate in 2017 .
Since its remodeling , the PS has been able to conserve a bloc of center-left voters .
In last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Socialist-backed list won 6 percent of the vote—a weak score overall , but better than being wiped off the map , which had been a real concern as the campaign began .
June ’ s municipal elections , meanwhile , have shown that the PS remains a dominant force at the local level—even if the narrative of a Green wave has shaped the headlines .
Of the 42 French cities that count more than 100,000 residents , Socialist-led majorities now lead 14 , tied with the right-wing Republicans for the highest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ municipalities .
( Mirroring the improved electoral fortunes , reports have also emerged that the Socialist Party is even looking for a new office back in Paris , though Faure insists no deal has been finalized . )
To be sure , there are reasons to temper the enthusiasm .
Only around 2 in every 5 voters showed up to the polls on Sunday , the lowest such rate for local elections in the history of the Fifth Republic .
That low turnout can be explained , at least in part , by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comes amid a trend of waning electoral participation overall .
Mayors in France also tend to be well-liked , in stark contrast to national politicians .
Still , voters haven ’ t hesitated to punish local elected officials for their national party affiliations in the past—and this time around , many gave a thumbs-up to candidates with the Socialist label .
That includes Nathalie Appéré , the mayor of Rennes , a city of more than 200,000 in a metropolitan area that boasts a level of unemployment well below the national average .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ first term on a series of bread-and-butter initiatives like participatory budgeting , boosting investment in public housing , and overseeing the construction of a new subway line .
“ I think at the municipal level , we judge people on their actions and on the record , ” Appéré said .
“ We ’ re not just Socialists when we ’ re mayor .
We ’ re Socialists but we ’ re always something more than that.
” Still , while Appéré coasted to reelection , she did so by forming an alliance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of candidates before the run-off round .
( In the first round , her Socialist ticket won around 33 percent of the vote , followed by 25 percent for the Greens , well ahead of competing lists backed by Macron ’ s party and the center-right . )
Like elsewhere across France , the once-minor environmentalist party gained ground in Rennes , the capital of Brittany .
In the 2014 local elections , the Greens also joined forces with the Socialists for the run-off round in Rennes , though at that time they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first-round vote , compared with 36 percent for the PS .
Similar shifts in municipal power dynamics took place nationwide last month , suggesting the Greens could play a critical role in French politics in the years to come .
“ For me , this sort of union should prefigure joint work on the national level , ” said Appéré of her local alliance .
“ The Left wins when it ’ s strong and united .
If everyone ’ s in their corner , they can ’ t construct a credible alternative.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ green-tinged social democratic alternative— “ la social-écologie , ” as he puts it—is both possible and necessary .
“ Today there ’ s a natural complementarity … In my view , this is the political project that we need to create.
” Recent elections have suggested a decent chunk of the electorate backs such an agenda .
According to Émeric Bréhier , director of the Observatory of Political Life at the Fondation Jean-Jaurès , a think tank close to the PS , a broad swath of pro-European center-left voters is put off by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inegalitarian reformism of Emmanuel Macron .
Faure has proposed something that would have been unthinkable just five years ago .
“ It ’ s an electorate without a home , ” said Bréhier , who also served as a Socialist deputy in the National Assembly from 2012 to 2017 .
“ It ’ s worth 15 to 25 percent in France .
But to get it , you need to talk to it with something clear and precise , with enthusiasm , in a credible way… And at the moment , this is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters , Faure has proposed something that would have been unthinkable just five years ago .
Not only does he favor a joint Socialist-Green presidential campaign in 2022 , but he says he ’ s prepared to cede the top spot on the ticket to a Green—under the condition , of course , that the future candidate defends a common platform .
One of the names most often floated to fill the role is Yannick Jadot , an EU parliamentarian with the Greens and former Greenpeace France campaign director , who has defended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of an independent , all-encompassing political project , claiming—like Macron , ironically—to be neither “ left nor right.
” Éric Piolle , who hails from the left-wing of the Greens and governs in coalition with Mélenchon ’ s party as mayor of Grenoble , has also expressed an interest in running .
Nicolas Hulot , a former TV host and environmental minister , is regularly considered a contender , though he insists he ’ s not interested .
On the Socialist side , Ségolène Royal , the party ’ s unsuccessful presidential nominee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wants to unite with the Greens as a candidate for the Élysée Palace in 2022 .
Christiane Taubira , Hollande ’ s former justice minister who resigned over the proposal to revoke French citizenship , has also said she could be up for the task , and could point to her firm principles and experience in government to boot .
And Anne Hidalgo—the recently reelected mayor of Paris—could be another contender .
But the path to Green-Socialist unity could be difficult to navigate .
An open left-wing primary would be costly to organize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ board—something that is far from guaranteed given the surging confidence of Green leaders at this stage .
Then again , unfavorable polling once the presidential race heats up could make the prospects of an alliance more attractive , regardless of the candidate each party nominates at first .
There ’ s also the thorny question of how to position an eventual joint ticket vis-à-vis Mélenchon .
While polling figures for the ex-Socialist are less favorable than in 2017 , Mélenchon still commands a considerable base of support and appears intent on running again @ @ @ @ @ @ @ skeptical as to whether the PS can regain ground on the national level .
With France in the midst of a turbulent political reconfiguration , they argue municipal elections are more of a calm in the storm than a sign of where the winds are blowing .
“ [ Voters ] tolerate the old system in local elections , but it ’ s not likely they ’ ll want to hand over the fate of the country to the old system again , ” said Lenny Benbara , founder and editor of Le @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rises ” ) , a left-populist online publication .
Benbara also believes there ’ s a space for a third force on the national level , but that it would have to look very different than a revival of the center-left .
