Former Obama Official Says Israel Has Become Definitional Issue for Democratic Left

What was said

"Israel is costfree and so Israel is now the foundational moral question with which you gain moral authority and attention. Climate change is an expensive agenda. Police reform is an expensive and complex agenda. Israel is costfree. It is more easy to be a climate change denier on the progressive left today than it is to disagree on Israel."

Haviv Rettig Gur argues that Israel has replaced traditional progressive causes as the primary moral litmus test for the Democratic left. He claims that candidates like Representative Khanna and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel are positioning themselves for higher office by critiquing Israel, as it provides moral authority without the policy complexities of domestic issues. Gur suggests both politicians are using Israeli-Palestinian conflict as props for American political theater rather than engaging with ground realities.