There was considerable drama surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to our nation’s capitol yesterday. President Obama and some Democrats tried to sabotage the visit. But to Netanyahu’s credit, the Prime Minister came anyway, and gave an incredibly important and effective speech.
Prime Minister Netanyahu started off by thanking President Obama for his support of Israel. In reality, Netanyahu was just being polite, because Obama has done more to undercut Israel than any president since Israel became a nation back in 1948. Obama encouraged Democrats to boycott the speech. Some did, but most showed up anyway. (As did virtually all Republicans, including me.)
It’s well known that Speaker John Boehner extended the invitation to Netanyahu to speak before Congress, and not President Obama. It’s not unprecedented, but it is unusual. But perfectly understandable when one considers that President Obama is proceeding down a path which Bibi Netanyahu believes could put his country in great danger.
That brings me to the substance of the speech, and to the real reason for Prime Minister Netanyahu coming to address the United States Congress in the first place. Netanyahu has grave concerns that the Obama Administration is on the precipice of reaching a deal with Iran which will ultimately result in Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. (I share that concern.)
Israel lives in a tough neighborhood. It’s surrounded by countries who, for the most part, wish it didn’t exist. It has fought back (with the financial help of the United States) attempts by multiple countries to overrun it, and attempts by terror groups to slaughter its people. It’s seen its busses and coffee shops blown up. It’s seen attempts by terror groups to tunnel under its borders to mount attacks against Israeli citizens. It’s seen the leaders of the greatest supporter of terrorism on the globe, Iran, threaten to “wipe Israel from the map.” And Israel justifiably fears that that very country is on the path to acquiring the means to do it.
Here are a few lines from the speech which I thought were particularly memorable.
It’s nice to have a foreign leader actually express their appreciation for the help the United States has given them. Too often the recipients of our largess act like they’re owed U.S. tax dollars, and express little or no appreciation for American assistance. It’s more “what have you done for me lately.”
The more common saying suggests that the enemy of one’s enemy is one’s friend. Netanyahu’s point here is that even though we oppose ISIS, and Iran also opposes ISIS (because ISIS is Sunni and Iran is Shia) the United States shouldn’t get too cozy with Iran. Don’t be lured into a false sense of security with them.
The Prime Minister used North Korea as an example of this principle. The inspectors that were supposed to prevent North Korea from going nuclear warned that they were in violation of what they had agreed to, but that didn’t prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. It’s the WILL to stop bad actors from acting badly that’s necessary. And that’s what’s lacking with the Obama Administration.
Since I won back my Congressional seat in 2010, I’ve attended five State of the Union Addresses given by Barack Obama. I’ve listened closely, been respectful, and clapped politely when I felt it appropriate. But I’ve generally disagreed with the policies espoused by our President, and certainly not been inspired by him. It was refreshing to have someone address Congress for whom I could enthusiastically applaud. Netanyahu is a true leader at a critical time. I wish we had one.
