As the Israel-Hamas war drags on and the civilian death toll in Palestine soars, the American-Israeli father of a daughter held by Hamas for nearly two months – and whose son-in-law was killed – will speak in Troy Sunday about the hostage crisis overseas.
Yehuda Beinin is coming to the Capital Region after visiting Washington D.C., where he has been meeting with lawmakers and other federal officials.
Beinin was among a group of family members of hostages who had an audience with President Biden just days after the October 7th attacks by Hamas in Israel.
Beinin will speak at Congregation Berith Sholom at 1 p.m. Sunday in Troy.
I took inspiration from the words of President Biden who addressed the families of the American hostages. Already on October 13, we had an hour and a half Zoom meeting with the president. A very frank discussion. And he laid out his understanding of the Hamas attack on Israel. He understands that it was not so much an attack on Israel, per se, but rather an attack at the administration's Middle East and South Asia policies. The Hamas attack was an attempt to disrupt American foreign policy goals. That the attack in itself was an inflection point in history. Very clearly that was not what would be. And the president emphasized that at the end of this war, he has every intention of implementing a diplomatic process that will lead to a two-state solution, which has been American policy for forever. So, I need to be very frank. In conversations with people that I've had on August 8, it was clear to me that without a vision of the day after, it was clear that Netanyahu had no plan how to run this war. So, having the president say the same and then after a month, Ehud Barak comes up with a big article in arts talking about the day after. And I'm saying to myself, ‘Geez, I thought about this stuff a month ago or three weeks ago.’ So, I gained a lot of confidence in my perception, the entire situation. It gave me a tremendous amount of self-confidence to speak up in public conversations with senators and congressmen. And […] to appear in the media to make my point clear that from my point of view, Netanyahu’s lack of elucidating the day-after-plan is indicative of what his intentions are managing this war. And to be very frank, it's disgusting.
What do you think the U.S. should do right now with stepping in or communicating with Netanyahu, who you've said is not fit to manage the conflict? What do you want to see the U.S. actually do?
You know, this is the third time that I'm in the states plowing the halls of Congress, so to speak. And I am an American citizen. I speak English without too much of an accent, maybe a little Philadelphia inflection there. But the fact of the matter is that I've been living in Israel for 50 years. And in many respects, I'm like an Israeli, and can be rather brash, sometimes in the way that I express myself. And it's particularly clear when you see the way people express themselves. Even though in my opinion, the level of discourse in American politics has fallen off the edge of a cliff and has become very uncivil, actually. Still, by Israeli standards, people tend to speak with more respect, with a lot more reticence about elucidating ideas or goals. And I understand this. But on the other hand, and the message that I've given to congressmen, congresswomen that I've spoken to, is that, man, if President Biden needs to throw Bibi Netanyahu under the bus in order to secure his reelection, then so be it. And better sooner than later. And the economic sanctions that the administration put on the four settlers, that was a stroke of genius. And it works and there should be more of that. Because it's not enough for the government in Israel to understand that the president is serious. The general population of Israel needs to know that Netanyahu has been leading the country in the wrong direction for nearly 16 years. And that that direction is leading to nowhere and it needs to end. And the Israelis need to understand that the United States of America and the leadership of Joe Biden is serious in obtaining their political policy objectives in the Middle East and South Asia.
What do you think of the movement in the U.S. at least, mainly among young people and students, who are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and support for Palestinians as the civilian death toll increases? As somebody who's been living in Israel, how do you see this youth movement here in America?
