Audio tapes of a conversation between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and economist Saeed Leylaz have been leaked, according to the New York Times.
In the tapes, recorded in March, Zarif reveals striking new information by saying that former US Secretary of State John Kerry told him about Israel’s covert operations in Syria over 200 times.
Republicans immediately took to social media to condemn Kerry. Nikki Haley, potential 2024 presidential candidate, tweeted that it was “disgusting on many levels” and that Kerry would have to answer for “stabbing one of our greatest partners, Israel, in the back.”
Mitt Romney (R-UT) called Kerry’s behavior an “apparent breach of a commitment to one of our key allies” and Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that if it is true, it “would be a major foreign policy catastrophe for the country.”
Dan Sullivan (R-AK) was one of several senators who took to the floor on Monday saying, “I don’t do this lightly. In my entire time in the Senate, I’ve never called for anyone’s resignation. But his record, John Kerry’s record, of undermining working families and working against American national security interests was too much to bear. He needs to go.”
Sullivan added that he couldn’t believe that Kerry “…would reveal the secrets of one of our most important and enduring allies in the region to an avowed enemy.”
Amidst calls to resign as current US special envoy to climate change, Kerry has denied the allegations completely and says he never did such a thing. Democrats appear to be sticking with Kerry, saying that there is “no question about his loyalty to this country” according to Senator Dick Durban (D-IL).
The consensus amongst Democrats and Republicans alike is that Israel is a Western outpost for the United States. In no uncertain terms, Rav Uri Pilichowksy, a long-time AIPAC mouthpiece and outspoken supporter of the US-Israel relationship, has previously explained the relationship as follows:
“The U.S.-Israel relationship is a mutually beneficial partnership that reinforces America’s moral values and strategic interests. Israel is a reliable, stable, democratic ally that advances American interests in a highly volatile and strategically important region of the world. American support for Israel promotes peace and helps deter regional conflict by making clear to potential foes that they cannot defeat the Jewish state.”
There are two main arguments we need to unpack in order to understand the perception of the State of Israel as Washington’s valued ally. Analyzing these arguments can help us better appreciate the full relevance of the conversations between John Kerry and Mohammad Javad Zarif.
The first argument sees Israeli and US interests in step with regard to “moral values.” Is this true? The assumption might be based off the notion that Jews are white, part and parcel of the West, and as such, Israel can serve as a station or colony of sorts for US interests. But for anyone who lives a Jewish lifestyle or knows a little bit of history (European or Jewish), this notion can sound absurd. Imagine telling our great-grandparents in the mid 20th Century that they were Europeans. The survivors of our people’s European experience would have laughed at you. Some might have actually thought themselves European at one point, before the Germans made it clear what Europeans thought of Jews.
In fact, this notion would have sounded absurd to Jews of almost any historic period living in Europe. There were certainly times of quiet, but pogroms were not circumstantial to Jewish life, they were essential. The question was not if Jews were going to be persecuted, but when and how harshly. Given Christian theology and the notion of supersessionism or replacement theology, this was only logical, as Christian Europe saw itself meting out justice to God’s supposed “despised people.”
By the time Jews began fleeing to the United States, they knew that they had a choice to make: blend in or risk being thrown out again for the n-teenth time. Jews had seen how the United States had treated the S.S. St. Louis and refused to bomb Nazi concentration camps. Certainly, the American experience would be different for the Jews. Nevertheless, the Jewish community needed to decide how to survive and thus, we reach the likes of John Kerry and Nikki Haley and Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney and Dan Durbin and Dan Sullivan sharing the same message: Jews are white and the Jewish state is a US outpost in the Middle East.
The other reason for America’s obsession with Israel as a Western outpost relates to how the United States benefits from keeping our conflict alive (but that aspect is not critical for now).
The key point of this Kerry saga is not that he may have sold Israel out to Iran. He denies it, so there is no certainty in the matter. Even if he did, the Jewish community should not be surprised. He would merely add his name to a long list of government officials to turn his back on supporting the Jewish people.
But the most important aspect of this story is why US politicians would be so outraged if the accusations against Kerry were true. We’ve established the way in which the United States relates to Israel, and for anyone with a sense of the Jewish people’s meta-narrative, it is a sad reality. This story should embolden us to reconsider if there is something more to the State of Israel than just being a vassal of the West.
The prophet Ovadia claimed that one day, “liberators shall ascend Mount Zion to wreak judgment on Mount Esav” (Ovadia 1:21).
Since Jewish tradition has for two millennia seen the West as the archetypical descendants of Esav, it is incumbent upon Jews to reconsider Esav’s mountain, its impact on the world and whether or not we think Zion should serve as its outpost.
