Nearly 300 Congress members declare commitment to 'unbreakable' U.S.-Israel bond

[cory777]

Source: Haaretz

By Natasha Mozgavaya, Haaretz Correspondent

Nearly 300 members of Congress have signed on to a declaration reaffirming their commitment to "the unbreakable bond that exists between and the State of Israel", in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The letter was sent in the wake of the severe recent tensions between Israel and the U.S. over the prior's decision to construct more than 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem, a project it announced during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit to the region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took advantage of his trip to the United States this week to try to mend the rift with the Obama administration, but he was greeted with cold welcome by the White House. Netanyahu also met during his visit with members of Congress, who welcomed him with significantly more warmth.


Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1159159.html

[cali]

1. sigh. that's fine, but how about the Congress exhibit some real friendship

toward Israel and stop funding them with billions of dollars.

[Enrique]

2. they should have been more specific

the unbreakable U.S.-Likud bond.

[frebrd]

6. Exactly! eom

[frebrd]

7. DUPE! No idea why

:(

[ORDagnabbit]

3. double sigh... uss liberty.. look it up. but hey they've been great since then..havent spied on us

or treated anyone badly or anything.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SpiralHawk]

5. "...until Armageddon do us part." - Them

[bc3000]

8. Allies does not mean letting the tail wag the dog.

[tomm2thumbs]

9. that's a strong bond -

Very strong

[Mr. Sparkle]

10. The power of lobbying. It is enough to make you sick.

It is ok to stand with the people of Israel, but not the right wing freaks that run it.

[Jim Sagle]

11. Obama better wise up fast unless he wants to split the Dems in two the way Carter did.

[pjt7]

12. Those 300 should be voted out

if Israel continues to give us the finger.

[cali]

13. ridiculous. being a one issue voter is supremely stupid.

If someone is good on the vast majority of issues and suck on one or two, like Grayson and Weiner, it's beyond stupid to talk about voting them out.

[avaistheone1]

14. Not in all cases especially this one

considering that AIPAC/Israel lobby has way too much power over critical US policies like the Middle East wars.

[cali]

18. really? you'd like to see Grayson and Weiner voted out because they support Israel?

[pjt7]

23. 100% Cali

If Israel CONTINUES to break away from our partnership & CONTINUES to try & embarrass us & Grayson & Weiner support them over the US, they should be voted out.

[cali]

26. that's fucked up. sorry, most people aren't single issue voters.

[pjt7]

28. this is a real & very strategic National Security Issue

Period.

[cali]

33. don't hold your breath, dear.

most progressives aren't morons and they won't go voting out people like Grayson. Period.

[pjt7]

37. Grayson will call Israel out

if they go 100% overboard.

[pjt7]

15. It's ridiculous to let Israel

thumb their nose @ us & then write silly support letters.

IF they continue to go against us, they are our foe.

It's simple.

[cali]

19. speak for yourself, honey. YOU don't speak for me or millions of other progressives.

[Yeahyeah]

16. I don't know.Are U.S. Congress members supposed to pledge allegiance to a foreign country?

[cali]

21. so who's done that? do tell.

[protocol rv]

29. My humble opinion, my friend

Is that the US Congressmen did indeed pledge allegiance to a foreign power, namely Israel, when they declared the existence of an unbreakable bond when the USA and Israel do not have a signed treaty. Having read the book "The Israel Lobbby", it seems to me the lobby of that name does indeed wield enormous power, and is using this type of resolution to send a signal to the US President that they control things in America, by making the Congressmen humiliate themselves in this fashion. Not being from the USA, I may be wrong. But it does make the USA look like a nation controlled by a foreign lobby.

[cali]

32. It is absolutely ridiculous to claim that AIPAC/Israel "controls things in America"

Does AIPAC have too much influence? My answer to that would certainly be yes. But it is absurd to claim that the Congress critters pledged allegiance to a foreign power with this letter. There is no legal weight to proclaiming an unbreakable bond. Obama has done it himself and so has every other U.S. president. The same has been said about Great Britain, as a matter of fact. And nobody is "making the Congressmen humiliate themselves in this manner". Do you actually believe that they were forced to write this letter? How?

