AIPAC Worried About Biden

Sam and Emma speak with Ryan Grim, D.C. Bureau Chief at The Intercept and co-host of Counter Points, to round up the week in news.

Ryan Grim joins the program by phone, and he, Sam, and Emma start off by recapping the calamitous end of Kristi Noem’s book tour, with the last stop on Stuart Varney’s Fox Business show looking like the breaking point. They then discuss how AIPAC has been slightly neutralized in the election cycle this year, and, per Ryan’s reporting and analysis, the fear some in the organization are feeling that they don’t possess the same sway over Biden given his decision to withhold some aid to Israel over the prospect of a Rafah invasion, AND that they haven’t been as impactful or decisive in Democratic primaries, specifically against Squad members. Ryan outlines some of the equivocating that Bidenworld has done after Biden’s comments on withholding aid, and Grim zeroes in on the cleavage between the Biden administration officials responsible for military and intelligence actions (Defense Secretary Austin & CIA Director Burns) who are in negotiations with Israel & Palestine, compared to that of the diplomatic and political actors (Secretary of State Blinken & Biden’s Chief of Staff Jeff Zients) who have been much more deferential both publicly and privately towards Israel. They then discuss the terrible implications for the U.S., Palestinians, and even Israeli soldiers in terms of casualties and damage if a large scale ground invasion of Rafah occurs, and how, even if Biden and Netanyahu may understand those implications, they may be too involved ideologically to try and put a real stop to it. Grim then updates Sam and Emma on some of the other AIPAC machinations going on, including their infusion in an Oregon congressional primary to stop Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s sister, Susheela, from winning. They then finally discuss what political implications this may have for President Biden in November, and how, if voters who would actually be championing Biden (activists, politically engaged young voters) weren’t so disgusted with Biden’s conduct in Israel, they’d be endorsing and highlighting some serious policy victories that Biden’s engaged in (banning natural gas export terminals, for example). Instead, the connotation with Biden due to his support of Israel is inevitably clouded for some in his key voter bases.

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