Originally published in Tikkun Daily
Patrick Chappatte in The New York Times has destroyed Israel's Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, in his latest political cartoon. The piece, entitled "Mr. Netanyahu Goes to Washington," plays upon Netanyahu's continued expansion of Israel's West Bank settlements in critiquing his upcoming speech before Congress on March 3.
Witness:
Netanyahu's speech, planned with Speaker John Boehner
behind President Obama's back, promises to be a boisterous rebuttal of Obama's diplomatic efforts with Iran, and will be presented as a case for Israel (and the world's) security.
However, this speech has little to do with security, and everything to do with Netanyahu's re-election campaign. Indeed, Senator Tim Kaine, the most recent member of Congress to announce he would be skipping the speech, indicated as much in a statement explaining his decision:
“There is no reason to schedule this speech before Israeli voters go to the polls on March 17 and choose their own leadership. I am disappointed that, as of now, the speech has not been postponed. For this reason, I will not attend the speech.”
In his cartoon, Chappatte leans heavily upon this critique, showing Netanyahu's motivating for speaking in Washington to be one of personal gain, not security. However, he does so by pulling in one a Netanyahu policy which stands in direct
opposition to the Obama administration: Israel's continued settlement expansions and the continued appropriation of Palestinian land.
Only in Chappatte's cartoon, it's Congress being metaphorically appropriated. An echo of what truly transpires in Israel/Palestine with Netanyahu as Israel's leader.
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, recently published by Oneworld Publications.