The New York Times has done a good thing today by putting AIPAC on its front page in a piece that says that Israel was “one of the big winners” of the midterm elections, due to the elevation of Republicans who support Netanyahu’s hellbent course.
The encouraging news in the piece, on the front page, is the statement that Kentucky Senator-elect Rand Paul might take a stand against aid to Israel, he has already said as much to AIPAC. This threat is quickly countered by Chuck Schumer:
“One of the first things Congressman [Eric] Cantor can do is to make sure that his colleagues vote for aid to Israel,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who also met with Mr. Netanyahu.
Mr. Schumer and others worry that support for Israel in Congress, long a bipartisan article of faith, could become politicized in a way that will end up harming Israel’s interests.
So: American support for Israel might be “politicized.” I.e., the American people would then get to debate the issue, rather than face wall to wall support among their leaders, enforced by fatcat lobbyists with access. And journalists would have to write about the lobby, as they write about the gun lobby, the anti-abortion movement, or any other ideological special interest.
Though the Times reporters, Mark Landler and Jennifer Steinhauer, are typically close-mouthed about the character of that special interest. They speak of Eric Cantor’s devotion to the Jewish state without saying anything about his recent pledge of allegiance to Netanyahu over Obama; maybe they should have described Schumer’s genuflection to AIPAC, when he declared that he is Israel’s guardian, in Hebrew. God forbid it should say a word about the religion of Schumer, Cantor, or Robert Wexler, who all play tambourines and speak in tongues in this report.
P.S. The Times also mentions wingjob Allen West, the new Republican congressman from Palm Beach, a heavily Jewish district. From West’s website:
Above all, the Jewish State needs stronger representation in Congress and a solid voice that will not be afraid to stand up to the Obama Administration’s appeasement of Islamic terrorism.
Congress, including Ron Klein, whom West beat, almost unanimously backed the Israeli mass killing of civilians in the Gaza Strip in January 2009: 390-5. I guess that’s not good enough.
