STEVE INSKEEP, BYLINE: During this week that the Middle East War heated up again, an American went to Israel. Rahm Emanuel did something that used to be rare for American political leaders. He delivered an extended public critique of America's ally. Emanuel gave a speech in Tel Aviv speaking directly to Israelis.
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RAHM EMANUEL: I want to be very clear about this. The pursuit of a so-called greater Israel is as self-destructive and fanatical as the chant from the river to the sea. Your government has been complicit in the horrors now being inflicted on innocent families in the West Bank.
INSKEEP: This speech has implications back home. Emanuel is the former mayor of Chicago and former chief of staff to President Obama, who is exploring a run for president. He's tried to influence the Democratic Party's approach to a range of issues and now follows many Democrats in saying that they support Israel as a country, but not its current policies, one war after another. He came on the line to talk about this.
This speech strikes me as a warning. You are issuing a warning to Israel. What is the warning?
EMANUEL: The warning is by a set of government choices by Prime Minister Netanyahu, you had led yourself into being both politically, strategically, economically a pariah. These are choices. If you walk on the path towards peace and your own security, we'll stand by your side. If you stay with this current policies that have led you to the point that you've lost American public, you've lost the European public, Europe is your economic market, America's your political kind of partner, all you picked up was Somaliland. This is unsustainable.
INSKEEP: Can Israelis not reply to you, you see us losing, we keep winning, we crushed Hamas, we've won all these victories against Hezbollah, we've bombed Iran, we've done a lot of things that have been very successful militarily?
EMANUEL: Look, the prime minister, Netanyahu, has failed repeatedly to take advantage of the military, quote-unquote, "success" and turn it into strategic advantages. Take Syria. The Assad father and son were disastrous for Israel for 40 years. You finally have a new president who says that we have - Israel and you have a common enemy in Iran. Pick up the phone and come to a security agreement and America will help. You've made no effort. That is in your security interests. It's in our security interests, and you're not using your security tools, meaning you have economic statecraft, political persuasion, cultural attraction, military power. You reduced your statecraft to one tool.
INSKEEP: I'm interested that you argue Israel has changed its image in the world from being a tech startup, which is one of the things that was happening in its economy, to being a country that seems to be all about war.
EMANUEL: Yeah. What I observe is that five years ago, you captured the world's imagination as the start-up nation. You are now known as a choice by the prime minister as Sparta. Think about the consequences of that.
INSKEEP: Sparta, meaning the ancient Greek cities. They...
EMANUEL: Yeah. They were all about power.
INSKEEP: ...That was all about war.
EMANUEL: And, yes, all that, but the prime minister enunciated, we want to be the modern-day Sparta. Well, that is not to your interests and it's not to America's interests.
INSKEEP: Now, you said a moment ago that Israel has lost the American public - your words - and you're saying this while considering a run for president of the United States. There's a divide in the Republican Party, which has gotten a lot of attention on Israel.
EMANUEL: Yes.
INSKEEP: I'd like you to describe the divide right now in the Democratic Party. I think about a longtime supporter of Israel, like Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader. And I think about democratic socialists who are in a very different place. What's the divide as you see it?
EMANUEL: Well, I would say the - there's unity in opposition to Prime Minister Netanyahu because people see - they'll articulate it their way, I did it my way - that he has cost the alliance, he's cost the United States, and he's cost Israel and jeopardized Israel's security. There are others that don't believe in the state of Israel. Just don't. I'm not in that camp.
INSKEEP: The United States provides so much support to Israel that has been vital to that country's survival. Ultimately, it has not cut off that support even when the U.S. government disagrees about something that Israel may have done. Can you really threaten the Israelis if they do not go along with your...
EMANUEL: No.
INSKEEP: ...View of their future?
EMANUEL: Yeah. Sure. So for one other thing, Steve, your question actually belies a blind spot.
INSKEEP: Go ahead.
EMANUEL: We also - well, we also offer military security to many nations in the Arab League. You never asked me about that.
INSKEEP: You mean Israel's neighbors? Sure.
EMANUEL: Yeah. Well, that's leverage. We have a lot of assets at our disposal. We've never organized them to play this role.
INSKEEP: OK. Let me just...
EMANUEL: And we're...
INSKEEP: Let me stop you for a second.
EMANUEL: And to Israel. But to Israel, you would say, there will be no U.S. taxpayer support for the purchasing of weapons. You have to buy them at full price. You have to live by the requirements and restrictions that every ally. But I also said, in the speech, any settler or any individual committing violence, sanctioned. Any government official that basically condones that violence, sanctioned. Any bank and construction company involved in building illegal settlements, sanctioned.
INSKEEP: So just so I understand, the new basis of the relationship in your mind is Israel is a wealthy nation now. It can buy its own weapons. Doesn't need them free from the United States. Israel may well be subject to sanctions from the United States if it does things wrong, but...
EMANUEL: Right.
INSKEEP: ...You also favor this broader regional peace plan, what you've called a 23-state solution, meaning that all the Arab neighbors get involved in fully recognizing Israel.
EMANUEL: Yeah.
INSKEEP: And there's also a Palestinian state. Is that right?
EMANUEL: And you get - yes. And you get economic integration. And your tech economy - that's a marvel of the world - gets to flourish and employ and grow as in a part of the economy. So there are carrot. There are sticks. Yes, you'll - you're a media person. You'll focus on the stick part, but I'm offering you the promise of a better time and a better tomorrow. And it also serves America's interests 'cause two presidents have decided - both in the Iraq war and the Iran war - to spend America's treasure, its youth, on a security agreement and an encouragement that is not serving our interests.
INSKEEP: Are you seeing Prime Minister Netanyahu on this trip to Israel?
EMANUEL: No. No. I saw the president, Herzog, who's not a political kind of judicial person.
INSKEEP: He's supposed to be above...
EMANUEL: I've seen...
INSKEEP: ...Politics, right.
EMANUEL: Yeah. I've seen nobody because I'm not letting him say that I'm involved in Israeli politics.
INSKEEP: Got it. Rahm Emanuel...
EMANUEL: But as you know...
INSKEEP: Oh, go on.
EMANUEL: But as you know, Steve, I'm not shy to say what I think.
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INSKEEP: That has been my experience.
EMANUEL: (Laughter) All right, buddy. Thank you.
INSKEEP: Rahm Emanuel, thanks for talking.
EMANUEL: Thank you.
INSKEEP: He gave a speech this week in Tel Aviv criticizing the policies of the government of Israel.
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