Rahm Emanuel denounces Netanyahu during his speech in Tel Aviv as American policy turns against Israel

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rahm Emanuel, a potential Democratic presidential nominee and longtime advocate for Israel, will denounce Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv this week and deliver a strong message that the country’s relationship with the United States is “at a crossroads.”

“It cannot continue or continue as it was,” Emanuel will say at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday, according to comments obtained by The Associated Press. He added: “To keep our relations strong, we need big changes and a new direction.”

In an interview before his speech, Emanuel said Israel’s ongoing military response to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, was “reckless and negligent in dealing with Palestinian life – not only the military campaign but also the use of food and medicine as a tool to achieve your military goals.”

In response to a question about whether Israel committed genocide, an accusation made by some human rights organizations and rejected by the Israeli and American governments, Emanuel said that this issue should not be considered in isolation from the study of the conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan.

“I’m ready to have this discussion, but I don’t think it should be politicized and thus dilute the power of what genocide means,” he said.

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Taken together, the interview and speech coming from one of the Democrats’ most powerful centrist wing are further evidence of how far the party has shifted from its historic support of Israel nearly three years after the war in Gaza began.

About 58% of Democrats say the United States is “overly supportive” of Israelis, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, up from 45% in January 2024. Nearly half of Democrats believe Israel committed genocide against Palestinians during the war with Hamas.

Emanuel’s proposals would include sanctions on Israelis who attack Palestinian civilians and their property, along with companies and banks that support settlements that most of the international community consider illegal. He also wants to end US support for Israel’s defense budget, saying the country “should be able to purchase US weapons under the same financial terms, the same restrictions, and the same requirements as any other reliable ally that abides by our laws.”

In addition, Emmanuel will blame Netanyahu for leading Israel to a “dead end,” driven by bad decisions made by American leaders.

“For too long, American policy toward Israel has operated on the assumption that the best thing Washington can do for Jerusalem is to stand blindly and silently behind your government, without conditions, without demands, and without consequences when we disagree,” he said. “This was our mistake. Unconditional support has produced a prime minister who assumes that his strategic interests will bear no cost if he ignores America’s concerns.”

There is little precedent for an American with presidential ambitions to travel to another country, let alone one as tense as Israel, to deliver such a scathing rebuke of its political leadership. Centrist figures like Emanuel have been more reluctant than the Democrats’ progressive base to question long-standing American support for Israel in recent years.

How will Netanyahu react?

His comments could trigger a similarly fiery response from Netanyahu, who once described Emanuel, who aspired to become the first Jewish speaker of the US House of Representatives, as a “self-hating Jew.” Netanyahu faces his own re-election battle in October, and the veteran leader may try to use the standoff with Emanuel for political gain by appearing strong in the face of international criticism.

Emanuel, who arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday ahead of Wednesday’s speech, told the AP that he is deliberately avoiding interaction with Israeli elected officials during his visit so as not to interfere in the country’s upcoming elections. Instead, his agenda includes a visit to a hospital serving Israelis and Palestinians and a meeting with the hostage’s family on October 7.

For potential Democratic presidential contenders gauging how to address the fallout from Israel’s war in Gaza and Netanyahu’s apparent tilt toward the Republican Party, led by President Donald Trump, the speech represents a particularly forward-looking strategy. The war has disrupted political alliances in both major political parties in the United States, as young voters backed away from Israel’s approach to the conflict and pressured American leaders to take a tougher line. The issue has upset some Democratic congressional primaries this year, and could remain a dividing line in the contest for the party’s presidential nomination in 2028.

By criticizing Netanyahu for doing little to advance diplomatic efforts to end the war, Emanuel will note that “support for Israel is declining around the world.”

He will say: “You have lost Europe.” “Your scientists face exclusion from international research networks. Your artists and academics are prohibited from participating in exhibitions and conferences.”

Support for Israel has waned

While Netanyahu has generally built strong ties with Trump and the Republican Party, support for Israel among Democrats has declined in recent years. But by portraying Israel as increasingly isolated, Emanuel’s comments echo recent statements by Vice President J.D. Vance, a sign of how criticism of the country has spread across both parties. Speaking recently from the White House briefing room as the United States works on a deal to end the war with Iran, Vance said Trump is “the only head of state in the entire world who sympathizes with the State of Israel at this moment in time.”

For all his harsh words, Emanuel, a Jew whose father was born in Jerusalem, would offer notes of compassion and understanding. He acknowledged the victims of the October 7, 2023 attacks, in which Hamas-led militants launched air and ground strikes on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage. He pointed to disappointments from previous rounds of peace talks with Palestinian leaders.

He added: “But even while acknowledging this history, the path forward cannot be hostage to a past defined exclusively by mutual accusations.”

He will describe the two-state solution as “discredited” and push instead for a “23-state solution” that would include Israel, the Palestinians and the other 21 Arab League member states in a peace agreement.

He said: “The 21 Arab countries that have exploited Palestinian rights as a slogan for decades now need to roll up their sleeves and establish a ruling authority capable of accepting the historical Jewish connection to this land.”

Although no prominent Democrats have officially entered the 2028 contest, that could change soon after the November midterm elections with a field that could eventually swell into the dozens. Few have been as open about their intentions as Emanuel, a former White House chief of staff, congressman, Chicago mayor and former U.S. ambassador who has spent much of the past three decades holding one public office or another. In the absence of such a publication now, he has gained attention by launching a series of policy proposals, biking through early-voting New Hampshire, appearing on podcasts and ramping up his social media presence.

Peoples reported from New York.