Watchwords: Thursday, July 9
The "genocide" charge polls as consensus, and the pariah case now comes from a friend of Israel.
"Genocide" gained ground this week — three surveys inside forty-eight hours put the charge near half of Britain and half of Democrats. Rahm Emanuel called Israel a "territorial pariah" from Tel Aviv and urged ending its US defense subsidy. The word left the UN commission's margin for the polling mainstream and the party's center in the same week.
Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff, called Israel a "territorial pariah" and urged an end to its US defense subsidy. His July 8 Tel Aviv speech put the delegitimization case in the mouth of someone considered by many to be a friend of Israel. It landed as three surveys crossed in 48 hours. A YouGov poll put half of Britons at "Israel is committing genocide"; an AP-NORC survey put a third of Americans and about half of Democrats there. The ask is to accept "genocide" as settled fact, then hang arms suspensions and defunding on it.
Below the line: the week's deployable language — what to say when a reporter cites the 50% "genocide" poll, how to answer a donor rattled by Emanuel's "pariah," the claims you'll field, and the traps that lose the room. Members read the full brief.