Muslims hand out flyers urging Arabs and Muslim voters to vote “non-committed” in this past week’s Michigan primary as a protest against Pres. Biden’s Israel policy .AFP via Getty Images
For months, President Joe Biden and his advisors have alleged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is captive to the “ultra-conservative” ministers in his coalition government, and out of step with mainstream Israeli public opinion.
Even worse, they accuse Netanyahu of unnecessarily prolonging the war to avoid elections.
According to this line, mainstream Israelis are with Biden.
If it weren’t the hardliners in his government, Netanyahu would be suing for a hostage deal at any price; agreeing with Biden that the terror-laced Palestinian Authority should take over Gaza after the war; joining Biden’s push for Palestinian statehood, and accepting a ceasefire that won’t bring all the hostages home or destroy Hamas militarily or politically.
But as a Direct Polls survey of Israeli public opinion from February 13 showed, Biden’s claim of prolonging the Israeli offensive is a gross mischaracterization of the nation’s public opinion.
The Netanyahu government set three goals for the war: Eradicating Hamas as a military force and as a regime; releasing all of the hostages; and preventing Gaza from posing a threat to Israel in the future.
The survey showed that upwards of three quarters of Israelis support all of these goals.
Some 92 percent of Israelis oppose allowing Hamas to continue to exist in Gaza after the war; 84% oppose agreeing to end the war in exchange for the unreasonable hostage deal now on the table; 74% oppose Palestinian statehood.
And 73% of Israelis support an Israeli ground offensive to seize control over the southern border town of Rafah, even if it causes an open confrontation with the Biden administration.
Tlaib called on Muslim and progressive voters in Michigan to vote “Uncommitted” rather than vote for Biden in the Michigan primaries which took place on Tuesday.
The idea was to send Biden a clear message: Support Israel and lose Michigan.
Lose Michigan, and Donald Trump will return to the White House.