No Winners

By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

Yesterday was June 19th, a holiday that commemorates the freedom of African-Americans from slavery.[2] After staffing him on the Senate Banking Committee, I headed the U.S. Senate staff of Edward W. Brooke, the first Black senator since Reconstruction after our Civil War. There wasn't a racist bone in his body. Like me, he had two loving parents who shaped his life with essentially no prejudice.[3]

Similarly, I grew up with Jewish-Americans in Los Angeles. They were my friends in grade school, junior high and high school; and they were my fraternity brothers in college. They were as American as I was; and none of them grew up in Israel.[4] Yet, they were and are expected to march in lockstep with a Benjamin Netanyahu, who is arguably propelling the United States toward World War III.[5]

I did not create slavery; and I found it as repugnant and abhorrent as anything in life. Yet, human slavery is present throughout the world today. It is a symptom of Man's inhumanity to our fellow beings. Similarly, I visited the Dachau concentration camp, and I have condemned the horrors of the Holocaust. But I have not hesitated to draw parallels between the Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu.[6]

Arguably they are the same, just more recent iterations. Indeed, Donald Trump's German ancestors might be proud of his support for Israel. By abandoning his oath of no more foreign wars, and putting America's military in harm's way like crew members of the USS Liberty were accidentally attacked and killed by Israel[7], Trump is violating everything principled and sacred that caused lots of us to vote for him three times.

Indeed, it is farcical to believe that anyone, Jew or non-Jew, should support the regime of Netanyahu, the "Settlers" and Zionists in Israel. Similarly, 160 years after slavery ended on June 19, 1865, it is absurd to promote DEI and other thoroughly-biased racial programs that skew hiring practices in America. My ancestors came from England, Germany, Scotland and Ireland no later than 1850; and none received preferences.

Even if Trump backs down from "setting the world on fire" by lighting the Israeli fuse and endorsing Netanyahu's war plans—for example, because of concerns that a defeated Iran might create enormous problems like Libya[8]—the price that he and Americans will pay is enormous. Lots of us will never trust him again; and his carefully-crafted image will be damaged if not destroyed.

Lastly, in a pro-Israel pastor's message today entitled "Shattered hopes, shattered lives," he has written:

Israel is at war. In 72 hours, 400 missiles were fired at the state of Israel. 647 Israelis were wounded, and 24 killed. 2725 Israelis are homeless because of missiles hitting their apartments. No one is able to work; tens of thousands urgently need food boxes in shelters. Hundreds of thousands of children are having panic attacks.[9]

His words apply with equal or greater force to the Palestinian suffering—men, women and children—for decades at the hands of Netanyahu and his Israelis. We can only hope and pray that all of the suffering and agony ends.

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[1] Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6 and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/ He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at The Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams. He can be contacted directly at [email protected]

[2] See, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth ("Juneteenth") and https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-number-of-holidays-must-change-juneteenth-post-2025-6 ("On Juneteenth, Trump says the US has 'too many' holidays")

[3] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2024/05/25/america-is-not-a-black-country-nor-is-it-a-jewish-country/ ("America Is Not A Black Country, Nor Is It A Jewish Country"); Compare https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/03/edward-w-brooke-is-dead/ ("Edward W. Brooke Is Dead") with https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2024/05/12/legacy ("Legacy")

[4] See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2023/10/31/americas-jews-are-americans/ ("America’s Jews Are Americans")

[5] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2025/06/18/warmongers/ ("Warmongers") and https://jordantimes.com/news/local/kings-european-parliament-address-draws-praise-for-firm-support-of-palestine ("King’s European Parliament address draws praise for firm support of Palestine")

[6] See supra n 5.

[7] See, e.g., http://www.gtr5.com/

[8] See, e.g., https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14830789/Trump-fear-Libya-Iran-Israel-bombing.html ("Trump's indecision on Iran due to primal fear about 'another Libya'") and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14830911/trump-israel-iran-russia-tehran-tel-aviv-idf.html ("How Trump 'backed out of nuking Iran because only a tactical nuclear weapon would destroy Fordow bunker' - as Kremlin issues nuclear war warning") and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14830911/trump-israel-iran-russia-tehran-tel-aviv-idf.html ("Middle East faces 'the abyss' if Israel and America wipe out Khamenei, Russia declares as it warns Trump against 'catastrophic' nuclear attack")

[9] A message from Dr. Michael D. Evans of the Jerusalem Prayer Team.