Democratic senator Robert Menendez has made but fleeting appearances in this blog, for no more purpose than to be jeered at by me as “the senator from AIPAC”, thanks in particular to his unrelenting and despicable opposition to the Obama administration’s nuclear weapons deal with Iran, overturned by the Trump administration and now very unlikely to be revived by President Biden, thanks in no little part to Bob. So I was more than a little surprised when Bob, in a recent visit to Tel Aviv, told AV non-fave rave Bibi Netanyahu that his plans—plans that are now clearly to become reality—to return to power by aligning himself politically with right-wing extremists could “seriously erode” bipartisan support of Israel in the U.S., as it damn well ought to.
Bob’s words were delivered via an article in Axios by Barak Ravid and Alayna Treene, Menendez warns Netanyahu against working with Jewish supremacists. According to a “source”, in a meeting with Netanyahu back in September, Menendez warned Netanyahu against working with “extremist and polarizing individuals like Ben Gvir.” When Netanyahu pushed back against Menendez’ remarks, the source continued, Bob pushed back as well: “The senator told Netanyahu he needed to realize the composition of such a coalition could seriously erode bipartisan support in Washington, which has been a pillar of the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Israel."
Bob isn’t the only one who’s getting the picture: Thomas Friedman, once the neocon’s neocon, has brutally harsh and depressing things to say about the current political situation in Israel. Says Friedman, the coalition that Netanyahu is building is nothing more or less than
a rowdy alliance of ultra-Orthodox leaders and ultranationalist politicians, including some outright racist, anti-Arab Jewish extremists once deemed completely outside the norms and boundaries of Israeli politics. As it is virtually impossible for Netanyahu to build a majority coalition without the support of these extremists, some of them are almost certain to be cabinet ministers in the next Israeli government.
As that previously unthinkable reality takes hold, a fundamental question will roil synagogues in America and across the globe: “Do I support this Israel or not support it?” It will haunt pro-Israel students on college campuses. It will challenge Arab allies of Israel in the Abraham Accords, who just wanted to trade with Israel and never signed up for defending a government there that is anti-Israeli Arab. It will stress those U.S. diplomats who have reflexively defended Israel as a Jewish democracy that shares America’s values, and it will send friends of Israel in Congress fleeing from any reporter asking if America should continue sending billions of dollars in aid to such a religious-extremist-inspired government.
As Tom notes, “previously unthinkable” realities seem to be popping up just about everywhere. Here, for example!
