editorials
Hard Choices
A mericans are worried about the price of gas at Americans to sacrifice too much in pushing back that cooperation.

In addition, there are 600,000 Jews in Russia
the pump, fueled by the panic in the world oil against the Russian dictator. But if we are really
serious about
nonmilitary measures
to stop
a and
tens of thousands of Israelis, many of whom
market caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

belligerent country
from invading
and attempting
want to return to Israel. Their lifeline to Israel is
Thus far, comprehensive Western sanctions meant
to swallow
its neighbors,
killing thousands
of civil-
twice-daily flights on El Al. But once the interna-
to bring Russia to its economic knees have avoided
ians and
setting off
a wave
of millions
of refugees,
tional sanctions
began, insurers of those flights
measures relating to fossil fuels. This has allowed
perhaps we
need to
consider taking
some greater
dropped their
coverage. And so, at an unan-
Russia to exploit its chief means of obtaining hard
financial risk
in order
to achieve
a moral
result. nounced
1 a.m.

meeting on
March 4, the Knesset
currency from seriously dependent customers
Finance Committee
agreed to cover
in Europe and elsewhere, even
uninsured losses
up to $2 billion, so
as it struggles to cope with other
Why have
the West’s
sanctions against
Russian that
El Al
could continue
to fly its Tel
increasingly debilitating economic
Aviv-Moscow route.

constraints. aggression in Ukraine not included limitations on the
Then, in a surprising develop-
Which begs the question: Why
lucrative oil
and gas
sales that
keep Vladimir
Putin ment
last Shabbat, Israeli Prime
have the West’s sanctions against
Minister Naftali Bennett, who was
Russian aggression in Ukraine not
and his
cronies in
power? criticized
for his initial lack of out-
included limitations on the lucrative
rage over
the Russian invasion, flew
oil and gas sales that keep Vladimir
to Moscow
to meet
with Putin. Their three-hour
The analysis
is even
more complicated
for Putin and his cronies in power? And why hasn’t
meeting —
reportedly preceded
by consultations
Israel. As
a Western
democracy, Israel
is being
the U.S. announced expanded production, further
with Ukrainian
President Volodymyr
Zelensky called
upon to
participate in
the economic
and release of reserves and export of petroleum, and
and the
Biden administration,
among others
— political
boycott of
Russia. In
the UN
General a plan to increase the availability of natural gas to
make up for any Russian shortfall?
Assembly, Israel was among 141 nations that fueled speculation about Bennett serving as a
Economists and energy experts will argue both voted to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At mediator in the Ukraine conflict. That may be
sides of the question. But from a political per- the same time, Russia’s reach extends to Israel’s wishful thinking.

Either way, if Putin’s merciless aggression con-
spective, it appears that no one wants to risk a northern border, where Iran works to spread its
1970s-like energy crisis, or force Americans to influence in Syria and Lebanon. From time to tinues in the rapidly deteriorating Ukraine war,
pay too much for wars and international crises. In time, Israel launches air strikes into Syria, which the West is going to have to make some hard
other words, there is bipartisan reluctance to ask Russia permits, and Israel cannot afford to lose choices. JE
Biden Leans Center
R ussia’s invasion of Ukraine properly got top
billing in President Joe Biden’s State of the
Union address last week. It was the leading issue on
everyone’s mind. The president’s forceful expressions
of support for Ukraine earned applause and nods
of approval from both Democrats and Republicans.

In the moment, these signs of national unity were a
welcome change from the toxic partisanship that has
infected politics in our country.

But Biden’s address was very much a speech
in two parts. The first part focused on Ukraine,
while the second was a more traditional address,
focused on domestic policy. Yet, it was the second
part of the speech that was most noteworthy. As
expected, Biden’s domestic discussion covered
a wide range of topics — inflation, paid family
leave, prescription drug prices, voting rights and
more. And, also as expected, the second part
mostly brought Democrats to their feet in applause
while Republicans stayed seated. But there were
moments that drew bipartisan support, in response
to signals that Biden is moving his presidency to
the center — somewhat reminiscent of Bill Clinton’s
successful triangulation strategy in the 1990s.

20 MARCH 10, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
For Biden, the subtle shift was natural, as he
is moving back to his centrist comfort zone. He
talked about things both parties support, such as
infrastructure, supporting veterans’ health care
needs and conquering cancer. And he spoke
about his support for funding the police in the
wake of the epidemic of police killings of Black
Americans. “The answer is not to defund the
police. It’s to fund the police,” Biden said to
resounding applause. “Fund them. Fund them.

Fund them with resources and training, resources
and training they need to protect their communi-
ties.” The pitch was nothing new. Biden was already
on record as disagreeing with his party’s pro-
gressives who call for a new model for law
enforcement that would transfer some public
safety responsibilities to other agencies. But his
staking out the centrist position of support for law
enforcement in his most consequential speech
of the year could be significant if it helps bring
doubting independents and moderates back into
the Democratic fold.

We heard in the SOTU a recognition that put-
ting the priorities of the progressive left over the
center has not been a successful strategy. And we
hope that the speech signals the beginning of a
focused effort to work across the aisle to address
important issues that both parties can support.

While we know that a speech is just a speech,
it appears that voters are already signaling
approval. Historically, presidents do not see a
significant bump in their approval ratings after a
SOTU address. But a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist
survey showed that Biden’s approval rating went
up to 47% after his SOTU address – an 8% jump
from his 39% in February. Although some of the
bump can be explained by Americans coming
together in support of Ukraine, it also demon-
strates that Biden was elected as a moderate
Democrat, and that’s what the American people
want him to be. JE
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