Discussion: Netanyahu Faces Mounting Pressure To Cancel Speech To Congress

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Discussion for article #233014

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Pressure that he should heed. He really made a mess of this, didn’t he? My hope would be that the day he speaks, Obama announces a good deal with Iran…that would really take whatever wind there is out of Netanyahu’s sails back in Israel.

I heard some GOP shill this morning saying that the “ONLY” thing Israelis want in a leader is someone who can ‘articulate to the world how much Israel is under attack.’ What an absolutely asinine thing to say. And from the mouth of bomb-crazy Netanyahu??

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You know things are bad when Abe Foxman at ADL turns on you. Josh has an excellent article on this subject. If AIPAC is also worried about the fall out the win/lose ratio has tipped decidedly against Netanyahu in the US. Netanyahu’s ego has cost Israel and the costs are mounting.

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BibI put himself in quite a pickle. He thought the political clout of pro-Israel sentiment would cover his ass, He overplayed that hand. When an unabashedly pro-Israel group like the ADL speaks out against you things aren’t good. Unfortunately, he’s in somewhat of a catch-22. If he backs down he’ll look weak; if he goes through with it he will damage the American-Israel relationship – at least until this president leaves office.

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Yes, Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to have misplayed this. First we heard that the White House was not looped into this, then that Democratic Congress members were also taken by surprise, and then an Israeli official’s statement that it was Speaker Boehner – and not Amb. Dermer – who was supposed to have contacted the White House before the announcement, implying that Bibi was misled.

One thing, however, was clear: it was imperative for Boehner to take the fall for this to avoid this from escalating into an international incident that could have derailed the Iran talks and hurt US-Israeli relations.

Also, if Dermer would have taken the blame, it could have raised the kind of “puppeteer” conspiracy theories about undue Jewish and Israeli influence on the US that continually surround the topics of Jews and Israel.
 
Iran’s hardliners could have claimed that the incident was evidence that the US is not an honest broker.

Boehner had to fall on his sword over this.

Chalking this clumsy move to a bumbling Boehner dissipates some of the paranoia of many who claim that Israel enjoys undue influence over America.

I believe this unfortunate incident originated in the desires of both Bibi and Boehner to exploit the Iran situation for their own ends, and I believe that both men misread the President’s resolve to broker what could be a historic deal, one that might defuse tensions in the Middle East and set the stage for an eventual Israel-Palestine peace deal.

And I am gradually becoming more sanguine about this incident, as I think the Obama administration can exploit the tension and play the “good cop/bad cop” game, using pro-sanctions Congressmen and Bibi as foils. Obama and Kerry can exploit the tensions over this situation and convince the Iranians that this is their only chance to get a deal, and that time is running out.

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Boehner has not fallen on his sword, unless I have missed something. I agree if he did it might defuse some of the animosity. Netanyahu and Boehner have both made major errors in judgment and it appears they are unwilling to take the steps necessary to correct the blunder.

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Not explicitly, but he has yet to issue a denial or statement in response to the claim that he had assured Dermer that he would notify the President about the invitation to speak to Congress.

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This can mean only one thing – the ADL is anti-Semitic, hates Israel, and supports terrorism.

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In a Reuters article today, Iran’s Supreme Leader “suggested on Sunday he could back a fair nuclear accord with world powers in which neither side got everything it wanted, boosting Iranian negotiators under fire from hardliners at home opposed to rapprochement with the West.”

Here is the link: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0LC08220150208?irpc=932

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Bibi’s & Boehner’s big boo-boo…

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Republican snow job avalanches.