I’m posting it here, this J Street petition against the planned address to the U.S. Congress by Prime Minister Netanyahu. Please consider signing and passing around –even if you think it’s too bland and understates the issue. The statement is pretty parve, but I’m guessing that, politically, the thinking at J Stree was to shoot for as broad a base as possible.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent stunt is crossing and scrambling many red lines simultaneously. These relate to the integrity of the American political system, U.S.-Israel relations, and American Jewish politics, including American Jewish support of Israel.
The Prime Minister of Israel and his allies in Israel and in the Republican Party do not seem to understand that it’s the President of the United States whose charge it is to make American foreign policy, that Israel depends upon bi-partisan support from its American patron, and that the first political allegiance of American Jews is this country and its institutions, including the presidency, no matter what one might think about who holds the office and his or her conduct of foreign policy.
If anyone can find a stronger statement, especially ones calling upon or supporting members of Congress and the Senate to boycott the speech, please send it to me and I’ll sign and pass it around.
Wait – the Congress invited the PM Netaniyahu to give a speech. Right? So its the electives of the American people who are free to do as they please, aren’t they? Or is the President a dictator for 4 years who’s word is the LAW?
How does the speech by an elected head of state, invited by the parliament, wrong? I recall President Obama on his visit to Israel ignoring the Knessent and choosing to give a speech to a hand-picked crowd of Israeli youth. That to me was an insult to the Israeli paliamentary democracy and a crude attempt to influence internal affairs of Israel.
You may disagree with the invitation issued by the Congress. But calls for boycot? Again? Just because the Israeli PM is not acting like Obama’s… (uhmmm… is obedient servant a proper politically correct term here?) doesn’t mean he incites the American Jews to treason.
The lynching of Netaniyahu for “improper” political moves is sympthomatic to the leftist disease of calling for respect and free speech for everyone, as long as they do not hold views that are other than said leftists. Your calls for boycot are a much greater threat to democracy and free speech than anything PM Netaniyahu can come up with.