One of the most upsetting things about that New York Times piece yesterday purveying Israeli government propaganda to the unwitting reader was the assumption throughout the piece that the Israeli PM can throw a switch and Congress will jump to his commands.
The article quotes Nahum Barnea, a columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth:
“The dilemma that Netanyahu faces today is not an easy one. He can push the leaders of the Republican majority in the two houses of Congress to try to torpedo the agreement”
Then reporter Jodi Rudoren says the same thing in her own voice:
How fiercely Israel fights the deal, particularly in Congress, could have broad implications for the strained alliance and the Middle East peace process.
She even states flatly that through Congress, Netanyahu could play Obama’s response to a UN Security Council resolution for a Palestinian state:
It is not hard to imagine Mr. Obama vowing to block [that resolution] if Mr. Netanyahu lowers the volume on Capitol Hill.
So Netanyahu can turn up or turn down the volume on Capitol Hill at will, and the president will be responsive? This may be a true assumption: we all know Netanyahu can get standing ovations at will on the Hill. But shouldn’t this power be addressed? When I watch the networks and the cables, this power is only occasionally hinted at, and never described with the outrage it deserves. We won’t be out of this mess till John Mearsheimer and Steve Walt (authors of The Israel Lobby) are regulars on MSNBC.
P.S. Today on CNN, host Jim Acosta asked California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein whether Netanyahu was “overstepping his bounds” in opposing the Iran deal. She said:
“To be candid with you, this can backfire on him. I wish he would contain himself because he has put out no real alternative.”
