Sarah Palin is in Jerusalem and telling the Israelis they’re too nice. She visited the western wall with Danny Danon, who is opposed to a Palestinian state. JPost:
Palin, who was wearing a large Star of David, told Danon that she had flags of Israel “on my desk, in my home, all over the place” and that she would carry around a flag she bought in Israel.
Sweet. And Palin is to meet with Netanyahu tonight or tomorrow. But Netanyahu is refusing to meet with J Street leaders in Israel. Says J Street’s Jeremy Ben-Ami:
We asked to meet with the Prime Minister while we’re here. In fact, we’ve asked to meet with him many times – to introduce ourselves and explain how we can work together as allies, even though we disagree at times on policy.
The short answer: No. Yet, as you may have read, while the Prime Minister doesn’t have time to meet a movement that now represents over 170,000 pro-Israel, pro-peace supporters, he has time to host Sarah Palin for dinner Monday night.
It’s sad to me that this Government has such a narrow political definition of friendship for the state of Israel – welcoming Palin and Mike Huckabee, but not J Street.
We call on the Israeli government to open the doors. Get to know us and the large part of American Jewry we represent – deep supporters of the state and people of Israel, and deeply committed to ending its conflict with the Palestinians now, before it’s too late to save Israel as a Jewish and a democratic home.
I think J Street is secretly happy that Netanyahu won’t meet with them. J Street is trying to drive a wedge in American Jewry over Netanyahu/Palin. It is trying to save not just the Jewish state but liberal Zionism; and it needs a good villain. Sarah Palin is fabulous. And now she’s mobbed up with Bibi. I think this effort is too little too late for the Jewish state but it can only be helpful for American Jews.
