Stop the Hogs!

Netanyahu’s Republican-instigated speech to Congress threatens to make Israel a partisan issue in U.S. politics

[ http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/27 ... -congress/ ]

Jen Gerson | February 27, 2015 4:19 PM ET

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will step into the mire of American partisan politics Tuesday when he addresses the Republican-dominated Congress. He is expected to make a forceful appeal to pull back on a landmark nuclear accord with Iran, one of U.S. President Barack Obama’s most important foreign policy initiatives, thePost’s Jen Gerson writes. The move threatens the already frosty relationship between the two leaders and could flare into an all-out diplomatic melodrama.

Why is the speech such a big deal?

The speech itself is less of an issue than the diplomatic tensions it has revealed. Mr. Netanyahu accepted the Republican-dominated Congress’s invitation to speak without going through the White House, which puts him at odds with Mr. Obama, the president of Israel’s strongest financial and political ally.

“There’s nothing in the recent history of American-Israeli relations like this,” said David Ottaway, a senior scholar at the Middle East Program of the Washington-based Wilson Center. He compares the episode to the falling-out between Menachem Begin and Ronald Reagan over the sale of surveillance aircraft to Saudi Arabia in the 1980s. “We haven’t seen anything like this for decades,” he added. “Neither seems to be backing down. It’s the end of the relationship for the rest of the Obama administration, between Obama and Netanyahu.”

Why is Mr. Obama so angry?

MORE:

[ [ http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/27 ... -congress/ ]

Obama and Netanyahu’s strategic difference over Iran has widened into a chasm

[ http://news.nationalpost.com/category/n ... ddle-east/ ]

For years, the U.S. and Israel avoided discussion of the differences between an Iran on the verge of having a nuclear weapon and an Iran that possesses one

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[ http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/03/03 ... ive-video/ ]


Benjamin Netanyahu: Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam - March 3, 2015
[ http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/03/03 ... ant-islam/ ]


Benjamin Netanyahu ’s resolve on Iranian nuclear threat has been decades in the making - March 3, 2015
[ http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/03/03 ... he-making/ ]

What Rift? 5 Times Netanyahu's Speech Showed America's Well on Board With His Dangerous Plans

[ http://www.alternet.org/5-times-netanya ... 032710&t=2 ]

Rhetoric aside, Israel and the US still want the same things.

By Michael Arria / AlterNet March 3, 2015

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QUOTE: "The current good cop/bad cop routine might temporarily obscure the narrative, but it’s important to remember that the United States government, and the Israeli government, continue to be linked and continue to make the world a more dangerous place."

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For the past couple weeks, the American media has focused on the fact that various members of congress planned on skipping Netanyahu’s speech. Predictably, this was perceived by many on the right as the latest example of Obama, and other prominent Democrats, failing to support Israel sufficiently. This is, of course, a massive red herring and a distraction from very real and dangerous issues; mainly, Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and its unyielding push for war against Iran. Netanyahu’s speech was strikingly bellicose, even by his standards, as he compared the leadership of Iran to the Nazis and ISIS. Much will be made about the farcical comparisons, but he also said a number of ridiculous things that President Obama, and others who skipped the speech, agree with him on. Netanyahu’s speech was an attack on the administration’s foreign policy, but it was facilitated by years of support from the Obama administration. After getting a green light for nearly all of his actions, why wouldn’t Israel’s Prime Minister logically ask for more?

Here’s five moments from the speech that highlighted how the Israel/United States “rift” is overrated.

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[ http://www.alternet.org/5-times-netanya ... 032710&t=2 ]

Noam Chomsky: Why Israel's Netanyahu Is So Desperate to Prevent Peace with Iran

[ http://www.alternet.org/world/noam-chom ... 032869&t=9 ]

The distinguished professor lays bare Israel's motives.

By Amy Goodman / Democracy Now! March 2, 2015

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in the United States as part of his bid to stop a nuclear deal with Iran during a controversial speech before the U.S. Congress on Tuesday. Dozens of Democrats are threatening to boycott the address, which was arranged by House Speaker John Boehner without consulting the White House. Netanyahu’s visit comes just as Iran and six world powers, including the United States, are set to resume talks in a bid to meet a March 31 deadline.

"For both Prime Minister Netanyahu and the hawks in Congress, mostly Republican, the primary goal is to undermine any potential negotiation that might settle whatever issue there is with Iran," says Noam Chomsky, institute professor emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "They have a common interest in ensuring there is no regional force that can serve as any kind of deterrent to Israeli and U.S. violence, the major violence in the region."

Chomsky also responds to recent revelations that in 2012 the Israeli spy agency, Mossad, contradicted Netanyahu’s own dire warnings about Iran’s ability to produce a nuclear bomb, concluding that Iran was "not performing the activity necessary to produce weapons."

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AMY GOODMAN: So why is Netanyahu doing this?

NOAM CHOMSKY: Because he doesn’t want to have a deterrent in the region. That’s simple enough. If you’re an aggressive, violent state, you want to be able to use force freely. You don’t want anything that might impede it.

AMY GOODMAN: Do you think this in any way has undercut the U.S. relationship with Israel, the Netanyahu-Obama conflict that, what, Susan Rice has called destructive?

NOAM CHOMSKY: There is undoubtedly a personal relationship which is hostile, but that’s happened before. Back in around 1990 under first President Bush, James Baker went as far as—the secretary of state—telling Israel, "We’re not going to talk to you anymore. If you want to contact me, here’s my phone number." And, in fact, the U.S. imposed mild sanctions on Israel, enough to compel the prime minister to resign and be replaced by someone else. But that didn’t change the relationship, which is based on deeper issues than personal antagonisms.