What to Watch

September 14, 2020

Election Day 2020 is just 50 days away, and here is your update on the stories and trends to watch this week. Let us have your feedback at [email protected].

Sneak Preview: RJC Ad in NYT Tomorrow

The RJC will have a full-page ad in the New York Times tomorrow, thanking President Donald Trump for his leadership in brokering the historic agreements between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. Click here or on the image above to see it full size.

The ad text reads:  

PEACEMAKER

TODAY, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP will sign the most significant Middle East peace treaty in 26 years – an agreement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

It is a historic achievement, one worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The breakthrough came only after President Trump and his team personally brokered it. It means what was once a dream — normalization between Arab countries and Israel — is becoming a reality. Today, it is the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Because of President Trump’s leadership, we have real hope that other Arab countries will bravely follow this path to peace.

The leaders of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain deserve praise for showing the courage to break through decades of animosity and find common ground.

President Trump, you are a Statesman who has done what no others could do: moving the Embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, brokering this historic deal with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The Republican Jewish Coalition thanks you. The American people thank you. Israel thanks you.

THE WORLD IS A SAFER PLACE TODAY BECAUSE OF PRESIDENT TRUMP.

Historic Peace Deals to be Signed Tomorrow

Tomorrow, President Donald Trump will host a historic meeting in Washington, DC where leaders of the United Arab Emirates will sign a peace treaty with Israel. And in a surprise development announced on Friday, Bahraini representatives will also sign an agreement to establish full diplomatic relations with the Jewish state tomorrow. 

These events, along with plans for Kosovo and Servia to recognize Israel, are triumphs for President Trump and his foreign policy team. All of them were brokered by the US and were possible because of the Trump Administration’s firm and unwavering support for Israel. It is no surprise that President Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring about peace between Israel and the Muslim world and to foster stability and prosperity in the Middle East.

FURTHER READING:

• Shoshana Bryen: The Middle East wall crumbles - The “Abraham Accord” is a major breakthrough, aided by American leadership and exceptionalism.
  
  
• Caroline Glick: The UAE and the Democratic-CAIR partnership – CAIR, a group connected to Islamist terrorism, has a powerful position in the Democratic Party, making it unlikely that a future Biden administration would continue US efforts to build on the Israel-UAE alliance.
  
  
• Michael Sussman: The cultural genius of the Abraham Accord - Pressure to keep up with the UAE will lead more Arab countries to open up formal ties with Israel.

RJC Chairman Sets Record Straight with Abe Foxman

Last Friday, the Times of Israel carried an op-ed by Abe Foxman, director emeritus of the Anti-Defamation League. Foxman’s piece was filled with lies about President Donald Trump that required a reasoned, factual response. The RJC provided one, a well-argued rebuttal by RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman that you can read here.

Senator Coleman wrote:

President Trump’s record is a story of perseverance and success in the face of overwhelming opposition – and his every success has benefited the United States and the Jewish community.

… Foxman pays lip service to President Trump’s pro-Israel actions, such as moving the US embassy to Jerusalem. But there is much more to praise in the President’s Middle East policy. First is the President’s decision to take the US out of the disastrous Obama-Biden Iran nuclear deal, a badly conceived effort that let Iran continue to cheat its way toward nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to carry them…

Next was President Trump’s decision to buck the warnings of failed diplomats and show true friendship to Israel. He recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and began discussions with the Israeli government about the extension of Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank, moves that made it clear that the US backs Israel’s national and sovereign rights. Trump’s policies implicitly called on the Arab world to recognize the State of Israel’s legitimacy and permanency. This not only strengthened the US-Israel alliance, but made possible the incredible diplomatic successes of the UAE-Israel peace treaty and the Bahrain-Israel agreement. Real, concrete peace has begun between Israel and Arab states, for the first time in 25 years. That is truly historic.

… While aiming accusations of anti-Semitism at President Trump, Foxman makes the laughable statement that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will stand up to enemies of Israel and the Jewish community. In fact, the virulent anti-Semitism that once lived only on the fringe of the Democratic Party is now very much at the center of that party, as self-styled “progressives” like Ilhan Omar and her “Squad” become increasingly powerful gatekeepers, declaring who is and is not acceptable in the new Democratic Party. Biden and Harris have done nothing to push back against the open anti-Semitism in their party, nor against the support for BDS and the hate mongering against Israel that is now acceptable on their side of the aisle…

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