President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria has, for the first time since he entered the White House, led him to face strong criticism from leading pro-Israel groups in Washington.
The shift comes after two years in which those same groups mostly endorsed his administration’s Middle East policies, with some even claiming that his support for Israel was important enough to justify ignoring aspects of his presidency deemed less than palatable by many in the American Jewish community.
Trump won praise from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful pro-Israel lobby group, and from other groups supportive of the Israeli government, for his decision to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He won similar accolades for his decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal. His administration’s voting record on issues related to Israel and the Middle East in the United Nations also won praise.
However, AIPAC took to Twitter last week to retweet a number of senators – both Democrats and Republicans – who severely criticized Trump’s decision on Syria. One tweet, by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, described the withdrawal as a “huge mistake.” Another, by Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, called the decision “ill-informed and hasty,” and warned that it will “breathe new life into ISIS and other terrorist groups.”
It was the first time that AIPAC even tacitly endorsed such strong-worded criticism against Trump since he became president in January 2017.
Hard to tell what's going on. Are these Democrats and Republicans genuinely interested in keeping American soldiers in Syria; or are they acting like puppets as AIPAC pulls the strings.
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