What Did Netanyahu’s Speech Accomplish?

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Lawrence Person

Over on Ace of Spades HQ, DrewM is pessimistic that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech accomplished anything. While his central premise is correct (the deal won’t prevent the Obama Administration from making a criminally stupid deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran that will actually make it easier for them to obtain nuclear weapons), the speech actually did accomplish several positive things:

  • The contrasting optics of the thunderous applause given Netanyahu in congress, and the petulant disdain Obama’s Democrats showed him, may very well help boost Likud’s chances in the Israel’s March 17 elections. (The fact that Obama has dispatched Jeremy Bird to help defeat Netanyahu helps reinforce the impression.)
  • It reminded ordinary Israelis that, no matter how much Obama may regard them with contempt, Israel still has strong support in America.
  • It helps further drive a wedge between the Obama Democrats and the small but influential community of wealthy American Jewish donors who are liberal on the vast majority of issues, but also staunchly pro-Israel. (Call them Ed Koch Democrats.) Between Obama’s feckless foreign policy and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s enthusiastic embrace of Al Sharpton, Democrats are doing more than Republicans ever could to make New York’s Jewish community reconsider their political loyalties.
  • As a high-profile speech the media couldn’t avoid covering, it reminded ordinary Americans (who are far more casual observers of politics than the people who read this blog) that Israel considers a nuclear-armed Iran not as a mere nuisance, but as an existential threat.
  • Netanyahu’s relentless pandering to a Democratic caucus leadership that obviously despises him provides solid bridge-building to post-Obama Democratic leadership.
  • It reminded many Americans, yet again, how petty and petulant the Obama Democrats are, starting at the very top.

    • About Lawrence Person

    Lawrence Person is a political commentator and science fiction writer living in Austin, Texas. I'm still between jobs. Feel free to hit the tip jar if you're so inclined.
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