http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-great-in-kind-donation
Boehner's invitation for Bibi to address Congress is a remarkable break with all sorts of protocol and precedent. The nearest I can recall to what is going on here is when Revolutionary France sent Edmund Genet to appeal to the American people over the head of George Washington. The result was the breakdown in American support for France, except for a few hard core Jacobins.
Obama has gleefully signaled that - as the above article notes - he is currently out of fucks that he is willing to give.
This move is designed to bolster both the GOP and Likud's efforts to scuttle the nuclear talks with Iran. It is about helping the GOP with its base and Netanyahu's with his.
If Obama wants to counterpunch - and I sincerely hope he does - he should ask an ally (France comes to mind) to introduce a very, very mild sanctions bill against Israel for settlements in the West Bank. Isreal exports $119M worth of prefabricated buildings. Who knew?
If France introduces a bill that slaps sanctions on this highly symbolic sector of the Israeli economy and the US responds by voting against the sanctions BUT NOT VETOING the sanctions...I would think this would shock Israeli politics to its core.
Israel depends on US patronage in the UN. Netanyahu should be reminded of that.
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