哈基姆·杰弗里斯可能即将创造历史，但一些批评人士担心，至少在一个问题上，他会站在错误的一边。
人们普遍预计，这位纽约州进步派国会议员将领导美国众议院民主党，他将成为众议院两党领导人中首位有色人种。杰弗里斯今年1月当选新一届国会众议院少数党领袖，也意味着随着82岁的众议院议长南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)卸任，接力棒将移交给新一代民主党领袖。
这种变化将是深刻的，但对一些人来说，它只能走到这里。
杰弗里斯将成为众议院民主党领袖的前景受到了强硬的亲以色列团体的欢迎，他们对国会中以色列对待巴勒斯坦人的方式越来越多的异议感到担忧，包括大规模强迫阿拉伯人离开他们的家园，随着以色列极右翼势力的掌权，这种分歧只可能加剧。
前民主党国会议员罗伯特·韦克斯勒(Robert Wexler)告诉《犹太内幕》(Jewish Insider)，“亲以色列阵营需要像哈基姆这样的人带领我们走向未来”。
他说:“事实上，我想说，如果亲以色列的团体想为未来创造一个民主党领袖，我们可以创造哈基姆·杰弗里斯。”
“哈基姆不仅对这些问题感兴趣。他全身心地投入其中。他很尊重美国犹太人社区。他认同它。最重要的是，他是一个非常好的人。”
其他为以色列政策辩护的人也以同样慷慨的言辞赞扬了杰弗里斯。这位国会议员在谈到以色列时也同样热情洋溢。
2020年，杰弗里斯在美国最大、最强大的亲以色列游说团体——美国以色列公共事务委员会(Aipac)的一次会议上表示，“在纽约，我们认为耶路撒冷是第6个行政区”。
他在会上表示:“两国关系的基础是价值观。”
但当杰弗里斯成为民主党的众议院领袖后，他很可能会发现，共同价值观的主张越来越受到以色列新政府中极右翼部长们的考验，并受到他自己的党团中政策批评者的挑战。
预计将对下一届以色列政府产生强大影响的人包括犹太力量党领袖伊塔马尔•本-格维尔。他曾活跃于反阿拉伯的卡奇党，直到1994年其追随者巴鲁克•戈尔茨坦在希伯伦杀害29名巴勒斯坦人后，卡奇党被作为恐怖组织被取缔。本-格维尔过去常在客厅里挂一幅戈尔茨坦的画像。
本-格维尔和预计将再次成为总理的内塔尼亚胡一样，反对建立一个独立的巴勒斯坦国。杰弗里斯支持“一个自治的非军事化的巴勒斯坦国”。
本-格维尔有望在内塔尼亚胡的新政府中被任命为公共安全部长，同时主张驱逐被认为对犹太国家不忠的阿拉伯人，民主党党团内部要求确保以色列实现杰弗里斯赞扬的民主价值观的压力只会越来越大。
杰弗里斯反对另一位民主党成员贝蒂·麦科勒姆(Betty McCollum)去年提出的一项法案，该法案旨在确保美国每年向以色列提供的近40亿美元军事援助不会被用于非法侵占巴勒斯坦土地、拆除阿拉伯人的房屋并强行驱逐巴勒斯坦人，或在以色列错综复杂的军事司法体系中拘留儿童。
Earlier this year, 15 Democratic members of Congress urged the Biden administration to intervene over the largest forcible removal of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by the Israeli military in decades, in what has been called a war crime by Human Rights Watch.
Jeffries told Aipac that aid should continue with “no conditions”. He signed a letter drawn up by Democratic Congressman Ted Deutch opposing “reducing funding or adding conditions on security assistance”. The letter was signed by more than 300 members of Congress, boosted by an Aipac lobbying campaign.
Pressure has also grown in Congress for a proper accounting by Israel over the killing of the Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May.
Dylan Williams, the senior vice-president of policy and strategy at the Washington-based campaign group J Street, which describes itself as “pro-Israel and pro-peace”, has said the demands for justice for Abu Akleh reflect broader concerns within Congress as Israeli killings of Palestinians have escalated while Jewish settlers in the West Bank appear to have been given free rein at times to attack Palestinians and take over their land.
“Members of Congress seem increasingly frustrated that these types of disturbing actions from Israeli forces continue to take place, without facing meaningful pushback or accountability from our government,” he said.
“There’s growing momentum to make clear that Israel must be held to the same important standards as all close US allies, and that our steadfast support for Israel’s security does not and should not preclude our government from also standing up in defense of human rights and international law in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
Jeffries maintains close ties to Aipac and other hardline pro-Israel lobby groups. One of them, Pro-Israel America, was his largest single donor over the past year, giving his campaign more than $213,000. Pro-Israel groups gave him $460,000 in total, second only to donations from the financial industry.
Critics have said that Jeffries’ statements on Israel often read like lobby talking points. Earlier this year, the congressman rejected reports by Israeli and international human rights groups that Israel practices a form of apartheid against the Palestinians. He said the claim is “designed to isolate Israel in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the world”.
During a visit to Israel and the occupied territories earlier this year, Jeffries confronted the Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh for raising the apartheid parallel, in effect telling him how the Palestinians are permitted to describe their own oppression.
However, Jeffries broke with the pro-Israel lobby and many of his Jewish constituents in supporting President Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Aipac lobbied heavily against it after Israel opposed the agreement, which was intended to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
