Rahm Emanuel will declare that “the most important thing a true friend can do is to tell the truth even when it’s painful,” in a speech at Tel Aviv University aimed at forcing a reconfiguration of US policy on unconditional support for Israel.
Recalling his own long history with Israel — from going to visit the grave of an uncle who fought for Israeli independence to being called a “self-hating” Jew by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after an argument during his time as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff — the former Chicago mayor and ambassador to Japan will make the speech the centerpiece of a multi-day trip to Israel staged very explicitly with a 2028 presidential run in mind.
Also very much in mind for Emanuel is how much support for Israel has dropped among Americans overall, but especially among Democrats, since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror attacks and the Israeli government’s long assault on Gaza. And it comes at a moment when support for Israel is becoming a litmus test for more and more Democratic primary voters, with antisemitism on the rise as well.
His speech will be aimed at that audience back home, but also to Israelis whom he will say should turn away from Netanyahu’s leadership, saying, “Your government is complicit in the horrors now being inflicted on innocent families in the West Bank. That undermines your international legitimacy at a time when you can least afford it.”