Yes, you're wrong. The U.S.A. is definitely not controlled by Israel.

[protocol rv]

36. It seems the Israel Lobby does control US foreign policy

My friend, it does look like pledge of allegiance, if they say "unbreakable". Also, if the US presidents say so, then this re-inforces my opinion, which is that USA is indeed under the control of forces which via the Israel lobby, control US behavior. I read the book "The Israel Lobby", and this circumstance we discuss now tells me that book is correct.

How were they forced to write this letter? They weren't. The declaration was probably written for them by the israel lobby itself. They were given the option to back it, or abstain. Many of them chose to support it because they fear being attacked by said Israel Lobby, or they want to receive the money from them, which they call "campaign contributions" but which looks to us living outside the USA as a veiled form of bribery. Indeed, it seems the US politicians are terrorized of this group.

Also, the israel lobby, as documented in the book is not only AIPAC, but many other organizations, which include Christian fundamentalists which go to churches where the Israeli flag is displayed.

According to a friend I have in Texas, there is a deviation from Christian orthodoxy in the USA, and these so called Christian fundamentalists believe it is important to have Israel build the temple. According to these believers, when the temple is built, they will see Jesus Christ come from heaven, and then Jesus will destroy all the non-believers, which includes of course the Jews. Not being a Christian fundamentalist, I am only quoting what my friend said, which sounded crazy to me until he sent me a film on youtube where one could hear one of these "preachers" say words to their flock with these type of ideas. Are they crazy? of course. but they have a lot of power, being the main forces in the Republican Party. hus, this Israel lobby is incredibly powerful, as it incorporates a range of peoples, from very rich jews who are likely not very religious, to very strong Christian believers who, in the final days, expect to see Jesus destroy all the jews.

Americans? They are a very strange people. This is the reason why they invaded Iraq and do all those other bad things, they are led by squizofrenic leaders who are controlled by powerful lobbies: the weapons lobby, the imperial lobby, and the israel lobby are the most important ones.

[cali]

41. what is the "imperial lobby"

and just out of curiosity, where are you from and have you ever been to the States?

[protocol rv]

43. The Imperial Lobby

The US Imperial Lobby is the conglomerate of intellectuals and elites which advocates the development and strengthening of the US empire. I am from Venezuela. I will not discuss my background any further because I post in blogs some things which may cause danger to me. However, I believe you can deduce I am highly educated since I speak fluent English, and I know more about the USA than most Americans do. :-)

[cali]

45. it doesn't take much to know more about America than most Americans

and you don't know quite as much as you think you do- highly educated or not. And actually, the Banking Lobby and Pharma are more powerful than the so-called Imperial Lobby.

[protocol rv]

48. Possibly

But I was thinking of lobbies which push the US foreign policy to be so absurd. What is your opinion, that USA invaded Iraq because of the military-industrial, imperial, and israel lobbies, or do you include the banking lobby? I don't think the bankers nor the medicine corporations really care that much. Although it is true the USA suffered from over 40 thousand casualties in Iraq. That is a lot of bandages.

[cali]

67. My opinion is that bush was determined to invaded Iraq

and that his own twisted psyche had more to do with it than any lobbying- and by the way, Israel had deep misgivings about the invasion.

[LeftishBrit]

49. 'Not being from the USA' - where are you from?

I'm not American or Israeli, but from another close ally of the USA, and I know what close relationships between America and another state (mine) are like, and how they can lead to harm to both countries if they have the wrong leaders supporting each other in the wrong way. But that doesn't mean that either country is running the other or responsible for its general foreign policy. As America is bigger than Britain or Israel, it has relatively *more* power.

