By Jonathan S. Tobin
(JNS) — You didn’t have to hate Israel to be among the millions of Americans who turned out for the “No Kings” rallies held in a reported 3,300 locations around the United States. Many liberals of all faiths sympathize with the “resistance” but aren’t anti-Zionist. Many of them are not interested in spreading the blood libels about “genocide.”
Indeed, the main issues addressed at this past rally were opposition to the Iran war and the administration’s efforts to enforce immigration laws. Those are positions an individual can take without also engaging in smears of the Jewish state.
But as the presence of Palestinian flags and other insignia of the anti-Israel movement at some of the rallies demonstrated, the distinction between anti-Trump and anti-Israel isn’t always easy to maintain. Indeed, a key question to be asked about this upsurge of anti-Trump activism is whether the “No Kings” events can avoid the descent into anti-Israel extremism.
Political liberals had clearly become less enthusiastic in their support for Israel in the last quarter-century than they had been in past generations.
Like hostility to Russia and support for Ukraine, being soft on an Iranian regime has become second nature to Democrats.
The fact that part of the impetus for the latest “No Kings” rally was opposition to a war that the United States is fighting side by side with Israel against the Islamist regime in Iran puts the remaining liberal supporters of Israel in an even more precarious and isolated position. The war to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is almost universally rejected as an unnecessary “war of choice.” Under the circumstances, hostility to Trump’s partner in this entirely necessary conflict is growing.
Let’s concede that Trump’s egotism is on a level that exceeds his predecessors. His unseemly desire to name things after himself or to put his signature on currency validates some of the “kings” narrative.
However, few of those protesting the president’s egregious actions or statements ever stop to consider that the reason he does it is to drive them up the wall.
That the same people who took to the streets against Trump were likely supportive of the Biden administration is deeply ironic. For it colluded with Silicon Valley oligarchs to censor free speech, punish opponents of draconian and often-misguided COVID-19 pandemic policies; ignored the Constitution when it came to enforcing laws it didn’t like or to impose those that it did on the country; and also sought to bankrupt and jail Trump, its principal political opponent.
And that’s despite the fact that it was their party that has largely stifled opposition to their establishment’s picked candidate in the last three presidential election cycles.
Both sides are guilty of hypocrisy when it comes to attacking their foes and ignoring the mistakes and crimes committed by their side.
Soros-funded ‘astroturfing’
The worrisome element of “No Kings” is not the foolish partisanship and hyperbole about democracy that convinces no one who voted for Trump of the justice of their cause. Nor is it their foolish belief that the public is interested in the opinions of celebrities like Robert DeNiro, Jane Fonda or even Bruce Springsteen, who have been railing against Trump for years. It’s the way that toxic attitudes toward Israel and antisemitism that were once confined to the fever swamps of the far left and right have become part of mainstream political discourse.
The danger becomes obvious when you consider who is funding these protests, which were bankrolled by the same left-wing sources that were behind the Women’s March and BLM. The various foundations funded by left-wing Jewish billionaire George Soros were a principal source of support for “No Kings.” The network of philanthropies he and his family control is behind a vast array of left-wing causes, including many dedicated to attacking the State of Israel and promoting its destruction.
Moreover, the manufacture of signs and scripted speeches heard at these events all point to evidence of “astroturfing.” That’s a term that describes what happens when large donors like Soros pile on cash to pay for materials, logistical support and even protesters to give the impression that events that are more a function of a national political strategy are the result of grassroots activism.
Right-wing podcasters and political commentators like Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, conspiracy theorist Candace Owens and neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes have adopted these big lies and libels about Israel. But as the polls about both support for Israel and the war in Iran show, there is little sign that most Republicans or conservatives agree with them, as the overwhelming majority of those on the right continue to back Washington, Jerusalem and even the war against Iran.
Yet on the left, opposition to Israel and the war is not marginal. It’s painfully obvious that hostility to Israel is taken for granted as one of the laundry list of causes that command the backing of most on that side of the political aisle. Their premature predictions of doom for the U.S.-Israeli campaign to stop Iran are primarily examples of wishful thinking for those who hate Trump and Israel more than they care about the defense of the West against Islamists or genocidal terrorists.
At the moment, “No Kings” and “No Israel” are not the same thing. The priority for many of those who turned out for rallies this past weekend may be support for open borders and opposition to the enforcement of immigration laws. It may be rising gas prices, dissatisfaction with the policies of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. or something else entirely. Still, you don’t have to count the Palestinian flags or other hateful symbols of the red-green alliance against Israel to understand that the antisemitic virus that has taken hold of much of the left continues to spread.