He says it would need to include working-class voters who backed Mélenchon in 2017 , those drawn to the burgeoning climate justice movement , and sympathizers of the gilets jaunes ( yellow vests ) protests who feel alienated from traditional politics .
“ Putting such an electoral bloc into place requires @ @ @ @ @ @ @ center-left can not express so long as it ’ s cut off from working-class people , ” Benbara said .
Ironically , one of the factors that could encourage at least some form of unity among left-wing parties is the broad distaste they share for Macron .
Many left-leaning electors bit their lips and cast votes against the far-right in 2002 and 2017—but there are signs that some are growing weary of the routine .
Among them is Bertrand Kern , the Socialist mayor of Pantin , a working-class suburb of Paris , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years ago , Kern says he wrote a letter to city residents encouraging them to cast votes for Macron against Le Pen—but he vows not to do it again if the two meet in the second round in 2022 .
“ This time , I ’ ll let my fellow citizens vote their conscience , ” Kern said .
“ We need to create an alternative to this duel which I think is deadly for French democracy.
” And building that alternative , the mayor argues , all but hinges on some form @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remain loyal to my political organization , ” Kern said , “ but the idea of campaigning for a Socialist candidate who ’ ll get 5 or 6 percent , and then fighting with the Greens who ’ ll get 8 or 9 percent , and then Mélenchon who ’ ll get 10 or 11 percent—honestly , at the end , we ’ ll all be spectators .
”

Anne Hidalgo, the incumbent mayor of Paris and member of the French Socialist Party, celebrates after winning the second round of the French municipal elections in Paris on June 28. Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua via Getty Images
PARIS—One of the most common narratives in French politics in the age of President Emmanuel Macron is that the Socialist Party has disappeared for good. Increasingly, though, it appears the once-dominant party’s obituaries were written too soon.
“Everyone has wanted to put the nail in the coffin of the Socialist Party,” Olivier Faure, the party’s first secretary, told Foreign Policy from his office in the Parisian suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine. “Well, we’re not dead.”
Faure has spent the last two years making that case to voters. But the second round of France’s local elections on June 28 have added indisputable heft to his argument: Not only did the Socialist Party (PS) hold on to its majorities in key cities—fending off challenges in Lille, Nantes, Rennes, Dijon, and Clermont-Ferrand—but it also flipped a number of major cities in alliance with other left-wing parties, largely the Greens. Cities that were previously governed by either centrist or right-wing mayors—including France’s second- and third-largest cities, Marseille and Lyon—will now be governed by left coalitions with PS backing, as will Bordeaux and Nancy. And in Paris, Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo held onto her seat.
The Socialists may not return to their old heights on the national level anytime soon, given that the party continues to suffer from low polling and image problems that date back to the spectacularly unpopular presidency of François Hollande. A survey from February found that only a third of French voters view the party favorably, while more recent ones have shown that less than 20 percent have a positive image of Olivier Faure, who remains remarkably unknown for someone in his position. Far more have no opinion of Faure at all.
Still, last month’s results highlight the fact that a large swath of the public is willing to keep its faith in the party. And for the PS leadership, the elections are only fueling a sense the party has a critical role to play as the 2022 presidential race approaches—this time, in alliance with the Greens. A joint presidential ticket would face obstacles, ranging from the approval of both parties and the adoption of a common platform to the delicate question of selecting a candidate. Nevertheless, Faure argues that unity with the Greens could pave the path to victory—no matter if the candidate his party ultimately endorses isn’t a Socialist.
“This election shows the emergence of a socialist-ecological bloc that is a possible alternative to the liberalism of Emmanuel Macron and the far-right of Marine Le Pen,” Faure said. “We’re not condemned to a choice between the liberals and the nationalists, but in fact, the opening of another political chapter is possible.”
Three years ago, the party appeared to be fading into irrelevance. In late 2016, Socialist President François Hollande opted not to run for a second term—a reflection of his abysmal approval ratings—and the party’s eventual candidate Benoit Hamon went on to earn a pitiful 6 percent of the vote in the following year’s first-round presidential race. On its left flank, the PS seemed eclipsed by the populism of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and La France Insoumise, or “France Unbowed,” who received nearly 20 percent of the vote, just a fraction less than Macron and Marine Le Pen, who went on to compete in the final round. Meanwhile, the party’s centrist core looked to have been swallowed up by Macron, a former economy minister under Hollande who attracted dozens of ex-Socialist officials and parliamentarians to his newly formed party, En Marche!.
The party’s fall from grace was epitomized by the 46 million euro ($53 million) sale of the PS’s headquarters on the Rue de Solférino on Paris’s Left Bank. A onetime symbol of the PS’s transition from opposition to government, the glitzy building had been acquired in 1980, just months before François Mitterrand became the first Socialist president in the history of the French Fifth Republic. But while the PS suffered ups and downs over the subsequent decades, the costs of the party’s shellacking in 2017 were ultimately too great to bear. Facing a steep drop in state subsidies tied to its poor election results (the party’s annual budget plummeted from 28 million euros to 8 million), Socialist leaders ultimately decided to decamp to the southeastern suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine in the fall of 2018, setting up shop in a nondescript building near the train tracks.
Faure has overseen the painful rebuilding process. Much of the job has involved apologizing for the Hollande years—which disappointed many traditional PS supporters, but especially inflamed more left-leaning voters who had propelled the president into office, eager most of all to give the boot to his conservative predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.
“Not only we were not up to the expectations that had been nourished by the election of François Hollande, but even worse for the French people, we were capable of doing the opposite of what we had been expected to do,” Faure said. “This creates a problem, a feeling of betrayal that runs deep.”