Israel is even more of a 'client state' of the USA than Britain is, due to its dependence on American military aid. Under Bush and Olmert, they had pretty similar interests. Under a more liberal American president and more RW Israeli government, their interests are diverging. Netanyahu may have to choose between throwing in his lot with the xenophobic-isolationism of much of the Israeli Right (including far-RW parties on which Netanyahu depends for survival), at the risk of 'biting the hand that feeds him' abroad, or co-operating with America at the risk of his long-term survival. As the leader of a sovereign state he has the right to make either choice, but not to assume that he can have it both ways. For the sake of peace, and of both Israel's and Palestine's long-term interests, I hope that he makes the second choice.

[protocol rv]

60. Objection: Bush didn't act in US interests

In other words, when Bush and Olmert had the same interests, it can be said that President Bush did not have US interests in mind. But I believe President Bush was the dumbest President the USA ever had. Otherwise, how could he commit such a huge blunder when he invaded Iraq?

[protocol rv]

27. Excellent point!

This is what I was questioning in my post below. It does sound like a breach to declare allegiance to a foreign power this way.

[cali]

35. sigh. they did not declare allegiance to Israel.

[protocol rv]

44. The statement is clear

I believe I understand the English language sufficiently to advocate the position that your Congressmen did indeed pledge allegiance to a foreign power. Whenever a national assembly, president, or other main body of the branches of government declares an unbreakable bond with a foreign power, it amounts to a pledge of allegiance. I would like to see the Israeli Knesset declare an unbreakable bond with the USA, and make concrete moves to sign a treaty with the USA which formalizes the relationship between the two nations. But you see, it is my observation that such a treaty will never exist. Israel doesn't want it because they already control the USA. And why should they commit to do anything to help the US? This way Israeli soldiers don't have to go fight alongside US forces anywhere. They never have, and I don't think you'll ever see them do it.

[cali]

55. I believe you don't know much about the U.S. Congress, dear, if you

actually believe that these Congresscritters pledged allegiance to a foreign power. Saying there is an unbreakable bond between the two countries isn't even close to pledging allegiance and your silly claim that it is, grows no more factual how ever many times you repeat it.

By the way, cut the bigoted crap about Israel controlling the U.S. It's not allowed here.

take it elsewhere.

[whosinpower]

17. Well sure they did

After all - there has been a massive arms deal that was just signed - Israel will spend something in the neighborhood of 250 BILLION dollars.....

[lib2DaBone]

20. Why do cabinet members have dual citizenship? Where is their loyalty?

No more guns to Israel. No more bombs, no more planes . Remember the USS Liberty.

[cali]

22. who has dual citizenship in the cabinet? No one that I know of.

[pjt7]

25. Rahm

.

[cali]

30. um, Emanuel is not in the Cabinet

and I can find nothing that confirms that he is a dual citizen.

[LeftishBrit]

51. No, he doesn't. He did as a child, but renounced it at the age of 18.

In any case, he's not in the Cabinet.

[LeftishBrit]

50. No cabinet member has 'dual citizenship' except on some hate-sites

[protocol rv]

24. I'm puzzled, but I'm not American

Since I'm not American, I see this type of news with puzzlement. Why would the Congress of the USA declare "unbreakable' bonds with a foreign power? As far as I know, the USA and Israel don't have a mutual defense treaty. Lacking such a treaty, which has to be signed by the President and approved by the US Senate, why would Congressmen breach protocol and make such a declaration? I suspect the power of the pro-Israel lobby in the USA is as powerful as claimed in the book "The Israel Lobby".

[LeftishBrit]

57. Hardly unique to Israel

In the 80s, Maggie Thatcher said of America ‘There is a union of mind and purpose between our peoples which is remarkable and which makes our relationship a truly remarkable one. It is special. It just is, and that’s that.’ Reagan responded: ‘The United States and the United Kingdom are bound together by inseparable ties of ancient history and present friendship ... There's been something very special about the friendships between the leaders of our two countries. And may I say to my friend the Prime Minister, I'd like to add two more names to this list of affection—Thatcher and Reagan.'

