Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting separately today with the kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. He’ll be discussing the status of talks he’s had with the Israelis and Palestinians over the last couple of days.
Kerry is asking both parties to help him build a framework for peace negotiations, and the process has reached a difficult stage where intransigence on each side threatens to derail the effort. It is therefore somewhat amazing that Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and John Barrasso (R-WY) traveled to Israel in order to criticize Kerry and undermine his position.
Pro-Israel Republican Senators John McCain (AZ), Lindsay Graham (SC) and John Barrasso (WY) showed up in Jerusalem on Friday, apparently to remind the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that they do not feel he is sufficiently supportive of the Israeli Prime Minister and his negotiating positions.
How often does a U.S. Senate delegation visit a foreign country, during a visit of a high ranking State Department official in order to make their opposition to the official U.S. position known? Has it ever happened before? And does the fact that we are talking about Israel make it OK?
John McCain, in particular, seems to make it his personal mission to try to prevent peace from breaking out anywhere on Earth. The pattern has become so consistent at this point that I’m tempted to posit some kind of demonic influence.
The spectacle was too much for Jane Harman, which is saying something.
I understand that Lindsey Graham is in a tough primary but gee whiz guys, I think being the mouthpiece of the Prime Minister of Israel while our Secretary of State is there is not very smart.
And Bibi Netanyahu has direct channels to John Kerry any time he wants to use them either public or private, and I think frankly what they did, however well intended it might have been or however focused on their politics it might have been, should not have happened.
I don’t think that Lindsey Graham went to Israel to help his reelection prospects. He went because he, along with McCain, is pushing a neo-conservative policy that opposes a Palestinian state. They’re all there to undermine the administration and sabotage peace.