On the campaign trail, candidate Hollande famously declared that his “adversary” was “the world of finance.” But once in office, the president did little to tackle inequalities at home or use France’s leverage to rein in austerity measures across the EU. Under his watch, Socialists approved reforms to make it easier to lay off workers, defying protests from trade unions, while in the aftermath of the 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the Bataclan, the party leaders proposed legislation to strip convicted terrorists of French nationality. Hollande’s government ultimately withdrew that proposal, but not before sparking immense backlash and provoking the resignation of the country’s well-liked justice minister, Christiane Taubira.
Former French President François Hollande awaits the arrival of the then French President-elect Emmanuel Macron during the transfer of power in Paris on May 14, 2017.
Under Faure’s leadership, by contrast, the Socialists have aimed to recast themselves as a left-wing opposition party, showing little appetite for Macron’s agenda. In the National Assembly, the party has regularly voted with deputies from the Communist Party and Mélenchon’s party against the president’s pro-business reforms, from changes in labor law and the pension system to cuts in unemployment benefits.
Under Faure’s leadership, the Socialists have aimed to recast themselves as a left-wing opposition party, showing little appetite for Macron’s agenda.
Faure believes the old left-right divide is alive and well—and that the president fits squarely in the latter camp. “It’s what French people say, it’s what political scientists say, and it’s what I say, too,” he said. “It’s a fact—he’s overseen policies that François Fillon very well could have overseen in his place,” he added, referring to the former prime minister under Nicolas Sarkozy and the mainstream right presidential candidate in 2017.
Since its remodeling, the PS has been able to conserve a bloc of center-left voters. In last year’s elections for European Parliament, the Socialist-backed list won 6 percent of the vote—a weak score overall, but better than being wiped off the map, which had been a real concern as the campaign began. June’s municipal elections, meanwhile, have shown that the PS remains a dominant force at the local level—even if the narrative of a Green wave has shaped the headlines. Of the 42 French cities that count more than 100,000 residents, Socialist-led majorities now lead 14, tied with the right-wing Republicans for the highest amount, while the Greens control eight municipalities. (Mirroring the improved electoral fortunes, reports have also emerged that the Socialist Party is even looking for a new office back in Paris, though Faure insists no deal has been finalized.)
To be sure, there are reasons to temper the enthusiasm. Only around 2 in every 5 voters showed up to the polls on Sunday, the lowest such rate for local elections in the history of the Fifth Republic. That low turnout can be explained, at least in part, by the coronavirus pandemic, but it also comes amid a trend of waning electoral participation overall. Mayors in France also tend to be well-liked, in stark contrast to national politicians. Still, voters haven’t hesitated to punish local elected officials for their national party affiliations in the past—and this time around, many gave a thumbs-up to candidates with the Socialist label.
That includes Nathalie Appéré, the mayor of Rennes, a city of more than 200,000 in a metropolitan area that boasts a level of unemployment well below the national average. Reelected last month, Appéré spent her first term on a series of bread-and-butter initiatives like participatory budgeting, boosting investment in public housing, and overseeing the construction of a new subway line.
“I think at the municipal level, we judge people on their actions and on the record,” Appéré said. “We’re not just Socialists when we’re mayor. We’re Socialists but we’re always something more than that.”
Still, while Appéré coasted to reelection, she did so by forming an alliance with the Greens and merging their lists of candidates before the run-off round. (In the first round, her Socialist ticket won around 33 percent of the vote, followed by 25 percent for the Greens, well ahead of competing lists backed by Macron’s party and the center-right.) Like elsewhere across France, the once-minor environmentalist party gained ground in Rennes, the capital of Brittany. In the 2014 local elections, the Greens also joined forces with the Socialists for the run-off round in Rennes, though at that time they had only earned 15 percent of the first-round vote, compared with 36 percent for the PS. Similar shifts in municipal power dynamics took place nationwide last month, suggesting the Greens could play a critical role in French politics in the years to come.
“For me, this sort of union should prefigure joint work on the national level,” said Appéré of her local alliance. “The Left wins when it’s strong and united. If everyone’s in their corner, they can’t construct a credible alternative.”
Faure agrees. He believes a green-tinged social democratic alternative—“la social-écologie,” as he puts it—is both possible and necessary. “Today there’s a natural complementarity … In my view, this is the political project that we need to create.”
Recent elections have suggested a decent chunk of the electorate backs such an agenda. According to Émeric Bréhier, director of the Observatory of Political Life at the Fondation Jean-Jaurès, a think tank close to the PS, a broad swath of pro-European center-left voters is put off by both the populist style of Mélenchon and inegalitarian reformism of Emmanuel Macron.
Faure has proposed something that would have been unthinkable just five years ago.
“It’s an electorate without a home,” said Bréhier, who also served as a Socialist deputy in the National Assembly from 2012 to 2017. “It’s worth 15 to 25 percent in France. But to get it, you need to talk to it with something clear and precise, with enthusiasm, in a credible way… And at the moment, this is sort of missing.”
To capture such voters, Faure has proposed something that would have been unthinkable just five years ago. Not only does he favor a joint Socialist-Green presidential campaign in 2022, but he says he’s prepared to cede the top spot on the ticket to a Green—under the condition, of course, that the future candidate defends a common platform.
Olivier Faure, first secretary of the Socialist Party, in front of images of past party leaders at the party's headquarters in Ivry-sur-Seine, France, on June 25.
One of the names most often floated to fill the role is Yannick Jadot, an EU parliamentarian with the Greens and former Greenpeace France campaign director, who has defended the notion of ecology as a sort of an independent, all-encompassing political project, claiming—like Macron, ironically—to be neither “left nor right.” Éric Piolle, who hails from the left-wing of the Greens and governs in coalition with Mélenchon’s party as mayor of Grenoble, has also expressed an interest in running. Nicolas Hulot, a former TV host and environmental minister, is regularly considered a contender, though he insists he’s not interested. On the Socialist side, Ségolène Royal, the party’s unsuccessful presidential nominee in 2007, has already said she wants to unite with the Greens as a candidate for the Élysée Palace in 2022. Christiane Taubira, Hollande’s former justice minister who resigned over the proposal to revoke French citizenship, has also said she could be up for the task, and could point to her firm principles and experience in government to boot. And Anne Hidalgo—the recently reelected mayor of Paris—could be another contender.
