TEHRAN – The White House is caught between a rock and a hard place as it continues to receive criticism from both the public and the Israeli lobby in the U.S. for its handling of the war in Gaza. 

Washington has sent billions of dollars in aid to Israel since October 7th, backed the regime in the United Nations Security Council at the cost of isolation, and muzzled dissent in American universities by unleashing heavy and unprecedented violence against students asking for divestment from Israel.

But the U.S. seems to be losing at both sides of the ledger. Joe Biden’s occasional criticism of Netanyahu has drawn the ire of Israeli doners while his untrammelled support for Bibi’s war is causing him to lose young voters. Things aren’t looking good for Biden, and they are only expected to get worse as Israel has begun to violate the president’s only stated redline without any apparent repercussions: attacking Rafah. 

In an Interview with the Tehran Times Dr Jeffery Sachs, a world-renowned economist and professor at Columbia University, talked about the current situation at American universities and Washington’s policies in regard to Israel. 

The complete interview transcript is provided below:

Q: Recent global headlines have all focused on the situation at American universities. Do you believe the students advocating for divestment from Israeli institutions are motivated by antisemitism or have ties to Hamas, as depicted in the American mainstream media?

A: Students are protesting the murderous brutality of Israel in Gaza, the complicity of the United States in that brutality, and the urgent need for a sovereign State of Palestine alongside the state of Israel, according to the Arab Peace Initiative and the Declaration of the Arab and Islamic Leaders in Riyadh on November 11, 2023.  These protests are not motivated by anti-Semitism.  They are motivated by the students’ desire for peace and justice.  

Q: What is your assessment of the university administrators' response to student protests? Do you believe the use of force and violence against the students has been justified?

A: The administrators in many universities, including my own, panicked in response to pressures from politicians and from university donors.  They certainly should not have called the police; that was in no way necessary or appropriate. They should have engaged in dialogue with the students.  They should have promoted opportunities for learning, reflection and dialogue within the university community.  They should have called on faculty and students to search for pathways to peace.  They should have respected the right of students to protest and should have recognized the urgent motivation of the students in protesting a slaughter underway in Gaza and the need for peace and the two-state solution.  

Q: Do you perceive any influence from the Israeli lobby on the curriculum regarding Israel-Palestine at American universities, particularly Columbia?

A: The Israel lobby and individual donors are trying to suppress pro-Palestine protests and discourse.  This is wrong.  The more one knows the history of the region, the more one can see the true path to peace and co-existence of the region.  Achieving justice and political self-determination of Palestine as part of the two-state solution is in the interest of the whole world.  

Q: Have you observed any instances of self-censorship or reluctance among your colleagues at Columbia or other institutions to criticize Israel due to concerns about repercussions?

A: Many faculty, including myself, are speaking out about the injustice and illegality of Israel’s approach.  Of course, the politicians are trying to cut off such views but the views we are expressing are widespread and most of the US public wants a just peace in the region.  We are calling on the war to end immediately and for the State of Palestine to be welcomed as the 194th UN member state as part of the two-state solution. 

Q: What is your opinion on the United States' untrammeled support for Israel? 

A: The US policy is tragic, destructive, unjust, and contrary to international law.  The U.S. is complicit in war crimes.  The International Court of Justice may well determine soon that Israel is engaged in genocide, that is, in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention.  This war needs to stop immediately, by welcoming Palestine as a UN member state and implementing the two-state solution without delay.  The US is the only blockade to this approach.  

Q: Do you believe President Joe Biden's handling of the Gaza conflict could potentially impact his re-election prospects?

A: Yes, certainly.  It will reduce Biden’s support among his base, and especially younger voters.  Unfortunately, Trump could well be even worse.  Yet Biden’s approach is wrong, failed, and unacceptable.  

Q: Do you anticipate the possibility that Washington may adjust its policies towards Israel in response to growing public pressure in the future?

A: A change of policy is possible, urgent, and necessary for peace.  There are two factors at work that might bring it about.  On the one side, the US is increasingly isolated at the UN and in global opinion.  The US is now the only obstacle to Palestine’s membership in the UN, and thereby to the two-state solution.  On the other side, the US voting public is very unhappy as well with US complicity in Israel’s unjust and murderous war.  The combination of these two factors – geopolitics and US public opinion – could lead to a shift of US government policy towards peace and the two-state solution.