Netanyahu blew it: How he misunderstood Congress & inadvertently ruined his own goals

[DonViejo]

Before Netanyahu's speech was announced, Congress was willing to thwart Obama's plans. Afterwards? Not so much

JIM NEWELL

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had two goals for his address to Congress. The first was to boost his chances for reelection in a couple of weeks by showing off his sway abroad. I am not enough of an expert in Israeli politics to know if this will work on net, but the controversy that it sparked might cut against whatever gains it made. The second goal, however, was to lobby Congress to use its power to sabotage a nuclear deal with Iran. On this count, he’s failed, because he critically misunderstands how American politics works.

If Netanyahu hadn’t thrown himself into the situation — perhaps that was impossible for him, given his ego — he might have gotten his desired results out of Congress. Had Netanyahu not gone so out of his way to attack the Obama administration, Congress may not have reverted to the partisan posture on two Iran-related bills that had looked like they had a decent chance of making their way into law.

Israel has a lot of friends in Congress. Have you heard? There are many, many Democrats willing to do exactly what Israel wants at any time. Perhaps the only way that Israel can screw this up is to launch a direct, overt assault on the head of the Democratic party. Israel’s hold on Congress is not so strong that Democratic members will choose Israel over their own president.

And that’s what Netanyahu has made them do: rush to the defense of President Obama, even if they had been willing to diverge from his foreign policy approach.

This first came up shortly after the speech was announced, when the Senate was on the cusp of pushing through a new round of sanctions against Iran. Despite President Obama sharp warnings that this would derail negotiations with Iran at a critical juncture, about a dozen Democratic senators, led by Sen. Bob Menendez, were moving ahead anyway.

But as soon as Netanyahu accepted Boehner’s invitation to speak, acknowledging quite openly his goal to persuade a veto-proof majority of lawmakers to vote in favor of the sanctions bill and thereby disrupt negotiations, he thwarted his own objective. Democrats who had been sitting on the fence opted to give the administration more time before bringing up the bill. They signed a a joint letter to the White House promising not to vote for a sanctions bill before March 24, the deadline for P5+1 negotiators to reach a preliminary framework on a deal with the Iranian foreign minister.

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/04/netanyahu_blew_it_how_he_misunderstood_congress_inadvertently_ruined_his_own_goals/

[imthevicar]

1. Wont Matter,

If he feels we are slipping out of his hands the Mossad will pull off another con job.

[Cha]

9. Mossad was Against Bibi speech to the US Congress.

[imthevicar]

10. Cause BIBI has a BIG Mouth!

[Behind the Aegis]

11. That is true.

However, that wasn't the implication.

[Jakes Progress]

3. Perhaps he doesn't care

about Irag's nuclear program any more than people like cruz and rubio care about the welfare of the American people. He was pandering to the Israeli equivalent of the tea party. Red meat and lies, just like the crap we heard from CPAC. If it gets him re-elected, he doesn't care.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

5. They are known as the settlers. Illegal settlers.

Imagine if the USA was taking Mexican land in modern times, throwing out Mexicans, destroying anything that they grew or built, shot and killed Mexicans with impunity, bombed Mexico city...on a rotating scale, built American towns on the ruins of old Mexican ones then complained that the rest of the world better wake up to the threat of a different country and bomb it somehow.

Fucking crazy.

[Jakes Progress]

6. Again.

He doesn't care. Just like appealing to the tea party in the US, he is appealing to the knuckle draggers in Israel. It's not about the settlements, the weapons, or the borders. He just wants to be elected.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

4. I'm actually half hoping that *Bibi the baby killer wins reelection for two reasons.

1) His assholeness will push America away from the belief that we have to prop up a human-rights abusing apartheid state.

2) Only the republicons will want him, and we all know that once that game is set the Democrats will have to take side against GOP-loving Israel.

Yes, there are major drawbacks; mainly the plight of the Palestinians as illegal Israeli settlers slash, chop and take anything that isn't nailed down in the West Bank...or bomb to oblivion in Gaza.

If Bibi is elected we'll see more of that, but if he isn't I am not convinced that Herzog will be any better.


*And yes, before the whiners come out with their alerts, Benyamin Netanyahu is responsible for the bombing deaths of hundreds of Gazans and children.

[Albertoo]

7. In a strange twist, Sunnis approved Bibi's speech

What the Alarabiya (and HuffPost) columnist had to say:

President Obama, listen to Netanyahu on Iran

Tuesday, 3 March 2015 - Faisal J. Abbas

It is extremely rare for any reasonable person to ever agree with anything Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says or does.

However, one must admit, Bibi did get it right, at least when it came to dealing with Iran.

The Israeli PM managed to hit the nail right on the head when he said that Middle Eastern countries are collapsing and that “terror organizations, mostly backed by Iran, are filling in the vacuum” during a recent ceremony held in Tel Aviv to thank outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz for his role during “challenging” times.

In just a few words, Mr. Netanyahu managed to accurately summarize a clear and present danger, not just to Israel (which obviously is his concern), but to other U.S. allies in the region.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2015/03/03/President-Obama-listen-to-Netanyahu-on-Iran.html

[Cha]

8. Perhaps the only way that Israel can screw this up is to launch a direct, overt assault on the head

of the Democratic party. Israel’s hold on Congress is not so strong that Democratic members will choose Israel over their own president."

"And that’s what Netanyahu has made them do: rush to the defense of President Obama, even if they had been willing to diverge from his foreign policy approach."



Thank Goodness.. bibi is so arrogant as to make him ignorant..

Mahalo DV