Saturday, December 17, 2016

Mike Lillis — Trump pick signals sharp shift on Israel

President-elect Donald Trump's selection of a pro-Israel hardliner to head the U.S. embassy in that country signals a sharp shift in Washington's approach to its closest ally in the Middle East.
David Friedman, a New York-based bankruptcy attorney with no diplomatic experience, has challenged the so-called two-state solution as an avenue toward peace between the Israelis and Palestinians after decades of violent instability.
He's also pushed to move the U.S. embassy from its current spot in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which both sides claim as their spiritual capital....
Trump buys into ethno-nationalism as a political alternative, abandoning Western liberalism.

Alt-Right wins. Steve Bannon scores points.
Mike Lillis

8 comments:

Matt Franko said...

Interesting take Tom... could be... Alt-Right seems to support Israel's national/ethnic culture on principle...

Tom Hickey said...

It's a core principle and the basis for white ethnographic-natonalism.

The argument goes that Israeli Jews are not racially opposed to Palestinians or Arabs, who are also of Semitic heritage. Rather, Israeli Jews view themselves an an ethnic group committed to ethnic purity and they only desire a common home.

This is the argument of white nationalists in the US, UK, and Europe as well. They are not bigoted against other ethnic groups but only want a common home for their own ethnic group and traditional culture, in this case where they have been long established, whereas Israel is based on Zionism, which is revanchist.

So it is presented in a liberal context of peoples being free to choose based on ethnicity.

This is key in the US, UK, and Europe, where immigration is shifting the demographics.

This is a red line for these people, just as it is for hardline rightwing Israelis.

Matt Franko said...

Yes.... This is Spencer down at A&M recently pointing this out to a Rabbi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V054eqVFaXs

I have been skeptical of Bannon's alt right 'credentials' but now that you point this out maybe....

Matt Franko said...

imo all of this ethnographic nationalism would be WAAAAY worse if not for the New Deal xfer programs we now have vice the 30's... and getting off the gold now...

You could see how WW2 could happen after the 30's...

If we didnt have those xfer programs and were still under the gold we are probably at WW3 by now...

Tom Hickey said...

Alt-Right = HRC's "deplorables." It is the contemporary far right in contrast to "right wing extremism" which is to the right of it and the paleo-far fight like the John Birch Society.

Allum Bokhari & Milo Yiannopoulos, An Establishment Conservative’s Guide To The Alt-RightAn Establishment Conservative’s Guide To The Alt-Right, at Breitbart.

Michael Knowles, An Actual Conservative's Guide To The Alt-Right: 8 Things You Need To Know, at the Daily Wire

However, I would distinguish between alt-right and Alt-Right.

Alt-Right is young, brazen, and digital/media savvy. Like the Yippies (Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin Paul Krasner et al) on the Left in the late Sixties US politics, it aims to outrage. It's political and social "street theater." This is generally what is referred to by its detractors. It's style is in-your-face.

But the category is much larger and more amorphous. It is alternative conservatism. It has a history. Many people in the alt-right category are neither young nor is their style brashly in-your-face. They make cogent arguments for their illiberalism making it a subcategory of liberalism. I think this is where Steve Bannon fits, and, I suspect, DJT also. They are both willing to accept the support of the Alt-Right to a degree, but pull back from its more radical posture and expression.

DJT and SB are bringing this into the GOP Big Tent. Conversely, in their rush to claim the center-right and recruit disaffected Republicans, New Democrats excluded the Berniebots, and, of course the "Alt-Left" enemies of traditionalism, paring the base.

MRW said...

Trump team: Too early for US embassy move to Jerusalem
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4894105,00.html

Is he going to do to Israel what he did to the Republican Right last summer? Say what they want to hear then dial it back?

MRW said...

Read Scott Adams' column: Persuasion and ISIS
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/154553282956/persuasion-and-isis

[...] "If you have been reading my blog for the past year, allow me to translate what I just said into persuasion language. What the former head of the CIA is saying is that we don’t have the opportunity for “pacing and leading” the terrorists because we are too different from the start. To influence people at the “deep” level it helps to first become like them, to build trust and credibility. Later perhaps you can lead them to a better place, once they recognize you as one of their own.

That’s what Nixon did when he went to China. First he paced Americans who were distrustful of China until he was just like them. Then he visited China – a big deal at the time – and led Americans to his position of friendly relations.

Likewise, Trump paced the most hardcore Republican base in the primaries before leading them to moderation on immigration, Obamacare repeal, waterboarding, and more. Same persuasion method as Nixon."

MRW said...

Dont forget when he announced Mattis as SecDef, he said he was impressed because Mattis apparently told him that he could do more with a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers than waterboarding or torture. And then Trump said, "Twenty-five words. He convinced me."