So it's happened. Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu has done the unthinkable and appeared in front of the U.S. Congress without first having his visit approved by President Obama and the Democrats. And the Democrats are not pleased. Not pleased at all.
So we have this: the spectacle of a series of distraught Dems being paraded out in front of the news cameras to denounce Netanyahu's visit in the sharpest possible terms. This is a betrayal of the "special relationship" that Israel has with the United States, they say. Netanyahu has disgraced the President by his actions, he has disgraced the Israeli people, he has spit in the eye of all those who were-and are-so strong in support of the Israeli State and people. How could he have done such a thing-and how could he have done it to the American president who has done so much to show his support for Israel?
A group of about fifty Democrats did not even bother to attend the speech because they were so outraged. Nancy Pelosi was apparently caught on camera, looking dour and distraught, indeed. The terrible outrage of it all!
Why has Netanyahu's visit coaxed such vitriol from the mouths of the Democrats, who were always, after all, Israel's biggest supporters? Could it be that the opposition to the Prime Minister's visit has less to do with a perceived breach of protocol, and more to do with a golden opportunity to express a latent antisemitism that has been thus far quashed by a veneer, a pretense of civility? Until now.
Now the chorus of poo-pooers will say this: whenever anyone disagrees with the Prime Minister of Israel or the policies of the Israeli government, that person is accused of antisemitism.
But think about this. While it may be true that Netanyahu should not have accepted House Speaker Boehner's rather slippery and ill-timed invitation to address the Congress only two weeks before the Israeli elections, it is also true that the reaction to the visit has been so outsized, so beyond context, that I can only wonder if the reasons for this "outrage" may have more to do with simple hatred of the Jews. Yes, folks, that would be the A word--Antisemitism.
Want proof? Here's a thought: imagine that the Prime Minister of England or the President of France had come to address the Congress, at the invitation of the Speaker of the House. Imagine that the Speaker had extended this invitation only to poke the President of the United States in the eye. Imagine that POTUS and his Party followers were very upset about the visit and the slap in the face by the opposing Party. Imagine that the Party are the Democrats or the Republicans; it doesn't matter.
Now be honest with yourself. Can you really imagine the opposing Party expressing the kind of hatred, detestation and vitriol that the Democrats have unleashed on Netanyahu in the last two days? Can you imagine a tone of opposition so hard and unforgiving that it often sounds like accusations of treason against the United States by the visiting Dignitary? Forget about it. Would never happen.
Unless, of course the Prime Minister of England or the President of France happened to be Jewish. All bets might be off at that point.
