We’ve covered the back and forth today, from John Kerry’s angry policy speech putting most of the blame on Israel for failure to reach an agreement on the final status of the dispute, to Bibi Netanyahu’s equally blistering rebuttal.
The rallying around Israel and Netanyahu by politicians on both sides of the aisle is a reflection of both ideological support for Israel and the fact that Israel remains hugely popular among the American public. The maligned “Israel Lobby” consists of a substantial majority of Americans who not only support Israel, but support Israel over the Palestinians. The American people are the Israel Lobby.
But that can’t explain the reaction against Obama’s U.N. move.
It reminds me of something I explored several years ago. One of the reasons Netanyahu has been so popular in the U.S. is that Netanyahu and so many of us share a common experience. Obama’s treatment of Netanyahu came to symbolize how many Americans felt they were treated.
Obama has been dismissive, even derisive of Netanyahu almost like no other foreign leader, much less a leader of an ally.
I explored that feeling on March 27, 2010, after an infamous Obama snub of Netanyahu at the White House, We Are All Bibi Netanyahu Now:
The reaction to Obama’s treatment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (“Bibi”) Netanyahu was as strong if not stronger than I have seen in the comments here and elsewhere in the blogosphere on any other issue….Why this reaction? … Who would care if our President left a foreign leader to wait in the White House while the President supposedly went to have dinner with his family? Who would care if our President broke protocol by refusing to be photographed and hold a press conference with a foreign leader? Who would care if that foreign leader left tail tucked between his legs, humiliated at home at the treatment by the leader of the free world?Part of it certainly is that the foreign leader in question was the leader of Israel, which is tremendously popular with Americans…. But that cannot explain the intensity of the reaction….I think the reaction to Obama’s treatment of Bibi Netanyahu hits home because it was so personal in nature, and because it epitomized how the American people have been treated by Obama and the Democrats, with arrogance and disdain….In Bibi Netanyahu we see something we have lost in our leader, an unflinching sense of national destiny, an unapologetic pride in who we are and why we are, and a willingness to stand up to tyrants and neighborhood bullies regardless of the price.To see a leader like Bibi Netanyahu treated so shabbily by someone who treats us the same way was too much to bear.
I’m standing by that analysis with regard to the current conflict over the anti-Israel U.N. Resolution, which has so many people cheering.
As usual, pathetic race card players like liberal “as a Jew” Peter Beinart are claiming criticism of Obama over the U.N. Resolution is racist:
Playing the race card against critics of Obama has been a primary tactic since the 2008 campaign, as I wrote on October 15, 2008, shortly before the election, “Race” As Political Weapon:
The suppression of legitimate political expression through false accusations of racism by the Obama campaign and its supporters is the defining theme of the 2008 campaign. This tactic, while it may be successful, is shameful and has damaged our society in ways we may not understand for years.
So I’m not really surprised it’s being used again. It’s just another insult, the type of insult that propelled Trump to the win.
As blistering at Netanyahu’s statement and tweets were, this Facebook post by Netanyahu on Facebook was a pretty brutal truth bomb, and aimed directly at Obama.
I think that stinging Facebook post has a lot of people smiling.
Netanyahu, though, also could have (should have?) dropped this video from the 2008 campaign:
The morning after claiming the Democratic nomination, Senator Barack Obama spoke to skeptical members of a pro-Israel lobby and made a pledge that some of them found pleasantly surprising: “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”
Yeah, we’re still all Bibi Netanyahu, at least until January 20.
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