Just a few days ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Jews are no longer safe in Europe; and he urged them to move to Israel. He has even found $46 million tax dollars to support their emigration. Abe Foxman, American President of the Anti-defamation League and a holocaust survivor, responded this way to the idea of Jews abandoning Europe “…I don’t think we should so easily grant Hitler a posthumous victory.” How can such stunning statements be explained?
Netanyahu and his Conservative party are at risk for losing an election in mid-March, and many Israelis think that he is inciting fear wherever he can in order to gain support for his hawkish policies. Can a politician sink that low in order to gain or hold power? Are Netanyahu and his Conservative colleagues betting that they can win support at home by making European and American heads of state look weak or anti-Israeli? The Israeli newspaper Haaretz thinks so. They point out that he is inciting more violence, inflaming tensions and losing friends for his nation in his attempts to manipulate Israeli voters. They see it as unfortunate that some in the American congress, led by Speaker of the House John Boehner, have joined his game.
After terrorist attacks in Paris, the French government invited many world leaders to participate in a unity march and memorial service. French President Hollande specifically asked Mr. Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas to not attend so that the event would not be tainted by the Palestinian – Israeli conflict. Netanyahu insisted on attending. Hollande balanced that by also inviting Abbas. As he sought international headlines, Netanyahu managed to entangle French Muslim citizens with Israel’s defense concerns, and Iran’s nuclear program; exactly the kind of links that Hollande wanted to avoid.
Never missing an opportunity to make President Obama look weak on defense, Boehner invited Netanyahu to address Congress. Netanyahu accepted and expressed intent to talk about Iran’s nuclear program. He will try to pit US interests against his neighbors so that he can count on the US to fight his wars. Imagine the reaction if another foreign nation – perhaps Mexico or China – tried to influence our congress and voters in that manner.
Boehner said he didn’t want the President to know about the invitation because he might interfere. Interfere? The President and his team are working against a self-imposed deadline in March to eliminate risk of Iran developing nuclear weapons (which Israel already has). I’m not the only one who sees this speech as a campaign stunt. The head of the Israeli election commission is so disturbed about it that he has arranged limitation of broadcasts and reporting of the speech.
The President of France is openly furious about Netanyahu’s behavior, saying “I will not just let what was said in Israel pass, leading people to believe that Jews no longer have a place in Europe and in France in particular…My message to French Jews is the following: France is wounded with you and France does not want you to leave…I regret Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks. Being in the middle of an election campaign doesn’t mean you authorize yourself to make just any type of statement…The place for French Jews is France.”
The chair of Britain’s Parliamentary committee against anti-Semitism, John Mann was also angry, saying “Mr. Netanyahu made the same remarks in Paris – it’s just crude electioneering. It’s no coincidence that there’s a general election in Israel coming up. The comments are not helpful and I think people will ignore them…We’re not prepared to tolerate a situation in this country or in any country in Europe where any Jews feel they have to leave.” Denmark’s Prime Minister made similar remarks.
Fear is effective as a political motivator. Both John Boehner and Benjamin Netanyahu are counting on that. They seem willing to risk international relationships and sensitive nuclear negotiations or even war by stoking the fears of their citizens and of European Jews in order to keep voter support. Such fear is akin to the fear of non-existent weapons of mass destruction that persuaded Americans to go to war in Iraq. I’m not buying it. Are you?
It is embarrassing to see everyone so taken in by Netanyahu’s rhetoric. You would think, by what I am hearing among my church attending friends that The Prime Minister of Israel is akin to the Jewish patriarch Abraham. The Evangelicals and Fundamentalists have heard so many sermons about Israel’s special place on Earth that they believe anything that the Israeli politicians say about how the US ought to treat Israel.
I am not saying this because I am a Democrat, I have never been, but I am fair enough to read everything I can about what Israel does because they are such a huge influence for hate in the Middle East. They got their wish from the Allied Powers after the Holocaust and were helped to invade Palestine and kill and drive Arabs out as if they were part of the historical crusades of Europe. Americans are the chief enabler of Israel’s continued stealing of Palestinian land and horrible treatment of the owners. Why are we doing it? Because of gross ignorance of not only world affairs but the Fundamentalist influence in Christianity whereby the Old Testament is interpreted and preached as factual comment on the situation in Palestine. Nothing pleases politicians more than an ignorant audience at election time. This is mainly abused by Conservatives but Liberals fear the Jewish influence promoted by Israeli political spokesmen and the US Jewish political organizations.
Nobody, nobody dares to speak the truth today for fear of being called anti-God or anti Semitic.
Yes, and not only is it embarrassing, it is dangerous. Netanyahu is a master of the psychological game “Let’s you and him fight.” For the first time, he has lost because President Obama wouldn’t play. Netanyahu is afraid of Iran. If that nation is on its feet financially and not under Israeli-American control, it is likely to be the largest economic and (non-nuclear) military in the middle-east. Netanyahu wanted US to fight Iran so that Israel would not have to negotiate a 2 state solution or give back any Palestinian land. If he can’t get us to fight, he can’t win in the long run. Its only a matter of time before the enemies that Israel has created will overpower them. My estimate is that Israel has something like 2 to 10 years to either negotiate peace with its neighbors or get us to fight them or lose a war – in which they might use their own nuclear weapon. It is NOT a pretty picture!