Rep. Eliot Engel Salutes Israel For Shunning His Colleagues
Last week, the Israeli government took the unprecedented step of refusing to meet with a group of five Democratic House members who were visiting Israel with J Street, the pro-Israel, pro-peace group.
It was an incredibly stupid move. Israeli officials never refuse to meet with American legislators (1) because that is not how normal nations behave and (2) the American Congress provides Israel with more than $3 billion a year in foreign aid (more money, by far, than we give any country).
But the Netanyahu government is so confident that it is the dog wagging the American tail that it thought it could diss important House members with impunity.
And I suppose they are right. After all, it ignores everything President Obama asks them to do. What are five Democratic House members?
But here is the creepy part. The Israeli decision to boycott the House members was defended by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and fellow Democrat.
In an incredible break with Congressional tradition - i.e, Congress stands as one in dealing with foreign insults to Congress, Engel said the Israelis were right to shun his colleagues.
Engel told the Jerusalem Post, "It's up to Israeli officials to decide who they will meet with, and who not to meet with."
The Post continues, "He pointed out that a number of the congressmen...vote against Israel on resolutions that generally carry massive support on the House floor." (LIE: They don't vote against Israel. They occasionally vote against AIPAC-drafted Palestinian-bashing resolutions that are mindlessly one-sided and contrary to US government positions}.
"If you look at some of the votes we had in the US Congress pertaining to Israel and the Middle East, there are some people on that [J Street] trip who the government would be unhappy with regarding their votes - and that would be understandable. They probably feel that if people are going to criticize them, they don't have to facilitate the criticism."
Wrong, Rep. Engel. They do have to meet with US legislators. Until such a time as Israel is not asking those five, and the other 430 Members of Congress, for billions in aid, it has no right to treat them with such ugly disrespect. And you, Rep. Engel, ought to side with your colleagues.
What part of being a US Congressman do you not understand?
Rep. Eliot Engel is a shanda! But then, I guess that's to be expected of a Congressman.
“You can't use tact with a Congressman! A Congressman is a hog! You must take a stick and hit him on the snout!” - Henry Brooks Adams
February 22, 2010 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
The best quote ever!
February 22, 2010 12:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed!
So we should examine how Obama stroked Lieberman's snout after some infamous acts of disloyalty. Why should Engel expect to be treated any differently?
February 22, 2010 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
So true. Obama has to make an example out of a Democrat. It should be ruthless and very public.
Who am I kidding? He still thinks the Republicans are interested in bipartisan solutions.
February 22, 2010 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wasn't it the hogs who "adopted" the Doberman pups in Animal Farm?
February 22, 2010 4:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
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February 22, 2011 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Second best quote:
"There is no distinctly native American criminal class ... save Congress" ~Mark Twain.
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February 22, 2010 6:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
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December 16, 2010 3:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
RE: "A Congressman is a hog!" - Henry Adams
MY COMMENT: Irregardless, I’ve always had a “soft spot” for ‘Miss Piggy’.
February 22, 2010 6:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Engle and Ackerman are puzzling. I'm not sure where their first priorities lay.Affilojetpack
July 17, 2010 8:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting though hardly surprising report, but I respecfully regard MJ's take as rather backwards.
US Congressmen nowadays are well-known for
(a) doing a lot of foreign travel yielding little if any tangible net benefit to America
(b) being collectively one of stupidest governmental groups in American history
One might, perhaps, entertain the faint hope that if US Congresspersons only traveled abroad MORE than they already do, they might (contrary to recent trends) become less ignorant of world affairs...but WHY is the job of ISRAEL, or ANY OTHER SOVEREIGN FOREIGN COUNTRY, to assist in the remedial education of the mealy mouth clodheads of Capitol Hill?
Somehow the impression MJ gives us here is that since the US Congress lies down like a doormat whenever whichever mixture of war criminals and waffling politicians currently constitute the Israeli regime say boo, that this somehow morally obligates those Israelis to be correspondingly supine, foolish, and myopic, in order to not hurt the feelings of their doormat.
I don't buy it, at all. Clearly, neither do the Israelis (whether or not they staged some kind of temporary faux come-down in the specific current instance).
So therefore, our answer should be to whine about the ingratitude of these Mideast barbarians, instead of focusing on the treason in OUR legislature ? Not in my book, folks.
February 22, 2010 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, the Israelis did not diss the legislators in a hissy fit. That is not their style.
They were clearly sending a message to legislators that if you come to Israel with J Street, we won't see you, and your donors will find out.
In a weird way, it makes sense. The pro-Likud, pro-occupation point of view peaked a few years ago. AIPAC understands that. Israel understands that.
With the tide rolling the other way, they need to fight hard. And dirty.
It's an uphill struggle. But I am not surprised that they fight it.
But they know which way the wind is blowing.
February 22, 2010 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Likudniks don't have to fight at all during the Bush era, and get 90% of what they want rubberstamped by the US Congress. During 2009 they had to fight some, and being unscrupulous fought dirty, with the result that they got 90% of what they wanted from Capitol Hill in support for a MORE intransigent and pro-settler policy under Whatayahoo. The difference is not huge. And, if a little "wind blows" in their faces during this process, will that stop them Bantulanding the West Bank? Hardly likely. Meanwhile there is work aplenty for touring Congresspeople, back on the North Bank of the Potomac: performing spinal transplants in order get hope and change out of the dumps.
February 22, 2010 6:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
The "hissy fit" is clearly Engel's spin on a calculated diplomatic slight by the Israelis. No responsible politician behaves simply on the basis of what they "feel like." Publicly dissing other members of congress like this is a major breach by Engels, no matter how he dresses it up in language about "feelings."
February 26, 2010 12:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Engle and Ackerman are puzzling. I'm not sure where their first priorities lay.
February 22, 2010 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
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December 16, 2010 3:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
I totally agree with you that it was an incredibly stupid move. Israeli officials never refuse to meet with American legislators (1) because that is not how normal nations behave and (2) the American Congress provides Israel with more than $3 billion a year in foreign aid (more money, by far, than we give any country).
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The US Congress lies down like a doormat whenever whichever mixture of war criminals and waffling politicians currently constitute the Israeli regime.
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May 7, 2011 6:57 AM | Reply | Permalink