How many times do I have to say it? God, I love it when they eat their young! I believe that the operative phrase is a falling out among thieves, and when you look at the corruption scandals that both Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are facing, there may never have been a more appropriate phrase uttered.
Axios is reporting that the Israeli government is suddenly very concerned at the prospect of an upcoming US-Iran summit. You can lay this one at the feet of French President Emanuel Macron, who is beginning to look more and more like the leader of the free world. Macron was widely criticized for inviting the Iranian Foreign Minister to pop in for a visit at the G-7 conference, a move that was seen as an optics “stunt” that fell flat on its face. But in his press conference, Trump acknowledged prior knowledge of the visit, and softened his tone on Iran, agreeing that a summit was possible. In his own press conference Macron hammered home the point, stating that western leaders hoped to have the two sides together within a few weeks time.
This is a potentially disastrous development for Netanyahu, who has a runoff election coming up in just about three weeks. It’s a potential game changer for a couple of reasons. For one, Israeli relations with Washington haven’t been at this low of a point in a long time. Democrats are still stone pissed at Netanyahu for going behind President Obama’s back by accepting then Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to address a joint session of congress without Obama’s approval. And Jewish Americans are pissed at Trump for slandering them with a charge of divided loyalties, as well as Netanyahu for setting it up by agreeing to bar representatives Taib and Omar from visiting Israel. Some Israelis are also blaming Netanyahu for giving the appearance of being a Trump stooge.
It’s just as bad in Israel, and the core reason is Netanyahu’s cozy relationship with Trump. Trump is far more popular in Israel than he is in the US, and the reason is that Netanyahu has repeatedly touted Trump as the salvation of Israel, and their staunchest ally and supporter. If Macron and Merkel are able to work a little magic, and set up a summit between the US and Iran, or even a high level meeting between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Iranian Foreign Minister in the next three weeks, it could be the kiss-of-death for Netanyahu, with Israelis of all stripes feeling that Benji Baby led them down the primrose path to a place of weaker national security.
Benjamin Netanyahu made the same basic mistake that GOP idjits like Reince Priebus, Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell made. Mainly, that because Trump is an imbecile, he’d be easy to manipulate and control. But that logic was based on the assumption that Trump shared a common ideology with them. But when you take that line with a man whose only allegiance is to himself, then you really shouldn’t be surprised when you find yourself locked in a cage with the Tasmanian Devil.
We should always keep in mind that Israel has plenty of progressives, too. They cannot stand Netanyau and prefer a 2 state solution. It is just like we hope that the world knows there is a strong resistance in the U.S. to Trump and would love to reach out to the three leaders of the democratic world, the Macron-Trudeau-Merkel band of three sane people and real leaders.
Israel has “us” too. We should not forget them, and not act as though the Israeli Jewish vote is a bloc of 100% agreement. I have been accused of being an anti-Semite by RWers only bc I don’t agree with Israel on every issue foreign policy issue. To me, the way to really look down on Israelis is to treat them as “special” unlike any other ally, that isn’t capable of having serious disagreement within their population.
Food points…I said when this latest election was called for that it might be the swansong for Netanyahu…He barely held onto first place in the last election, getting first crack at forming a coalition government, and then couldn’t DO it. When he banned Omar and Tlaib, the left was furious with him in Israel for violating a fundamental of democracy, and while the right didn’t mind that, they’re pissed because the way it played out made him look like a stooge for Trump…
Iranians are stating that for the meeting to take place, Trump must drop all sanctions beforehand, so it looks like the meeting will never happen. If they find out that helps Net the Yahoo that could change.