But the path to Green-Socialist unity could be difficult to navigate. An open left-wing primary would be costly to organize and would require buy-in from across the board—something that is far from guaranteed given the surging confidence of Green leaders at this stage. Then again, unfavorable polling once the presidential race heats up could make the prospects of an alliance more attractive, regardless of the candidate each party nominates at first. There’s also the thorny question of how to position an eventual joint ticket vis-à-vis Mélenchon. While polling figures for the ex-Socialist are less favorable than in 2017, Mélenchon still commands a considerable base of support and appears intent on running again.
In this context, some are skeptical as to whether the PS can regain ground on the national level. With France in the midst of a turbulent political reconfiguration, they argue municipal elections are more of a calm in the storm than a sign of where the winds are blowing.
“[Voters] tolerate the old system in local elections, but it’s not likely they’ll want to hand over the fate of the country to the old system again,” said Lenny Benbara, founder and editor of Le Vent Se Lève (“the wind rises”), a left-populist online publication.
Benbara also believes there’s a space for a third force on the national level, but that it would have to look very different than a revival of the center-left. He says it would need to include working-class voters who backed Mélenchon in 2017, those drawn to the burgeoning climate justice movement, and sympathizers of the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) protests who feel alienated from traditional politics.
“Putting such an electoral bloc into place requires new forms of political expression that the center-left cannot express so long as it’s cut off from working-class people,” Benbara said.
Ironically, one of the factors that could encourage at least some form of unity among left-wing parties is the broad distaste they share for Macron. Many left-leaning electors bit their lips and cast votes against the far-right in 2002 and 2017—but there are signs that some are growing weary of the routine.
Among them is Bertrand Kern, the Socialist mayor of Pantin, a working-class suburb of Paris, who was reelected this year. Three years ago, Kern says he wrote a letter to city residents encouraging them to cast votes for Macron against Le Pen—but he vows not to do it again if the two meet in the second round in 2022.
“This time, I’ll let my fellow citizens vote their conscience,” Kern said. “We need to create an alternative to this duel which I think is deadly for French democracy.”
And building that alternative, the mayor argues, all but hinges on some form of unity.
“I’ll remain loyal to my political organization,” Kern said, “but the idea of campaigning for a Socialist candidate who’ll get 5 or 6 percent, and then fighting with the Greens who’ll get 8 or 9 percent, and then Mélenchon who’ll get 10 or 11 percent—honestly, at the end, we’ll all be spectators.”


foreignpolicy--2020-07-20--Congress Eyes Hearing for Controversial Trump Pentagon Pick

The Senate Armed Services Committee is eyeing a confirmation hearing for U.S. President Donald Trump ’ s embattled pick to lead the Defense Department ’ s powerful policy shop before the end of the month , two people familiar with the move told Foreign Policy , despite unusually forceful opposition to the pick from Senate Democrats and rights groups .
The powerful authorizing panel is targeting a July 30 hearing for Anthony Tata , Trump ’ s choice to be undersecretary of defense for policy , who was recently forced to walk back a series of offensive and conspiratorial tweets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remarks characterizing former President Barack Obama as a “ terrorist leader ” and picking fights with former CIA Director John Brennan .
In preparation for the possible hearing , Tata—a retired U.S. Army brigadier general—is set to meet with members of the panel on July 28 in a closed session to head off possible concerns about his nomination .
Sen. Jack Reed , the ranking Democrat on the armed services panel , said last month he would vote against the pick , and fellow Democrats joined him in their opposition .
But Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sending Republican White House ally and Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe a handwritten letter last month urging the panel to confirm his choice .
Tata , who retired from the military in 2009 after an Army inquiry found that he had committed adultery with two women during a previous marriage , has appeared regularly on Fox News as a defender of Trump ’ s policies .
Meanwhile , the Defense Department has been asked to draft so-called Advance Policy Questions that provide a more detailed look at his worldview for the job @ @ @ @ @ @ @ principal policy assistant to Defense Secretary Mark Esper .
While aides said it was not common to have a closed session first , there is suspicion that it could help give cover to embattled Republicans on the committee , such as Sens .
Joni Ernst of Iowa , Martha McSally of Arizona , and Thom Tillis of North Carolina , all of whom are trailing narrowly in their reelection bids according to recent RealClearPolitics polling averages .
“ I suspect it ’ s to firm up wavering Rs , ” a Democratic Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of anonymity .
“ I ’ m sure they ’ ll all fall in line and vote the ‘ right ’ way in the end but they can ’ t be happy about taking this vote three months before the election.
” Defense News reported in June that Inhofe planned to host a meeting of Republicans on the panel to weigh support for Tata ’ s nomination .
Inhofe , who attended Trump ’ s rally in Tulsa last month , appeared concerned by Tata ’ s tweets .
“ I don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and we ’ re not going to consider him , but I ’ m saying that got our attention , ” he told CNN .
Several prominent retired generals also pulled their prior support for Tata ’ s nomination , including former U.S. Central Command chief Joseph Votel and former U.S. Special Operations Command chief Tony Thomas .
But the decision to move ahead with the pick—if he is cleared by committee—would kick the nomination to the full Senate , leaving the problem in the hands of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ challenger , who might face members in less secure seats questioning the nomination on the floor .
“ If he gets voted out of committee , he becomes McConnell ’ s problem , not Inhofe ’ s , ” the Democratic Senate aide told Foreign Policy .