Pretty intense and gushing. And I don't need to remind anyone here about the relationship, destructive to both our countries and to the world, between Blair and Bush.

And by the way: just because politicians now find it diplomatically and politically expedient to say that the US/ Israel relationship is 'unbreakable' does not mean a true pledge for all time. It's unlikely that America's relationship with either the UK or Israel would survive a serious and unresolvable conflict of interest (something for Netanyahu to think about). "I'll never leave you!" can end up as a broken promise as readily in international relationships as in personal relationships.

[Uncle Joe]

31. Then quit screwing around and make Israel a state, that's the only

"unbreakable bond" the United States government should have.

Simply put, because other nations have their own interests and to declare as "unbreakable" the bonds with any other nation with the censoring of public feedback subjects U.S. policy to that nation's leaders; whether their policies are sound or dysfunctional and adverse to U.S. interests.

The United State's government can't represent the best interests of the American People, and Israel, if Israel doesn't want to.

Our interests and those of Israel have much in common and I believe we should remain steadfast allies but if Israel seriously supports our security interests then it would behoove them to make some major accommodations to the Palestinians and work for the peace that Yitzak Rabin gave his life for.

Thanks for the thread, cory.

[protocol rv]

34. What interests do the USA and Israel have in common?

I wonder, what interests do the USA and Israel have in common? I'm not American, but it would seem the US has more in common with Germany than with Israel.

[pjt7]

38. Both Countries like

to buy & sell arms & are the two most aggressive Military's in the World.

[Uncle Joe]

39. That's a good question, for the most part cultural, and rule by democratic means.

Now as for "democratic means," the Palestinians have been shortchanged and I believe this is something Israel needs to rectify.

I also believe when Israel has it's best leaders, real peace in the Middle East.

[pjt7]

40. Israel certainly has some reckless

leaders in @ the moment. I am very glad our administration is not going along with their over-aggressiveness.

[Uncle Joe]

42. I agree. n/t

[protocol rv]

47. President Obama is a good man

But his power is limited by the immmense reach of the powerful lobbies which control America. This is why so many subjects are taboo in America, which we can openly discuss outside your country.

[Uncle Joe]

54. No doubt we have our bllind spots, but I'm willing to wager that holds true

for most any nation.

[cali]

56. codswallop.

you really don't know what you're talking about.

[protocol rv]

46. Cultural? I don't think so

I don't see much similarity in a cultural fashion. Why should there be one? Israel is a Middle Eastern nation. It forms its basis on religious and or ethnic makeup. The USA was created as a secular nation, branched from a Western European/Reinassance cultural mold. Israelis have laws which preclude the marriage of peoples of different religions. This of course would be unthinkable in the USA. I can list other points, which I have learned from jewish friends who are opposed to the Israeli state condition as a gulag for the Palestinian people.

[Uncle Joe]

52. At one time the United States formed our basis on ethnic, class and gender makeup,

we still do, to a more subtle degree.

We De Facto continued our unofficial basis on religious grounds, John Kennedy was the first Catholic ever elected President.

Ferraro was the first woman Vice Presidential nominee, Lieberman was the first Jewish Vice-Presidential Nominee, Obama; became our first black President (if you don't count Bill Clinton) and he's only half black, all of this coming almost or a little more than two hundred years after our Constitution was adopted,

When we went to war with Japan, we locked up all Japanese Americans.

The Western European/Renaissance mold culture, was Greco-Roman influenced combined with a Middle or Dark Ages; flavor and it's strong religious underpinnings, the statue of David is just one classic example.

There is also an unofficial religious connection, the United States does have a large Christian Population, and it views a Jewish Rabbi as it's saviour, that's a hard intangible to ignore.

As for marriage restrictions, the Gay community here in the U.S. is just now gaining it's footing.

Israel isn't perfect nor is the U.S. but we do have strong bonds in spite of our differences.

