The trouble with living in a bifurcated political culture isn’t just that everyone seems to be living in an ideological bubble. We’ve seen how this coarsens and embitters public discourse. But in the last week, it’s now clear that this isn’t just something that impacts the way ordinary citizens interact with each other. It’s also leading politicians to make some terrible decisions.

That’s the best way to understand how President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer walked into a political trap of their own making when they decided to attack Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In his State of the Union address, Biden had more harsh words for Netanyahu than for the Hamas terrorists who perpetrated the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel. Then Schumer gave a speech on the floor of the Senate that not only labeled the prime minister as being equally responsible for the lack of peace with the Palestinians as Hamas in Gaza and the supposedly more moderate Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, which has repeatedly rejected offers of statehood while also subsidizing terrorism.

What’s more, speaking at the behest of the White House because both men thought it would help the president’s re-election prospects, Schumer called for regime change in Jerusalem. In a blatant act of interference in the politics of a fellow democracy, the senator demanded that Israel hold new elections and oust Netanyahu, who won the last Knesset election that was held only 16 months ago. The senator seemed not to know or just not care about the fact that while Netanyahu remains a controversial figure, the overwhelming majority of Israelis back his policies of continuing the war until victory. They also oppose a Palestinian state that would allow Hamas to make good on its promise to repeat the horrors of Oct. 7.

Giving a gift to the GOP

Yet days later, Biden had to disavow any intention of trying to overthrow Netanyahu’s government. Even more humiliating is the way Schumer is being forced to acquiesce to the idea of inviting Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress, where he could use that bully pulpit to make the case to support Israel’s war to finish off the Hamas terrorists who threaten not just the Middle East but the world.

Of course, that’s not what Schumer wants to do. But the backlash against his speech was such that he quickly realized that he had made a terrible mistake, even if he and other Democrats continue to try to justify his words. Far from isolating Netanyahu, Biden and Schumer had handed a campaign issue to the Republicans, who were quick not just to condemn the Majority Leader but to use the administration’s statements to buttress their claim that they are the only pro-Israel party. That led Senate Republicans to invite Netanyahu to give a virtual address to their caucus meeting this week, where he briefed them on the war against Hamas and Israel’s intentions to keep fighting until the terrorists are eliminated. House Speaker Mike Johnson then said he intended to ask the prime minister to address Congress, leaving Senate leader Schumer in a position where a refusal to go along with the idea would brand him and his party as foes of the Jewish state.

The problem for Biden and Schumer was that they were so immersed in the debates inside their own party that they forgot that what passes for conventional wisdom among left-wing Democrats, especially when it comes to Israel, bears little resemblance to the political reality of the rest of America.

Biden thinks that the reason he’s currently trailing Trump in the polls and in danger of losing key battleground states like Michigan and Nevada is that he’s been too supportive of Israel since Oct. 7.

Inside the left-wing bubble

© JNS