Sayaras
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- Nov 13, 2023
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Interesting piece.
What a shame. Rhodes became even more radical after Obama's term.
The Palestine Firsters
by Eli Lake
Ben Rhodes, the former deputy national security adviser to Barack Obama, would like the readers of the New York Times to know that Israel is no good. His answer to the problem of Israelās no-goodnikness was presented to the Times audience on December 1, 2025. It is the same answer offered by so many of his fellow partisans on the left since October 7, 2023: Put Palestine first.
Rhodesās denunciation of Israelās badness goes back decades. In his telling, the collapse of the Oslo peace process in 2000 provided Israeli leaders with a convenient excuse to expand West Bank settlements. In 2015, after his boss forged a nuclear deal with Iran, Israel violated norms by openly lobbying against it in Congress. After the October 7 attack on the Gaza envelope, Israel launched a war of vengeance, not of justice. Israelās right-wing government is not aligned with the values of American liberals. Its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is ānow following a familiar authoritarian playbook.ā
The purpose of Rhodesās polemic was to illustrate how President Joe Biden and his Democratic Party āblew it on Gaza.ā Once the ultimate White House insider, Rhodes was now casting himself as a dissident voice with fresh counsel for his suffering party: Democrats can and should win by openly acknowledging the bitter truth about the perfidy of the Jewish state, a truth that too many in his party still refuse to see. āIf you believe a Palestinian child is equal in dignity and worth to an Israeli or American child,ā Rhodes wrote, āit is no longer possible to support this Israeli government while hiding behind platitudes about peace.ā
www.commentary.org
What a shame. Rhodes became even more radical after Obama's term.
The Palestine Firsters
by Eli Lake
Ben Rhodes, the former deputy national security adviser to Barack Obama, would like the readers of the New York Times to know that Israel is no good. His answer to the problem of Israelās no-goodnikness was presented to the Times audience on December 1, 2025. It is the same answer offered by so many of his fellow partisans on the left since October 7, 2023: Put Palestine first.
Rhodesās denunciation of Israelās badness goes back decades. In his telling, the collapse of the Oslo peace process in 2000 provided Israeli leaders with a convenient excuse to expand West Bank settlements. In 2015, after his boss forged a nuclear deal with Iran, Israel violated norms by openly lobbying against it in Congress. After the October 7 attack on the Gaza envelope, Israel launched a war of vengeance, not of justice. Israelās right-wing government is not aligned with the values of American liberals. Its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is ānow following a familiar authoritarian playbook.ā
The purpose of Rhodesās polemic was to illustrate how President Joe Biden and his Democratic Party āblew it on Gaza.ā Once the ultimate White House insider, Rhodes was now casting himself as a dissident voice with fresh counsel for his suffering party: Democrats can and should win by openly acknowledging the bitter truth about the perfidy of the Jewish state, a truth that too many in his party still refuse to see. āIf you believe a Palestinian child is equal in dignity and worth to an Israeli or American child,ā Rhodes wrote, āit is no longer possible to support this Israeli government while hiding behind platitudes about peace.ā
The Palestine Firsters
Ben Rhodes, the former deputy national security adviser to Barack Obama, would like the readers of the New York Times to know that Israel is no good. His answer to
www.commentary.org
