Dithering Toward Disaster

16 August 2019

 

Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Israel Bans Congresswomen from Visit, Sort of

 

The government of Israel has seen fit to ban a visit by Congresswomen Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), two of the country's biggest opponents in the House of Representatives. Last month, the same government assured everyone that the two would be welcome. However, President Trump tweeted that they should not be permitted entry, and the Netanyahu government agreed, reversing itself. After a huge uproar in the US across the political spectrum, Ms. Tlaib will be permitted to visit her grandmother on the West Bank for humanitarian reasons. The only person who looks weaker here than President Trump is Prime Minister Netanyahu.

This journal holds no brief for any of the parties involved. The president is an appalling human being who will get a lot of people killed through foolishness if the world isn't exceedingly lucky. Mr. Netanyahu is a criminal who has sold his office for favors, and his policies weaken Israel's security. Ms. Omar and Ms. Tlaib are newbie members of the House of Representatives who have a great deal to learn about how politics at the global level work and who would better serve their constituents if they would stop throwing lit matches at pools of gasoline.

It is that latter point that makes the ban so awful. In Israel and on the West Bank, the two congresswomen probably would not take the trouble to learn anything that would force them to be more nuanced in their views, but on the off-chance that they might, their visit is important. Israel has a tradition of allowing people who dissent from the government line access to its territory, which makes it a better state than many in that neighborhood.

The ban undermines that tradition. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a hawkish, "Israel right or wrong" organization that may be the best funded and most effective Israeli lobby in America. AIPAC's official Twitter account issued this statement, "We disagree with Reps. Omar and Tlaib's support for the anti-Israel and anti-peace BDS movement, along with Rep. Tlaib's calls for a one-state solution. We also believe every member of Congress should be able to visit and experience our democratic ally Israel firsthand." This situation is so egregious that AIPAC and the Kensington Review are in total agreement.

Mr. Netanyahu, however, is facing an election because he could not assemble a majority out of the last one. Mr. Trump is more popular in Israel that he is. He sees Mr. Trump's support as a key factor in winning the September 17 election. Mr. Trump hates Ms. Omar and Ms. Tlaib along with the other two members of The Squad, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ayanna Presley (D-MA). By banning half of The Squad, Mr. Netanyahu has become Mr. Trump's loyal servant. Mr. Trump will likely do something soon to return the favor.

That is bad enough, but now, Ms. Tlaib has received permission to visit her 90-year-old grandmother who lives in a place called Beit Ur al-Fouqa, a half-hour drive north and west of Jerusalem (presuming no delays at checkpoints). In a letter to Aryeh Dari, the Israeli Interior Minister, Ms. Tlaib offered this fig leaf, "I will respect any restrictions and will not promote boycotts against Israel during my visit." 

This is clearly a cack-handed attempt to quiet the protests that followed the ban. The worry was that by permitting the trip, the Israeli government would receive a week's worth of bad press during the congresswomen's visit. Banning them got the government bad press anyway. But now, with the reversal of the ban on Ms. Tlaib, the government will still have to face a week of TV cameras watching her every move. One hopes Mr. Netanyahu is pleased because he managed to get the worst of both worlds here. He looks like Mr. Trump's puppet, and his government looks indecisive. That is no way to win an election, and certainly not at the price of Israel's reputation as a liberal, open society.


© Copyright 2019 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.


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