Yet even if the nomination fails in committee or on the Senate floor , the Trump administration could take advantage of ambiguities in the 1998 Vacancies Act to install controversial figures such as Tata into acting senior defense roles without a thumbs-up from Congress .
Foreign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ already serving as a senior advisor to Esper .
Politico reported on Friday that the administration is considering moving Tata into a different senior Pentagon role that would not require Senate confirmation .
Last week , Trump tapped Michael Kratsios , the White House chief technology officer , to serve as the Defense Department ’ s acting head of research and engineering .
The 33-year-old Kratsios , a former employee of the billionaire venture capitalist and onetime Trump supporter Peter Thiel , is replacing a former NASA administrator in the role .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ role at the Pentagon comes as the Trump administration has in recent weeks intensified a series of government-wide interviews of political appointees in what are seen as tests of loyalty to the president , with representatives from the White House ’ s Presidential Personnel Office questioning officials from the Pentagon and other agencies .
The White House has also sought to place Trump loyalists into high-ranking Pentagon roles , sometimes over objections from inside the department .
In May , the White House Liaison Office directed the Defense Department to hire Rich Higgins @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under Michael Flynn later fired for a sending a widely circulated memo alleging conspiracies to overthrow Trump and known for Islamophobic tweets , to serve as chief of staff to the undersecretary of defense for policy .
Higgins has yet to be brought on , but several other Flynn-linked officials have recently joined the Pentagon , including former NSC staffer Ezra Cohen-Watnick as deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics and global threats , and Simone Ledeen , who is serving as the Defense Department ’ s top Middle East policy official after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Treasury Department .
The Senate Armed Services Committee did not have a hearing announcement when asked by Foreign Policy .
The panel typically announces its hearings a week in advance .
But with few remaining days on the legislative calendar before August recess and the Senate hanging in the balance during this election cycle , some experts fear that Congress has little time left to deal with the administration ’ s nagging problem of filling vacant roles .
The departure of Michael Griffin as the Defense Department ’ s confirmed research and engineering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Porter , earlier this month leaves 20 of 60 senior positions at the Pentagon vacant or temporarily filled , according to figures provided by a Pentagon spokesperson .
Eight nominees for Senate-confirmed civilian jobs are awaiting an official hearing date , including Tata .
“ The biggest enemy of the confirmation process is the clock .
It ’ s the calendar , ” Arnold Punaro , a retired U.S. Marine Corps major general and a former staff director for the Senate Armed Services Committee , told Foreign Policy .
“ After this batch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the August recess you ’ ve pretty much run out of airspeed and altitude on civilian nominations .
”

The Senate Armed Services Committee is eyeing a confirmation hearing for U.S. President Donald Trump’s embattled pick to lead the Defense Department’s powerful policy shop before the end of the month, two people familiar with the move told Foreign Policy , despite unusually forceful opposition to the pick from Senate Democrats and rights groups.
The Senate Armed Services Committee is eyeing a confirmation hearing for U.S. President Donald Trump’s embattled pick to lead the Defense Department’s powerful policy shop before the end of the month, two people familiar with the move told Foreign Policy, despite unusually forceful opposition to the pick from Senate Democrats and rights groups.
The powerful authorizing panel is targeting a July 30 hearing for Anthony Tata, Trump’s choice to be undersecretary of defense for policy, who was recently forced to walk back a series of offensive and conspiratorial tweets uncovered by CNN. Those tweets included remarks characterizing former President Barack Obama as a “terrorist leader” and picking fights with former CIA Director John Brennan.
In preparation for the possible hearing, Tata—a retired U.S. Army brigadier general—is set to meet with members of the panel on July 28 in a closed session to head off possible concerns about his nomination. Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the armed services panel, said last month he would vote against the pick, and fellow Democrats joined him in their opposition.
But Trump has remained steadfast in the nomination, sending Republican White House ally and Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe a handwritten letter last month urging the panel to confirm his choice. Tata, who retired from the military in 2009 after an Army inquiry found that he had committed adultery with two women during a previous marriage, has appeared regularly on Fox News as a defender of Trump’s policies.
Meanwhile, the Defense Department has been asked to draft so-called Advance Policy Questions that provide a more detailed look at his worldview for the job, which is to serve as the principal policy assistant to Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
While aides said it was not common to have a closed session first, there is suspicion that it could help give cover to embattled Republicans on the committee, such as Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa, Martha McSally of Arizona, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, all of whom are trailing narrowly in their reelection bids according to recent RealClearPolitics polling averages.
“I suspect it’s to firm up wavering Rs,” a Democratic Senate aide told Foreign Policy on the condition of anonymity. “I’m sure they’ll all fall in line and vote the ‘right’ way in the end but they can’t be happy about taking this vote three months before the election.” Defense News reported in June that Inhofe planned to host a meeting of Republicans on the panel to weigh support for Tata’s nomination.
Inhofe, who attended Trump’s rally in Tulsa last month, appeared concerned by Tata’s tweets. “I don’t want to say it disqualifies him and we’re not going to consider him, but I’m saying that got our attention,” he told CNN.
Several prominent retired generals also pulled their prior support for Tata’s nomination, including former U.S. Central Command chief Joseph Votel and former U.S. Special Operations Command chief Tony Thomas.
But the decision to move ahead with the pick—if he is cleared by committee—would kick the nomination to the full Senate, leaving the problem in the hands of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican polling ahead of his Democratic challenger, who might face members in less secure seats questioning the nomination on the floor. “If he gets voted out of committee, he becomes McConnell’s problem, not Inhofe’s,” the Democratic Senate aide told Foreign Policy.
Yet even if the nomination fails in committee or on the Senate floor, the Trump administration could take advantage of ambiguities in the 1998 Vacancies Act to install controversial figures such as Tata into acting senior defense roles without a thumbs-up from Congress. Foreign Policy reported in May that Tata was already serving as a senior advisor to Esper.
