Rahm Emanuel to deliver ‘painful’ truths on Israel in Tel Aviv speech
By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN
(CNN) — Rahm Emanuel will declare that “the most important thing a true friend can do is to tell the truth even when it’s painful,” in a speech at Tel Aviv University aimed at forcing a reconfiguration of US policy on unconditional support for Israel.
Recalling his own long history with Israel — from going to visit the grave of an uncle who fought for Israeli independence to being called a “self-hating” Jew by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after an argument during his time as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff — the former Chicago mayor and ambassador to Japan will make the speech the centerpiece of a multi-day trip to Israel staged very explicitly with a 2028 presidential run in mind.
Also very much in mind for Emanuel is how much support for Israel has dropped among Americans overall, but especially among Democrats, since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror attacks and the Israeli government’s long assault on Gaza. And it comes at a moment when support for Israel is becoming a litmus test for more and more Democratic primary voters, with antisemitism on the rise as well.
His speech will be aimed at that audience back home, but also to Israelis whom he will say should turn away from Netanyahu’s leadership, saying, “Your government is complicit in the horrors now being inflicted on innocent families in the West Bank. That undermines your international legitimacy at a time when you can least afford it.”
“Those chanting ‘from the river to the sea’ need to hear this loud and clear: they will never have their way,” Emanuel, a CNN commentator, will say, according to prepared remarks of the speech he provided ahead of time. “But those calling for a greater Israel must also hear this loud and clear: you’re never going to have your way, either.”
Emanuel has been workshopping the ideas in the speech for weeks, including with his old boss, former President Bill Clinton, whose pursuit of a peace process was a priority in his final days in office – and who still speaks constantly about his frustration that he could not close a deal.
As he builds his prospective presidential campaign around proposing specific policy proposals, Emanuel’s speech in Israel will center on a new regional effort to get to a peace solution that American-led attempts have failed to deliver for decades.
“Arab leaders, not Israel, must hold the Palestinians responsible and accountable for their actions, and for being a true partner in peace. To that end, the now-discredited path to a ‘two-state solution’ should be replaced by a 23-state solution: the 21 Arab nations that have exploited Palestinian rights as a slogan for decades now need to roll up their sleeves and stand up a governing authority capable of accepting the historic Jewish connection to this land,” he will say.
The strength of Israel was always in its ingenuity, economic and technological achievements and should focus on building a better future, Emanuel will say, pleading for the country to return to that mindset, even though it’s difficult.
“Three times since the early 1990s, you have offered the Palestinians sovereignty in exchange for your security – and three times your offer was not only rejected, but you were attacked as a direct consequence,” Emanuel will say. “In the United States, we have a saying: ‘fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me.’ I understand all of that. But even while acknowledging that history, the path forward cannot be held hostage to a past defined exclusively by recriminations.”
The-CNN-Wire
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