When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel came to the United States recently for another round of tense talks with the Obama administration, he got a decidedly warmer welcome from one of the rising Republican stars on Capitol Hill, Representative Eric Cantor, the incoming majority leader of the House.
But while Mr. Cantor and other newly empowered Republicans are eager to promote themselves as Israel’s staunchest defenders in Washington, the reconfigured American political landscape is a more complex and unpredictable backdrop for Middle East peacemaking.
Scores of Tea Party-backed candidates are entering Congress, many of whom favor isolationist policies and are determined to cut American foreign aid, regardless of its destination. Rand Paul, the newly elected Tea Party-backed senator from Kentucky, bluntly told the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, an influential pro-Israel lobbying group, that they were going to disagree about the need for foreign aid and suggested that they move on to other topics, according to a person briefed on the meeting.This is much about nothing. The only candidate to whom The Times points is Rand Paul, but that is not what it seems. Rand Paul has distanced himself from traditional isolationist foreign policies of libertarians.
The details in the NY Times article actually contradict the headline and theme of the article, as incoming Tea Party backed candidates such as Allen West and Marco Rubio are portrayed as having made clear their support for Israel.
The "isolationist" policies which could threaten support of Israel come not from the Tea Party movement or the incoming Republican Congressmen, but from the left-wing of the Democratic Party and the foreign policy circles in the Obama administration.
And of course Jewish writers like Joe Klein and Glenn Greenwald who peddle the "Israel-firster" smear.
A lower-tier nutroot blog, The Booman Tribune, asks this question:
You might think that Israel's interests would be best protected by the party that actually elects Jews to high office. But, for some bizarre reason, Israel actually finds the party-of-no-Jews to be friendlier. Why is that?That is a good question, which remains unanswered.
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'That is a good question, which remains unanswered.'
ReplyDeleteThe answer is simple they are JINOs -
what affiliation do they have with practicing Jews?
What affiliation do they have with Jewish history, language, practices and social life?
Why do we even identify them as being Jewish - are they halachicaly?
Just some thoughts.
I have said it before and I will say it again, the left is imploding and the only place they have to go now is down the anti-Semitic accusation route, since the anti-Semitic slurs they throw haven't even worked out well for them. They couldn't' trash the Tea Party so they have to come up with why the Jews should not vote for fiscal responsibility, smaller government and support for Israel's existence (Tea Partiers are overwhelming pro-Israel and the libertarian effect is really not that prevalent despite the leftwing nutroot claims).
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile I still get the same question from friends, why do Jews still vote democratic? I will continue to give the same answer: book learning is important in the Jewish community,but common sense not so much important. Go figure.
If it weren't so ignorant I would find it amusing that the anti-Israel crowd always refers to our efforts to protect Israel as some sort of charity. By protecting Israel, we are defending OUR national interests. What better ally in the Middle East than the only civilized country there? A country that owes its very creation and continued existence in large part to our commitment to our own enlightened interests?
ReplyDeleteIsrael isn't taking our money in one hand while funding global terrorism with the other like the other ME countries (aka Muslim countries).
Tea Partiers and conservatives are the staunchest supporters of Israel in this country. We always have been (long before the Tea Party came along, we were here and supporting Israel), and we always will be. Leftist are tossing their tolerance masks to the wayside and revealing their anti-Semitism as never before. Just as BO promised the Egyptian president (supposedly) and as Jesse Jackson famously noted, BO will ensure that Jewish people know their place. Why do you think the IRS is investigating Jewish orgs? Not because of the Tea Party, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteI have a formerly Jewish (now Catholic) acquaintance who tells me two things: 1)The religion of most Jews in the United States is a Secular Liberalism. 2) American Jews consider Israel the Zionist homeland, not the Jewish homeland.
ReplyDeleteI also have a friend who is an Orthodox Jew. He tells me many of the Orthodox are fiscally and socially conservative, yet still vote Democrat. He can't figure it out, either.
How does the NYT hold itself out as the arbiter of what or who is in the best interests of Israel?
ReplyDeleteSeems like they've been as hostile towards Israel (or supportive of those who are hostile towards Israel) as any institution or group in the country. Shouldn't we assume this is just more disinformation?
Party of no Jews?! Since when?
ReplyDeleteWhat about all those "neocons" who ran foreign policy during the Bush 43 administration? Remember them?
It's funny how 8 years of stupid leftist tropes have gone down the memory hole. You'd think Hitler mustaches on posters of your political opponents was invented by the Tea Party, too.