Politico reported on Friday that the administration is considering moving Tata into a different senior Pentagon role that would not require Senate confirmation. Last week, Trump tapped Michael Kratsios, the White House chief technology officer, to serve as the Defense Department’s acting head of research and engineering. The 33-year-old Kratsios, a former employee of the billionaire venture capitalist and onetime Trump supporter Peter Thiel, is replacing a former NASA administrator in the role.
The push to install Tata in a new role at the Pentagon comes as the Trump administration has in recent weeks intensified a series of government-wide interviews of political appointees in what are seen as tests of loyalty to the president, with representatives from the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office questioning officials from the Pentagon and other agencies.
The White House has also sought to place Trump loyalists into high-ranking Pentagon roles, sometimes over objections from inside the department. In May, the White House Liaison Office directed the Defense Department to hire Rich Higgins, a former National Security Council staffer under Michael Flynn later fired for a sending a widely circulated memo alleging conspiracies to overthrow Trump and known for Islamophobic tweets, to serve as chief of staff to the undersecretary of defense for policy.
Higgins has yet to be brought on, but several other Flynn-linked officials have recently joined the Pentagon, including former NSC staffer Ezra Cohen-Watnick as deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics and global threats, and Simone Ledeen, who is serving as the Defense Department’s top Middle East policy official after prior stints at the Pentagon and the Treasury Department.
The Senate Armed Services Committee did not have a hearing announcement when asked by Foreign Policy. The panel typically announces its hearings a week in advance. But with few remaining days on the legislative calendar before August recess and the Senate hanging in the balance during this election cycle, some experts fear that Congress has little time left to deal with the administration’s nagging problem of filling vacant roles.
The departure of Michael Griffin as the Defense Department’s confirmed research and engineering chief, and his deputy, Lisa Porter, earlier this month leaves 20 of 60 senior positions at the Pentagon vacant or temporarily filled, according to figures provided by a Pentagon spokesperson. Eight nominees for Senate-confirmed civilian jobs are awaiting an official hearing date, including Tata.
“The biggest enemy of the confirmation process is the clock. It’s the calendar,” Arnold Punaro, a retired U.S. Marine Corps major general and a former staff director for the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Foreign Policy. “After this batch they’re going to do before the August recess you’ve pretty much run out of airspeed and altitude on civilian nominations.”


foreignpolicy--2020-07-20--Democrats Can’t Allow Israel to Pursue Annexation Without Consequences

Democrats Can ’ t Allow Israel to Pursue Annexation Without Consequences July 1 , the date set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank to begin , came and went and nothing was annexed .
Of course , home demolitions , settler and police violence , land confiscation , and systemic discrimination against Palestinians all continue unabated—but U.S. politicians have been scrambling to respond to the new threat of annexation .
A clear division has emerged between Democrats , who mostly oppose annexation , and Republicans , who mostly support it .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ toward Israel , the biggest recipient of U.S. foreign aid has finally become a partisan issue in Washington—at least nominally .
A large majority of Democrats in both the House and Senate , including presumed presidential nominee Joe Biden , have come out against annexation in recent weeks .
Nearly 200 House members signed onto a letter at the end of June , initiated by Rep. Ted Deutch , expressing “ deep concern ” that Israel ’ s push for unilateral annexation will make a “ negotiated peace agreement between Israel and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ harder to achieve.
” Among the signatories was House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer , a longtime ally of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee ( AIPAC ) , a hawkish pro-Israel lobby which organizes bipartisan congressional trips to Israel .
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted her support for the letter , too .
In addition , 40 Senate Democrats , including some pro-Israel stalwarts who never seem to oppose anything Israel does , such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens .
Bob Menendez and Ben Cardin , have also penned their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 100 House Republicans , including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy , Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Rep. Liz Cheney , signed a letter addressed to Netanyahu that reaffirms “ the unshakeable alliance between the United States and Israel , ” and indicated that Israel should do as it pleases with its sovereignty and its borders , echoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ’ s latest statement on the matter .
Sen. Ted Cruz and several other GOP senators sent a letter to President Donald Trump not only urging the president to approve Israeli @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to help streamline it .
In other words , the Democratic Party ’ s formal position is still a negotiated two-state solution whereby an independent Palestinian state is established on roughly the pre-1967 borders .
The Republican Party has effectively relinquished that position in favor of an expanded Israeli state that formalizes its sovereignty over much of the Palestinian territory it currently occupies without granting political rights to its new subjects—in other words , an apartheid regime .
Now that the partisan divide is clear , the question is , what will Democrats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most well-known liberal Zionist thinker in the United States , just published a piece in the New York Times saying he no longer believes in a Jewish state or a two-state solution and called for one binational state that can be home to both Palestinians and Israelis .
The articulation of this kind of position from a prominent American Jew may embolden Democrats to move away from the two-state paradigm or at least entertain the notion that what they have done thus far simply has not worked .
But punitive policies that could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boycotts , divestment , and sanctions—are still off-limits .
Likewise , conditioning U.S. aid to Israel , which Sen. Bernie Sanders championed during his presidential campaign , is still mostly taboo , even though Republican presidents from Gerald Ford to George H.W .
Bush have engaged in it .
In 1981 , Reagan suspended a military arms pact with Israel over its annexation of the Golan Heights .
A decade letter , George H.W .
Bush threatened to withhold a $ 10 billion loan guarantee to Israel over its expansion of settlements .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Gerald Ford , in the aftermath of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War , when Secretary of State Henry Kissinger took a hard line with Israel and pressured it to withdraw from the Sinai .
At the time , Ford told Kissinger that the United States would not “ isolate itself from the rest of the world to stand behind Israeli intransigence ” —pretty much the polar opposite of U.S. policy today .
