Retiring Democratic lawmaker: When AIPAC told us to jump, the party used to ask ‘How high?’

Read More

WASHINGTON – Rep. David Price shook Capitol Hill recently when he announced he is wrapping up his four-decade political career and not seeking reelection in 2022. The 81-year-old North Carolina Democrat has long been considered a party elder renowned for distilling thorny, complicated policy matters into easily digestible points for public consumption.

This has extended to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where he has been among the foremost lawmakers explaining how being pro-Israel and pro-peace are not mutually exclusive. Speaking with Haaretz, Price notes that the Israeli-Palestinian issue needs to be more thoroughly debated and understood.

“I wish there was more of a fruitful cross-partisan discussion going on,” he says. “I’m afraid our Republican colleagues have all too often kind of used this as a wedge issue. That goes way back; that wasn’t just Donald Trump. That was Tom DeLay years ago,” he says, referring to the former GOP congressman who served as house majority leader from 2003 to 2005, “and others who were determined to portray the Republican Party and the evangelical community in this country as Israel’s true friends.”

He also accuses Israel’s former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of “going dangerously far down” that road. “We need to restore that sense of Israel as a moral, historical and political bedrock of our foreign policy that all parties understand and support,” Price says. “How does that friendship manifest itself? What does it mean to be pro-Israel? That’s the question underlying a lot of these political issues, and being pro-Israel is not incompatible with being pro-Palestinian. In fact, I think the two reinforce each other,” he says.

AIPAC v. J Street

Price first visited Israel upon taking office in the late 1980s alongside his Jewish wife. “We learned a lot from that trip, including that opinion in Israel on Israeli-Palestinian matters was a lot more nuanced than what I had gotten from AIPAC champions when I was running for office, when I was supposed to answer certain litmus test-type questions,” he says, referring to the most powerful pro-Israel lobby in D.C.

Price has visited the region several times since, often with Rep. Wayne Owens (who died in 2002) and the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, working toward improving Israeli-Palestinian ties. He also embraced broader regional normalization with Arab states before it flourished in recent years.

These two D.C. retirements will hurt America’s conversation on Israel

‘Netanyahu often got it badly wrong’: Senior Democrat says party not divided over Israel

AIPAC compares Rand Paul to ‘The Squad,’ slams him over Iron Dome vote

He recalls how during one of his visits, the U.S. consul general asked him not to cancel a slate of meetings with his Palestinian counterparts as AIPAC was urging them to boycott. “We were caught in a situation where I did what I thought we should do, but was subjected to attacks back home. It wasn’t entirely smooth sailing, but I did become more knowledgeable and involved in the issue,” he says.

Perhaps more than any other U.S. lawmaker over the past 15 years, Price has found an ideological ally in the pro-Israel, pro-peace organization J Street. He notes that since the group’s founding, it has made a “huge difference in the political environment – for me and a lot of members.” He also cites other organizations such as the Israel Policy Forum and Americans for Peace Now, but highlights J Street’s grassroots organizing of the American-Jewish community as key and unprecedented.

“It wasn’t that long ago in the Democratic caucus – including the leadership of the party – when if AIPAC said jump, we’d say ‘How high?’ It was pretty reflexive; I came to be bothered by that and a lot of members were bothered. A lot more members were bothered by that than cast votes that indicated that,” he says.

Palestinian diplomat Husam Zomlot speaking at a J Street event in Washington five years ago.Michael Brochstein / SOPA Images

“The political contribution of J Street was not so much to change people’s minds but more to legitimate and embolden members who already had these views and [to] sometimes provide political cover for a more nuanced approach to Israeli-Palestinian issues. J Street essentially said that that was not only appropriate but actually quite important to do.”

What divide?

Price’s retirement is seen as the departure of a nuanced voice trying to maintain a center of gravity within a party that is increasingly polarized on Israel. He acknowledges concerns, but rejects the notion that he’s part of a silent majority.

“We’re quite vocal and have rejected the previous kind of silence in terms of reflexively signing a letter or voting for a resolution. That’s the way it worked when I first came here, and members weren’t expected to question it,” he says.

He points to a number of inflection points over the past 15 years leading to the current moment in time, including Democratic efforts surrounding the Iran nuclear deal, the “rebellion” against House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel “and his going along with the Republicans in the various severe and unfair criticisms late in the Obama presidency,” as well as efforts undertaken by the Democratic caucus during the Trump administration aimed at keeping the two-state solution alive.

“With the Gaza conflict [in May], this narrative emerged that the caucus is all over the place, with ‘the Squad‘ on one hand and die-hard defenders like Rep. Josh Gottheimer on the other, and there’s this hopeless divide. That leaves out this 20-year development, and it’s important to focus on the movement that has taken place and the more attentive, nuanced view,” Price stresses.

His upcoming retirement, however, does potentially portend a generational shift where many of his cohorts find themselves leaving office. “You always have to be concerned about the members coming up and making sure that you’re not aging out, but I’m not really worried about that,” Price says, highlighting colleagues like Reps. Gerry Connolly, Lloyd Doggett, Barbara Lee and Jan Schakowsky, as well as newer members such as Reps. Alan Lowenthal and Andy Levin.

“It’s an informal group, but it still represents the center of gravity in the Democratic caucus,” he says, adding that the party needs “to keep working on this and keep getting a level of activism among our members.”

Along with the lawmakers he highlighted, Price is among the co-sponsors of Levin’s Two-State Solution Act – perhaps the most thorough legislative articulation of U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“It’s a comprehensive bill in the sense that it attempts to go through a range of policies that are relevant to the viability of a two-state solution,” he says. “It’s in the weeds in the sense that it’s very prescriptive and very detailed. It’s not like these very broad-gauged resolutions that we’ve put forward or letters that get 200 people,” he adds, noting that it deals with “thorny issues” like the use and misuse of aid to both Israelis and Palestinians.

“It’s time to articulate those things, and I’m glad this bill does so. You don’t need to agree with every detail, but it’s useful to go ahead to this level of development of policy. Otherwise, the two-state solution becomes kind of a platitude,” Price says.

“There really is no alternative” that is remotely acceptable to a two-state solution, he warns, noting that the Trump administration undermined conditions while calling U.S. commitment to such a resolution into question. “It’s not like it’s an empty cliche. The vision is inspiring and one to want to affirm,” Price says.

“It’s the only way, and it does promise security and a good life for peaceful coexistence for these two states,” he says. “I realize how perilous it looks at this moment and how there’s plenty of apprehension on both sides as to what this would look like in the end, and whether it can be sustained,” he sums up. “It’s just a huge diplomatic challenge, but I’m not sure there’s any viable alternative for the long term.”