First of all, I don't know what's allowed. I could reference Bill Maher. Aside from his comedy, his social commentary I think is pretty much on point. I don’t have a great deal of respect for the level of intellectual maturity of the kids on college campuses today. I think that their understanding and conclusions are misdirected at best, unfortunately. I would reference what Bernie Sanders said in a conversation that I had with him. He voted against the ceasefire resolution first when it became clear that Netanyahu was manipulating the situation. So, Sanders’ position was not another nickel for Netanyahu’s war. It's not an issue about Israel. Israel is a sovereign state recognized by the United Nations, it's there. In Israel, there are political parties of all sorts, one of which is currently in power. And they need to be removed from power because their program is a dead end. So, it's not about Israel as a Jewish state or state altogether. And by the same token, the Hamas does not represent all of Palestine, far from it. And under normal circumstances, if there was a viable peace process or negotiation process on the table, you find that most Israelis and most Palestinians would be in favor of seeing that process through once tempers calm down. Regarding the current war and the level of casualties, first of all, it's obvious that any loss of innocent life is a tragedy. So, make myself clear on that. On the other hand, we need to understand that Hamas are not children. They are capable of understanding that their actions have carried results, carry consequences. And I am not in a state of mind to let them off the hook on this. Together with Netanyahu, they’re responsibility for the situation which they find themselves in. On the one hand, Netanyahu used the Hamas as a lever against the Palestine Authority and a divided rule tactic hoping to eliminate the possibility of a two-state solution. It is very clear Netanyahu and his whole concept that the conflict can be managed, all sorts of nonsense of that sort was all delusion. And Netanyahu bears significant responsibility for this war and by the same coin, Hamas is guilty as charged in their responsibility in performing this attack and the atrocities that were perpetrated […] So, I guess if you want to wrap it up, in my approach, they’re all crazy. And what is needed is a strong American presence around the negotiating table that will not include Hamas. It's impossible to negotiate with them because their political goal is basically a religious agenda. And I will add to that, by the same token, people like Smotrich and Ben-Gvir also have no place around the negotiating table. Their world outlook is the same as Hamas. They are a radical Messianic religious group and their religion is their political agenda and that's just not acceptable in the Western world to have people like that running countries. It's a non-starter, it's a dead end. If anybody thinks that it is some kind of acceptable thing to bring to a negotiating table, my feeling is people who have their religion as their political agenda so anything they say is alright because it's in the service of God or Allah, as the case may be, and we need to know not to be fooled by that.
Bringing it back to Washington, DC, you've been meeting with officials and communicating your own story as a father of a daughter who was captured for nearly two months and a son in law who was killed. Do you think that your story has connected with lawmakers even as a foreign aid bill remains deadlocked in Washington, especially during an election year? What do you think of the politics surrounding this in Washington?
My understanding from people is that actually the issue is that Donald Trump doesn't want there to be a bill because he wants to leverage the border issue for him during his campaign. So, that's just a cold, calculated, self-serving maneuver, and does a disservice to American foreign policy. To my conversations with congressmen this past week, I find that almost everyone understands exactly what Netanyahu is doing. They understand exactly what President Biden is doing by providing all this aid with Israel. It's not so much support for Israel, although it is, obviously, and never mind subsidies to American defense industries that foreign aid is [...] But it's also Biden's way of getting Bibi in a barrel. Even most Israelis will not tolerate a sharp break with the American administration, Republican or Democrat. I think most Israelis understand how much Israel is dependent upon the United States for many things, including protection in the security council. Most all of the Democratic representatives that I spoke with are in favor of the president putting highly increased pressure on Netanyahu to reach an agreement [...] negotiations with Hamas and to end the hostage crisis and the war.
Lastly, you'll be appearing in Troy on Sunday. What's the message that you want attendees to come away with from you, somebody who's been living through this in a very personal way?
I think that many years ago, I had some conversations with ministers from the Palestinian Authority and actually very enlightening to me. There are many people in Palestine and Israel who are reasonable people who understand that if we continue to live in the past, no matter what atrocity was perpetrated, and let's make it clear, the Palestinians suffered a number of tragedies along the way. And I'm not going to write a value judgment of whose tragedies are greater, Palestinians or Jewish people. It’s not relevant, it's in the past. It’s all in the past. If we want to provide a better future for our children and grandchildren, we have to let it go. And we need to move forward from now and today. And to discuss the issues in an open and free manner and to come to a conclusion that may not satisfy everyone's agenda. But there will be compromise. But we need to talk and need to mutually recognize each other's hurts and traumas. And we need to move on. And we need to stop having the religious agenda, whether it's Palestinians or Israelis, determine the political agenda. That is a non-starter in Western civilization, if that's where we want to be. I mean, if people want to remain in the Middle Ages with their lack of separation of church and state, it's perfectly acceptable for many people. I can't live like that. That is just not a possible resolution. It'll cause perpetual war and it’s not an option for me. There are people in Israel who embrace that, as well as the Hamas. But that doesn't help anybody in terms of improving their lives. It might make them feel good. The Masters of War feel great because they all feel like they have God on their side, but not everybody can have God on their side. It's just the whole mindset is absurd.