In the spring of 1975 , the U.S. government implemented a “ reassessment ” of U.S.-Israel relations , which included the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So , for Democrats , conditioning aid to Israel should actually be a no-brainer .
A recent letter initiated by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and signed by a dozen other lawmakers , including Sanders , calls on Congress to limit or withhold U.S. aid to Israel should it go through with annexation .
It notably mentions aid could be withheld for other practices as well , among them home demolitions and land expropriation .
It is the only statement from Democrats against Israeli annexation that doesn ’ t just caution against the harm to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s international standing , but actually mentions “ occupied Palestinian territory , ” warns of “ apartheid , ” and specifically calls out the violation of Palestinian human rights .
The anti-occupation group IfNotNow has endorsed this letter , and 1,000 former and current members of J Street U , the youth arm of the liberal pro-Israel lobby of the same name , have called on J Street to get behind legislation that would condition U.S. aid .
Unfortunately , this sort of language still appears to be beyond the pale for most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Van Hollen inched closer when he introduced an amendment that would block the Israeli government from using U.S. security assistance to fund annexation .
This should be the baseline Democratic approach , but it has not garnered much support thus far , and Biden ’ s team has notably remained silent on it .
A Biden advisor reiterated in May that Biden “ completely ” opposes any restrictions on military aid to Israel .
Biden ’ s position , like that of many Democrats , that no side should take unilateral steps is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Israel ’ s settlement enterprise is a national unilateral project for which Biden is not willing to make Israel pay any price .
In this sense , the Trump-Israel annexation plan is a real test for Democrats .
They can not just oppose annexation rhetorically ; it means nothing without an actionable policy that holds Israel to account .
Doing nothing will make Democrats complicit in writing a blank check to an annexationist apartheid regime .
The fact that so many Democrats are uniting against annexation only highlights the obvious : that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Barack Obama—to restrain Israeli settlement-building on occupied territory , which is the primary reason a contiguous Palestinian state appears impossible , has brought the world to this point .
It should force the party to reckon with what it means that they have continued to give unconditional support to a country institutionalizing a 53-year military occupation .
The Democrats could begin with reversing some of Trump ’ s most damaging policies .
Since entering office , Trump upended decades of official U.S. policy by recognizing Israel ’ s annexation of East Jerusalem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Jerusalem in 2018 ) , and then recognized Israel ’ s annexation of the Golan Heights last year .
Biden should at minimum reverse Trump ’ s damage and adopt a policy that would rescind U.S. recognition of Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights and move the embassy back to Tel Aviv .
Without doing so , Biden would be de facto recognizing Israeli sovereignty over land it occupied in a war .
Furthermore , if Biden is as committed to a two-state solution as he has claimed , his administration could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a future Palestinian state .
A Biden administration should not only embrace Van Hollen ’ s amendment to ensure U.S. aid is not used for annexation , but go a step further and endorse Rep. Betty McCollum ’ s year-old House Resolution 2407 , which seeks to prohibit the transfer of U.S. funds for use by the Israeli military to detain Palestinian children .
The bill does not , in fact , prescribe withholding a single dollar of U.S. assistance , but rather redirecting the funds so that none of it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This would send a clear message that Democrats are not only interested in a peaceful resolution one day in the future , but committed to ending human-rights violations right now .
While it does not seem likely any of this will happen , if the Democrats genuinely oppose annexation , they must put their money where their mouth is .
If they don ’ t seize this opportunity , Israel will simply return to being a bipartisan issue—except , in the wake of annexation , they won ’ t just be helping an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aiding and abetting an apartheid state .

July 1, the date set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank to begin, came and went and nothing was annexed. Of course, home demolitions, settler and police violence, land confiscation, and systemic discrimination against Palestinians all continue unabated—but U.S. politicians have been scrambling to respond to the new threat of annexation. A clear division has emerged between Democrats, who mostly oppose annexation, and Republicans, who mostly support it. After decades of bipartisan agreement on policy toward Israel, the biggest recipient of U.S. foreign aid has finally become a partisan issue in Washington—at least nominally.
July 1, the date set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank to begin, came and went and nothing was annexed. Of course, home demolitions, settler and police violence, land confiscation, and systemic discrimination against Palestinians all continue unabated—but U.S. politicians have been scrambling to respond to the new threat of annexation. A clear division has emerged between Democrats, who mostly oppose annexation, and Republicans, who mostly support it. After decades of bipartisan agreement on policy toward Israel, the biggest recipient of U.S. foreign aid has finally become a partisan issue in Washington—at least nominally.
A large majority of Democrats in both the House and Senate, including presumed presidential nominee Joe Biden, have come out against annexation in recent weeks. Nearly 200 House members signed onto a letter at the end of June, initiated by Rep. Ted Deutch, expressing “deep concern” that Israel’s push for unilateral annexation will make a “negotiated peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians” toward a two-state solution “harder to achieve.”
Among the signatories was House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a longtime ally of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a hawkish pro-Israel lobby which organizes bipartisan congressional trips to Israel. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted her support for the letter, too. In addition, 40 Senate Democrats, including some pro-Israel stalwarts who never seem to oppose anything Israel does, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Bob Menendez and Ben Cardin, have also penned their milquetoast opposition.
Meanwhile, more than 100 House Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Rep. Liz Cheney, signed a letter addressed to Netanyahu that reaffirms “the unshakeable alliance between the United States and Israel,” and indicated that Israel should do as it pleases with its sovereignty and its borders, echoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s latest statement on the matter. Sen. Ted Cruz and several other GOP senators sent a letter to President Donald Trump not only urging the president to approve Israeli annexation but to provide any resources necessary to help streamline it.
