Why has Congress – with the backing of the American people — thrown its weight behind Bibi Netanyahu in the face of Obama’s finger-wagging? As one analyst put it “The existence of Israel means that the G-d of the Bible is still watching out for the well-being of the human race”
A neighbor of mine originally from America was jumping with excitement. “You’ve got to read this!” he said pushing an article into my hands.
It was by Professor Walter Russell Mead editor-at-large of The American Interest magazine and it dealt with the standoff between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu which reached high drama during the latter’s recent visit to Washington. Mead characterizes the president as a man of incisive mind who understands the political forces at work in the Middle East yet displays dangerous incompetence when it comes to actually setting policies and trying to effect a rapprochement between the sides.
One surprising passage caught my interest. It discussed Congress’ enthusiastic response to Netanyahu’s speech in the Capitol building their refreshing show of sympathy and support for the Israeli prime minister. Indeed the reaction was unprecedented. Few speeches by foreign leaders or even by American presidents for that matter have been so warmly received. Members of the House and Senate from both parties rose to give the prime minister a standing ovation no less than ten times and cheered many more times during Netanyahu’s speech. Professor Mead has an interesting original take on their enthusiasm. You can read the passage and see for yourselves how surprising it is — and how thought-provoking for us as Jews:
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