[cali]

53. lol. yes, yes. you have jewish friends opposed to the existence of Israel

and that's your position of course, too. that's your bottom line. you believe Israel shouldn't exist.

Yes, there are inequities within Israel and prejudice. The occupation is wrong and brutal, but your characterization of Israel is pretty half assed. Israel is also rooted in the European cultural mold. It can be argued that that in itself is not such a good thing, but there's no doubt that Israel in is that tradition. Yes, they have some nasty marriage laws- and until the 1960s so did many U.S. states, so of course it wouldn't be unthinkable here at all. It was the reality for millions for generations, until Loving was decided by the SC.

[protocol rv]

59. I don't think Israel should exist, that is true

Based on a definition that it exists as Jewish state. I happen to be an atheist, therefore a nation which justifies its existence using religion as a basis doesn't really have much merit in the modern world. I believe a state should replace it which allows those born in the area controlled by israel today to have the vote, and they can decide democratically who will lead them. They should of course have a constitution which enshrines certain rules, such as religious tolerance, and the protection of minority and women's rights. I say this because I read about a case where an American tourist, a female, was beaten by Jewish orthodox believers because she refused to move to the back of a bus. This of course is a very primitive position to take, and the reason why I see more similarities between Israel and another theocratic based state such as Iran, rather than the USA. In my mind, the Israelis, focusing on religion the way they do, are like the iranians.

[cali]

64. first of all, one can be Jewish and an atheist or an agnostic or a Buddhist for that matter

Being Jewish is as much a cultural and ethnic designation as a religious one. Secondly, many states are nominally religious- such as Norway or Great Britain. And yes, there are wingnuts in Israel just as there are here and in lots of other countries. In Israel though, at least it's against the law to beat up women- unlike say, in Iran where women really do have limited rights- a country and leadership that your Prez praises to the heavens. And speaking of heavens, gee, Iran is a religious state in a way Israel which really is largely secular is not.

Your comparison of Israel to Iran is laughable. Let's see, in Israel, for instance, GLBT folks not only have their rights protected, they can marry. In Israel, women have equal rights.

Your ignorance or bias is interesting, dearie.

[protocol rv]

63. I don't think they are a laughing matter

You may laugh, but I met one of these gentlemen while visiting the USA, he gave me a brochure, and this is what started me reading about the true conditions in the Middle East

http://www.nkusa.org/

And a very influential writer who is opposed to israeli policies, and happens to be Jewish also influenced my thoughts:

http://media.www.harbus.org/media/storage/paper343/news/2006/05/01/News/Noam-Chomsky.Discusses.U.s.Relations.With.Israel-1897698.shtml

[cali]

65. oh, my word. not those crazy wingnuts.

and sorry, Chomsky believes in a two state solution and not the dissolution of the Israeli state.



oh, and I'm laughing at the crap that you're spewing.

[Name removed]

58. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[protocol rv]

61. That is 2645 years ago, more or less

A book written to preserve a long oral tradition, which archeologists have shown is not true.

http://mideastfacts.org/facts/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=32

[cali]

66. take it to stormfront, dearie.

that's where your shit belongs. Israel was not founded on the Bible.

[Xenotime]

62. Which side did we take in WWII? Anyone remember?

[martymar64]

69. Israel did not fight in WW2. It did not exist then.

And the US objectives in WW2 were about defeating Hitler and Mussolini and Tojo, not rescuing the Jews from Auschwitz.
The genocidal policies of the Nazis weren't fully comprehended by the Allies until the camps were liberated in April of 1945. Before then, the US knowledge about the Holocaust was incomplete and vague. Thus the shock and revulsion by everyone when the truth was discovered by US British and Soviet troops.

Maybe you should crack open a history book sometime, no?

[defendandprotect]

68. The "bond" with right wing, warmongering Israelis should be broken . . .

but then, again, we're the imperialistic, warmongering Americans who probably won't

do that!! Corporate MIC --- "homicidal murderers for rent"!