Netanyahu really has no friends outside of the American Republican Party. None.
Israeli intelligence officials have been briefing both Obama administration officials and visiting U.S. senators about their concerns on the Kirk-Menendez bill, which would increase sanctions on Iran only if the Iranian government can’t strike a deal with the so-called P5+1 countries by a June 30 deadline or fails to live up to its commitments. Meanwhile, the Israeli prime minister’s office has been supporting the Kirk-Menendez bill, as does the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, ahead of what will be a major foreign policy confrontation between the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government in coming weeks.
So, the corollary would be something like CIA officials fairly openly briefing members of the Knesset and Israeli cabinet and advising them to totally blow off what Obama wants.
Pretty stunning stuff.
Oh yeah, he has friends among Dems like Menendez and Schumer. Because they’re stupid.
more accurate to say that on this issue there really is NO difference between the two parties. How many Democrats in congress are NOT slavish followers of the AIPAC line? two at the most?
Ellison and maybe Barbara Lee. Don’t forget it’s not just AIPAC. Haim Saban is the elephant in the Democrats room. He’s our version of Sheldon Adelon, except he made his fortune thanks to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers not casinos.
Have you ever heard of J Street?
http://jstreet.org/blog/post/timing-of-invitation-for-netanyahu-to-address-congress-is-troubling_1
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/24/politics/j-street-israel-lobby/
J Street is pointless, and a joke of an organization.
Thanks for sharing.
I’m obviously not well informed by why do you call J Street a joke of an organization? and pointless to boot?
J Street:NRA::AIPAC:Guns Owners of America
Then there is this.
This is so insane one has to wonder whether he’s jumped off the full blown mania cliff or is being blackmailed by some kind of residual hookergate from ’12.
Didn’t we go through this same thing the last time Bibi was up for reelection?
Obama will not meet with him
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/obama-no-netanyahu-meeting-congress
Bravo Obama!
Isreal exports $119M worth of prefab housing every year. If Obama really wanted to honey badger Bibi, he could arrange for France, say, to introduce UN sanctions on Israel for exports of pre-fab housing.
The US could vote against the bill (“We support Israel!”) while not exercising its veto power (“Know who to fuck with, Bibi.”)
The symbolic power of that could rock Israeli politics.
Kerry will not meet with him either.
Obama should invite him to eat some BBQ ribs.
I love the irony, given Bibi’s efforts to influence the American election. Nice, not too subtle way of flipping Bibi the bird.
Other than Obama, I haven’t heard too many Dems revealing that they will find some way to to suppress their (usual) knee-jerk pro-Israeli voting addiction. So we’ll have to see whether this bill can actually cause a (rare) partisan split on our insane bending over backwards to do the insane bidding of our dangerous little “ally”–an ally that has almost no concern for our actual national security interests.
In a functioning gub’mint, Menendez would be told by his caucus to shut up and keep quiet immediately or else there would be a caucus vote on his committee position. If he categorically refuses to work with the long term foreign policy strateg(ies) of a Dem admin, he sure as hell shouldn’t be ranking member of Foreign Relations. But of course nothing is more important than legislative “seniority” rules, certainly not a possible war with Iran, haha.
How about at least some heckling by some Dems when the mendacious Bibi begins his state of the Likudnik union propaganda spiel to his lapdog Congress? Do the rules require that they sit like potted plants and endure a Bibi lie-fest, and applaud to boot? How about ANY action indicating that the AIPAC headlock our woeful Congress isn’t absolutely complete?
This is a divisive Repub stunt, so there should of course be no meeting for Bibi with anyone in the WH. Let him eat bean soup with Menendez in the senate cafeteria, haha. But this little conservative gambit will give us a chance to see if there could ever be any conceivable change in our useless Congress’s fealty to Israel. Will Dems even support AIPAC over the objections of a Dem prez?
I hope this won’t seem like a nit-pick, but I think there’s an important distinction between “pro-Israeli[-people]” and “pro-[current]-Israeli[-regime]”.
I think it would be very easy to come up with dozens of policy issues (e.g., the Bibi government’s illegal, immoral, deliberate-thumb-in-Palestians’-eyes settlements policy) where a given policy position that is the former is also the exact opposite of the latter, and v.v.
I think Congress’ “(usual) knee-jerk pro-Israeli voting addiction” (otherwise accurately noted by you) is almost entirely, actually “pro-[current]-Israeli[-regime]”, which often means it’s the opposite of “pro-Israeli[-people]”.
Of course, I do commit the heresy of considering Arab/Palestinian and other non-Jewish citizens of Israel to be “Israeli”, an accuracy that that knee-jerk, mis-named “pro-Israeli” caucus in Congress would never accept as valid, instead trying to ignore it out of existence.
No, it’s not a nit pick and I agree (and failed to express) that our invariably-granted unconditional support for whatever policies the government of Israel may advocate or implement is not necessarily beneficial to the Israeli [people]. This is most certainly the case with Bibi’s terrible government, but I suspect that our “conservatives” are especially delighted to support his repressive regime.
Will Dems even support AIPAC over the objections of a Dem prez?
Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes the TP/GOP loves Bibi. Here is some upbeat news for you all seems that Speaker Boehner last March sent an open invitation to the Pope to speak before Congress. Here ya go read for yourself. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/13/boehner-pope-francis/6373779/
So speaker Boehner has trapped himself.
Has anyone thought of asking Ms. Clinton’s opinion about all this?
She was capable of seeing two sides back around 1999 and maybe she still is. Right now I think I’d rather not hear her lie about it and I’m afraid to hear her tell the truth.
See my most recent diaries …
○ Bibi’s Insult to Hollande in Paris and Synagogue leadership
○ Jewish State of Israel Run by Islamophobes
○ John Boehner A Traitor Inviting Bibi to Congress
Update includes Juan Cole’s article – Netanyahu Imported by GOP to ensure Iran War.
Netanyahu delays US visit to March 3 to coincide with AIPAC meeting, Obama and Kerry not interested in encounter close to Israel’s election.
‘So, the corollary would be something like CIA officials fairly openly briefing members of the Knesset and Israeli cabinet and advising them to totally blow off what Obama wants.’
I don’t get it. Wouldn’t that be blowing off wat Netanyahu wants?
I still don’t think this is going to go well for the Republicans or even for Bibi.
When you say Republicans do you mean the Rapturing ones or the ordinary kind?
I mean both. They’re all the same party. Remember, this is Boehner’s baby, and he’s exactly what passes for an “ordinary kind” of Republican these days.
The Iranians have numerous constraints and are sneaky but not stupid; there’s always the outside chance that these shenanigans by our seditious GOP and Netanyahu (R-Israel) further stampede them into agreement as they see just how much the long war on their terrifying Sunni cousins has deranged our politics.
What were they waiting for in the first place, though? Syria? Deals with Iraqi Sh’ites? There are way too many moving pieces on the board for Republicans to be pulling this kind of caper with any hope of controlling the outcome; this is Exhibit A for reckless nihilism on their part. Honestly.
Just about every major war for two centuries has begun when someone’s domestic politics trumped their own foreign policy.
IIRC,Mossad and the IDF have already refused orders to attack Iran. They can do military estimates of what the situation is and concluded the they cannnot succeed just with the martial spirit. Republicans have not obligations for responsibility at all–thanks to the cynical media.
That cynical media, or maybe just dumb asses, play into this. You would think any fool would realize you cannot have two foreign policies and Boner is out of line and out of his depth. Some might call it something a little more serious.
The administration should announce that it is planning to talk with Iran about re-establishing full diplomatic relations.