As you probably know, three Republican senators just happened to be in Jerusalem while John Kerry was trying to make peace there recently, and they tromped mud all over his message. From the Washington Post:
Leading Republican senators said Friday that they share Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reservations about terms for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement proposed by Secretary of State John F. Kerry.
Netanyahu “has serious, serious concerns about the plan as it has been presented to him,” particularly about the future security of Israel and the viability of a future independent Palestinian state, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) said after meetings with Netanyahu and other officials in Israel…
“Here’s the one thing that I think dominates the thinking in Israel: that once you withdraw, then the ability to go back is almost impossible,” Graham said. “Look at Gaza. What’s the chance of going back into Gaza militarily?”
Israel can defend itself against rocket attacks from that formerly Israeli-occupied territory, but withdrawal meant giving up the “ability to chart your own destiny,” Graham said.
I’ve only seen one politician raising an eyebrow about this, actually a former pol, Jane Harman, the former California Democratic congressperson now at the Wilson Center. She had the temerity to call Graham a “mouthpiece” for Netanyahu on MSNBC. Harman is a member in good standing of the Israel lobby, but she was disturbed by the conduct.
Now compare the complete silence from the Democratic Party to another foreign policy issue. Back in ’02, two Democratic congressmen visited Iraq and raised serious questions about George W. Bush’s misrepresentations on the path to war. Jim McDermott and David Bonior were great antiwar congressmen who did their duty (and McDermott is still a leader in the House). And the Republican Party came down on them like a ton of bricks.
The reason the Democratic Party is silent is because it’s also dependent on the Israel lobby. As Jim Lobe notes in a piece titled, “47 Senators Take AIPAC’s Word Over U.S. Intel Community,” more than a dozen Democratic senators, including blue state “liberals” Booker, Blumenthal, Gillibrand, Schumer, and Casey (see MJ Rosenberg’s character judgment) have defied their president and signed on to wag-the-tail legislation saying Israel’s war on Iran must be our war. That is also the reason UN Ambassador Samantha Power can carry no water for Kerry on the Iran deal or the peace talks. She avoids both subjects because that’s a political liability; her base is northeast liberals and many of them support Israel no matter what. The same lesson is contained in the above photo, put out by the State Department. John Kerry couldn’t be angry about the renegade Republican senators’ work. No; he had to meet with them.
I guess they had all that dental work done to be able to be able to pleasure the same donkey.
C’mon, you know better than this.
The issue is pro-Israel donors and their political/media enforcers – a very, very small but influential group, and yes, most of them are Jews – not somekind of generalized fanatical zealousness among the broader population in New Hampshire, New Jersey or Maine on need to keep Jerusalem undivided.
What’s next, the almighty power of CUFI? Don’t make me laugh.
Netanyahu is in desperate need of some diversion to help him shift the blame to the Palestinian side for the failure of Kerry’s initiative. Kerry isn’t talking about a final agreement, an interim agreement, or even a legally binding framework agreement.
Nonetheless, the Jewish Home party chairman, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett, will leave the government if Kerry’s paper proposal gives any of Eretz Israel to the Palestinians at all. He publicly opposes a Palestinian state. So do the powers that be in the Likud party. Danny Danon has publicly ridiculed Netanyahu’s comments about the two state solution and recently remarked that anyone in Likud who opposes the annexation of the Jordan Valley is in the wrong party, because it’s in the platform.
So, talks with Netanyahu are mental masturbation. Like Barak and Olmert, he can’t even deliver his own cabinet. If push ever comes to shove the coalition will simply fall apart. Hence the need for someone like the Senators to suggest that it is Kerry’s proposal that is too radical and unsafe.
*Danon: ‘Jordan Valley Annexation Part of Likud Party Platform’
At Likud party meeting, Dep. Defense Minister says Jordan Valley belongs to Israel, calls on gov’t to oppose US pressure.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/175718#.UsrfePi4WVs
Heat is on Bennett as Kerry Paper Draws Near
Jewish Home leader reportedly pressuring Netanyahu not to bring ‘mediation document’ to ministers’ vote.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/175972#.UsrdZ_i4WVs
“[T]he General Assembly on November 26, 2013 voted to proclaim 2014 the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People”
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/2014-international-year-of-solidarity-with-the-palestinian-people/
Will this have any impact on the outcome of the endless jaw-jaw?
The Congress has always been very pro-Israel, since the 1920s, when Congress approved the Anglo-American Convention of 1924 which made America a party to the Palestinian Mandate.
Why was the USA even brought into the equation in 1924?
Answer: There were those who wanted to get the USA on the bandwagon even then.
The treaty seemed to have go through Congress with little hitch. Hence, even by the 1920s, the Congress was pro-Zionist.
So why should present Congressional activity stun you?
BTW: Obama is indeed heavy handed with Israel. I am glad the Congress is shutting Obama down.