T. Belman. I disagree with this official. Had Bibi done what the Democrats wanted the result would have been the same. Although he failed to stop the Iran Deal from being passed later in the month, Bibi did in fact get the Americans to agree with him by a margin of 2:1. Thus the American people will elect more Republicans in the 2016 elections and hopefully he also helped a Republican candidate like Cruz of Trump to become the next President.
Member of pro-Israel lobby tells Israeli media that Netanyahu’s March address transformed Iran deal into partisan issue
An official from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the leading pro-Israel lobby in the US, on Thursday blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for harming the opposition to the Iran nuclear deal by insisting on addressing Congress on the issue in March.
“Netanyahu’s speech in Congress made the Iranian issue a partisan one,” the AIPAC official told Israel’s Walla news. “As soon as he insisted on going ahead with this move, which was perceived as a Republican maneuver against the president, we lost a significant part of the Democratic party, without which it was impossible to block the agreement,” said the official, who asked not to be named.
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers were absent from Netanyahu’s speech — which had been set up without the knowledge of the White House — including President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
AIPAC has been at the forefront of the battle against the agreement reached in July between Iran and the world powers, which curbs Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions. But, according to veteran Israeli journalist Ben Caspit, the lobby had opposed Netanyahu’s speech to Congress and urged him to reconsider in anticipation of the strain it would place on US-Israel ties. Netanyahu apparently declined, and the speech went ahead.
According to the AIPAC official, the lobby was not the only source to raise these concerns with the prime minister.
“A few weeks before Netanyahu’s speech in Congress, Democratic senators implored him to cancel, saying it was inappropriate for the Israeli prime minister to work like this behind the back of the president of the United States,” the official said. “Instead of the speech, they proposed that he come to Washington and meet with them behind closed doors, without the TV cameras, so he could explain his position on the Iranian issue.”
The official added: “A lot of people here think that if Netanyahu had accepted their offer, it would have improved our chances [to foil the deal].”
On Wednesday, Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said that she supported the agreement, granting Obama the backing of the 34 senators he needs to ensure the agreement can beat any attempts in Congress to kill it.
In order to scupper the agreement, the opposition to the deal needed 13 Democratic senators to go against their president, who has consistently championed the agreement and vowed to veto any move by the Republican-dominated Congress to disapprove it. And by speaking to Congress in early March, the AIPAC official said, Netanyahu made the issue a purely partisan one.
“What happened was that 50 Democrats boycotted the speech, and many others were there but filled with anger and bitterness toward Netanyahu, who forced them to choose between Israel and the president,” the official told Walla. “From that moment on, the story of the agreement with Iran became Democrats against Republicans, as with many other political issues. This made Obama’s task of persuasion easier.”
Damned if U do damned if U dont. Weren’t the Jews accused of not defending themselves during the Holocaust?
BB was right to respond to the invitation.
Romney dropped the ball and allowed BHO to win easily.
This is why I do not support AIPAC!!!
What a stinking lying POS this unamed aipac official is, if he even exists. It was obama that lost a significant section of the dem party at the BB speech. This BS fake, probably nonexistent, trial balloon, unnamed, official sound like an obama parrot mouthing the same crap that biden and obama mouthed back then about not knowing etc etc. All this is baloney, there is a serious issue and this so called aipac puppet of obama is talking again about protocols etc. AIPAC failed, Jstreet suceeded…. obviously AIPAC is unable to carry and maintain the success that BB began when he spoke to a packed congress full of 90% of the seats. AIPAC was unable to sustain this massive success of BB and now seeks to run out the back door whining about who is to blame….. AIPAC is to blame
the unamed fraudulent aipac official merely demonstrates a pathetic typical move to cover his own failure and blame others, also he is an abject liar:
90% of congress attended netanyahus speech in spite of Obama using al his energy to block it and make it bi partisan. This aipac official is a revisionist liar typical of those who failed at their job and seek to blame others. typical of small minds who rune to cover their asses. Obama made it into a partisan issue. Obama also made it a jewish issue when he used the jew card aginst schumer. AIPAC is incompetent. the failure is that of disloyal american jews who cannot unite to protect Israel, who dance to the tune of the teen nazi soros instead of the survival of Jews. Anyone who says that the BB speech prevented them voting against the bill when without his speech they would have voted to prevent the bill is an incompetent who should not be in congress. If they allow partisanship to govern rather than the security of the US and the world then it is THEY who are to blame for this massive era.
The bill was an agreement to forestall opposition to considering it a treaty which would have required 2/3 of congress to pass it. the bill gave congress the opportunity to approve the agreement but now obama is bypassing the bill and employing a veto against if after they repudiate the treaty. as the senators who vote for the bill are a small minority they should be later pursued in elections to lose their seats. The majority of congress and the public are against this bill which obama and a small minority of democrats are fascistically attempting to thwart the will of congress and the people with tricks.
The AIPAC official should be ashamed and resign for attempting to blame BB for the votes of rogue dem senators and a rogue pres…. rather the official should be focusing on defeating the rogues. A massive campaign of shame should be brought against Obama and those rogue senators who are trying to defeat the overwhelming voice of the people. Congress should take to the streets But can AIPAC handle such a campaign or must it run out the back door whining and handing the ball to Jstreet?
what a low life POS the AIPAC official is.
AIPAC is unfairly blaming Netanyahu. AIPAC has long failed to show backbone when needed. They failed to educate the public about how much Israel is helping America. They also failed to educate the public about how much U.S. administrations have done to harm and betray Israel. When they finally came out against the Iran deal their voice was already too weak and too compromised to carry sufficient weight.
I also heard that some in Congress took money from Iran to support the deal including some Jewish members such as Al Franken and Barbra Boxer.
AIPAC failed to oppose the Corker Amendment because the organization is sycophantic to Obama. Its opposition to the Iran capitulation is illusory. Now AIPAC sings the traditional liberal Jewish song “If Only The We Yids Had Groveled Harder”.
There is nothing Netanyahu could have done to change the fact that Obama and his supporters hate Jews. He could have gone full Lewinsky on BO and the Democrats would still be national socialists.
Parenthetically, the American media makes the old Soviet media seem ethical and objective by comparison:
This sow is intellectually and morally unfit to report the news, but Republicans continue to submit to interviews from her, thereby implicitly conferring legitimacy. It is a huge tactical mistake to provide any credibility to these liberal propagandists, who them use that illicit credibility to misinform the public.
Netanyahu’s dancing to Obama’s tune would have changed nothing.
The deal would still have been made.
Israel is not a satellite in orbit around America.
It has own perspective, rights and interests.
If AIPAC doesn’t get it, too sad, too bad.
Whatever. The speeching has had nothing to do with long set in place policies and doctrine of the US State Department which are virulently opposed to Israel’s existence from the word go.
With the advent of a sneak injection of an Islamic plant into the WH, those policies came into being instituted full force.
Israel, a true leadership hare that is, must let go of the albatross once and for all. We as a free nation are in no way obliged to live by our enemies “deals”.
May the US do as they wish and we, in turn, must act to our own tune.
No need to explain or cow.