Some of the extremist pro-Israel partisans on this blog have taken delight in using the anti-semite/ZOG cudgel to beat critics when they point out that our politicians are "bought and paid for by the Israel lobby." Well it would follow that you would have to say the same thing about noted Jewish Middle East expert Thomas Friedman:
I sure hope that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, understands that the standing ovation he got in Congress this year was not for his politics. That ovation was bought and paid for by the Israel lobby.
It is pretty clear that the Israeli lobby (which includes Christian Evangelical groups) use money and lies to bully our politicians into near subservience. What do I mean by lie and bully? Well one only has to look at the NY-9 special election where former Democratic Mayor Ed Koch lied to voters in that district, telling them that if they don't vote for the Republican then Obama will betray Israel. Keeping in mind that the Democrat in this race is Jewish.
What Ed really wants from Obama is reflexive support for Israel with complete disregard for America's interest. This is what many in the extremist pro-Israel camp want. And as Thomas Friedman explains they will get it from either Republican candidate:
This was supposed to show that Newt loves Israel more than Mitt Romney, who only told the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom that he would move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem because “I don’t seek to take actions independent of what our allies think is best, and if Israel’s leaders thought that a move of that nature would be helpful to their efforts, then that’s something I’ll be inclined to do. ... I don’t think America should play the role of the leader of the peace process. Instead, we should stand by our ally.”
That’s right. America’s role is to just applaud whatever Israel does, serve as its A.T.M. and shut up. We have no interests of our own. And this guy’s running for president?
Now I will end on this note as I think it describes my position as well:
I have a simple motto when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I love both Israelis and Palestinians, but God save me from some of their American friends — those who want to love them to death, literally.
Although I would add that I am harder on Israel for two reasons. One, Israel is the occupier in this situation. they have power over the Palestinians. And it is incumbent upon those with power to take the first step towards Peace. And this first step is merely to comply with international law and freeze settlement construction permanently. I don't think that is a lot to ask for.
Second, Israel has clearly gone backwards not forwards. It was founded as a secular liberal democracy. In fact David Ben Gurion - the George Washington of Israel - was a socialist. However, since Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination by a Jewish terrorist it has gone the other way. Not just in terms of becoming a more conservative or more religious society, but a more anti-democratic society. The current government is trying to remove powers from its Supreme Court, which is a threat to democracy itself in the country. Furthermore, the current government has taken to supporting dictators around the world with great ease.
This contrasts greatly with the Palestinians whose leader has called for non-violent resistance and admitted Palestine was wrong to reject an Israeli state in '47. So despite Palestine's many many problems they are at least on the right trajectory. The same can't be said about Israel, and it is unfortunate some of Israel's extremist supporters can't show it an appropriate amount of tough love.