For decades, Democrats and Republicans have both held the U.S.-Israel “unbreakable bond” sacrosanct, a staple of U.S. foreign policy so ingrained that it is almost never questioned. AIPAC’s success over the past few decades has primarily been in maintaining airtight bipartisan support for Israel. Even as Democrats and Republicans have been diametrically split on many issues, Israel never seems to be one of them. But that is changing. Now, the Democratic Party is united against annexation, while the Republican Party is united behind anything Trump does—and hence supports it.
In other words, the Democratic Party’s formal position is still a negotiated two-state solution whereby an independent Palestinian state is established on roughly the pre-1967 borders. The Republican Party has effectively relinquished that position in favor of an expanded Israeli state that formalizes its sovereignty over much of the Palestinian territory it currently occupies without granting political rights to its new subjects—in other words, an apartheid regime.
Now that the partisan divide is clear, the question is, what will Democrats do? Peter Beinart, probably the most well-known liberal Zionist thinker in the United States, just published a piece in the New York Times saying he no longer believes in a Jewish state or a two-state solution and called for one binational state that can be home to both Palestinians and Israelis. The articulation of this kind of position from a prominent American Jew may embolden Democrats to move away from the two-state paradigm or at least entertain the notion that what they have done thus far simply has not worked.
But punitive policies that could actually influence the Israeli government—such as supporting boycotts, divestment, and sanctions—are still off-limits. Likewise, conditioning U.S. aid to Israel, which Sen. Bernie Sanders championed during his presidential campaign, is still mostly taboo, even though Republican presidents from Gerald Ford to George H.W. Bush have engaged in it. In 1981, Reagan suspended a military arms pact with Israel over its annexation of the Golan Heights. A decade letter, George H.W. Bush threatened to withhold a $10 billion loan guarantee to Israel over its expansion of settlements. Maybe the most salient example came under President Gerald Ford, in the aftermath of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, when Secretary of State Henry Kissinger took a hard line with Israel and pressured it to withdraw from the Sinai. At the time, Ford told Kissinger that the United States would not “isolate itself from the rest of the world to stand behind Israeli intransigence”—pretty much the polar opposite of U.S. policy today. In the spring of 1975, the U.S. government implemented a “reassessment” of U.S.-Israel relations, which included the freezing of arms deliveries to Israel.
So, for Democrats, conditioning aid to Israel should actually be a no-brainer.
A recent letter initiated by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and signed by a dozen other lawmakers, including Sanders, calls on Congress to limit or withhold U.S. aid to Israel should it go through with annexation. It notably mentions aid could be withheld for other practices as well, among them home demolitions and land expropriation. It is the only statement from Democrats against Israeli annexation that doesn’t just caution against the harm to the prospects of peace and Israel’s international standing, but actually mentions “occupied Palestinian territory,” warns of “apartheid,” and specifically calls out the violation of Palestinian human rights. The anti-occupation group IfNotNow has endorsed this letter, and 1,000 former and current members of J Street U, the youth arm of the liberal pro-Israel lobby of the same name, have called on J Street to get behind legislation that would condition U.S. aid.
Unfortunately, this sort of language still appears to be beyond the pale for most Democrats. This month, Sen. Chris Van Hollen inched closer when he introduced an amendment that would block the Israeli government from using U.S. security assistance to fund annexation. This should be the baseline Democratic approach, but it has not garnered much support thus far, and Biden’s team has notably remained silent on it. A Biden advisor reiterated in May that Biden “completely” opposes any restrictions on military aid to Israel. Biden’s position, like that of many Democrats, that no side should take unilateral steps is therefore hard to take seriously, considering that Israel’s settlement enterprise is a national unilateral project for which Biden is not willing to make Israel pay any price.
In this sense, the Trump-Israel annexation plan is a real test for Democrats. They cannot just oppose annexation rhetorically; it means nothing without an actionable policy that holds Israel to account. Doing nothing will make Democrats complicit in writing a blank check to an annexationist apartheid regime. The fact that so many Democrats are uniting against annexation only highlights the obvious: that their failure until now—and particularly under former President Barack Obama—to restrain Israeli settlement-building on occupied territory, which is the primary reason a contiguous Palestinian state appears impossible, has brought the world to this point. It should force the party to reckon with what it means that they have continued to give unconditional support to a country institutionalizing a 53-year military occupation.
There are several things a Democratic administration could do that would hold the Netanyahu government accountable for taking unilateral moves that imperil peace—without being in any way “anti-Israel.”
The Democrats could begin with reversing some of Trump’s most damaging policies. Since entering office, Trump upended decades of official U.S. policy by recognizing Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem (when he moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem in 2018), and then recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights last year.
Biden should at minimum reverse Trump’s damage and adopt a policy that would rescind U.S. recognition of Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights and move the embassy back to Tel Aviv. Without doing so, Biden would be de facto recognizing Israeli sovereignty over land it occupied in a war.
Furthermore, if Biden is as committed to a two-state solution as he has claimed, his administration could recognize East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital of a future Palestinian state. A Biden administration should not only embrace Van Hollen’s amendment to ensure U.S. aid is not used for annexation, but go a step further and endorse Rep. Betty McCollum’s year-old House Resolution 2407, which seeks to prohibit the transfer of U.S. funds for use by the Israeli military to detain Palestinian children. The bill does not, in fact, prescribe withholding a single dollar of U.S. assistance, but rather redirecting the funds so that none of it is spent on the incarceration of children. This would send a clear message that Democrats are not only interested in a peaceful resolution one day in the future, but committed to ending human-rights violations right now.
While it does not seem likely any of this will happen, if the Democrats genuinely oppose annexation, they must put their money where their mouth is. If they don’t seize this opportunity, Israel will simply return to being a bipartisan issue—except, in the wake of annexation, they won’t just be helping an occupier anymore; both parties will be aiding and abetting an apartheid state.