MJ Rosenberg calls out NY congressman Eliot Engel for representing Israel not the US when he defended an Israeli decision not to meet with 5 fellow Democratic congressmen visiting the foreign country at the behest of J Street. (Rosenberg’s column, at TPM, is further evidence of the split inside the American liberal-left over our policy, and the growing mainstream respect that critics of Israel are finding).
In an incredible break with Congressional tradition – i.e, Congress stands as one in dealing with foreign insults to Congress, Engel said the Israelis were right to shun his colleagues.
Engel told the Jerusalem Post, "It’s up to Israeli officials to decide who they will meet with, and who not to meet with."
The Post continues, "He pointed out that a number of the congressmen…vote against Israel on resolutions that generally carry massive support on the House floor." (LIE: They don’t vote against Israel. They occasionally vote against AIPAC-drafted Palestinian-bashing resolutions that are mindlessly one-sided and contrary to US government positions}.
"If you look at some of the votes we had in the US Congress pertaining to Israel and the Middle East, there are some people on that [J Street] trip who the government would be unhappy with regarding their votes – and that would be understandable. They probably feel that if people are going to criticize them, they don’t have to facilitate the criticism."
