Soccer Dad

When Jewish Leaders Could Stand Up To The US

The New York Sun's Blog, It Shines For All, has a post on Biden and Israel. Biden was the keynote speaker at the Israel Policy Forum, and opposed what the Iraq Study Group is allegedly suggesting should be done to re-energize the Arab-Israeli peace process:

I'm concerned by reports suggesting that the Iraq Study Group will link a renewed effort to advance the Arab-Israeli peace process with a solution in Iraq. I am not opposed to a rigorous peace process ... But the notion that an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement would end a civil war in Iraq defies common sense.

Israeli-Palestinian peace should be pursued aggressively on its own merits, period. Not as some sort of diplomatic price to make the Arab states feel good so they will help us in Iraq.

But Biden is a politician, and while he may make a show of his support of Israel now, Daniel Freedman recalls an encounter between Joe Biden and Prime Minister Menachem Begin, when Biden was somewhat less vocal in his support of Israel.

When hearing the name Biden, we always think of the famous exchange between Biden and Prime Minister Begin. As Moshe Zak recounted in a March 13, 1992, piece in the Jerusalem Post:

In a conversation with Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, after a sharp confrontation in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the subject of the settlements, Begin defined himself as "a proud Jew who does not tremble with fear" when speaking with foreign statesmen.

During that committee hearing, at the height of the Lebanon War, Sen. John [sic] Biden (Delaware) had attacked Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria and threatened that if Israel did not immediately cease this activity, the US would have to cut economic aid to Israel.

When the senator raised his voice and banged twice on the table with his fist, Begin commented to him: "This desk is designed for writing, not for fists. Don't threaten us with slashing aid. Do you think that because the US lends us money it is entitled to impose on us what we must do? We are grateful for the assistance we have received, but we are not to be threatened. I am a proud Jew. Three thousand years of culture are behind me, and you will not frighten me with threats. Take note: we do not want a single soldier of yours to die for us."

After the meeting, Sen. Moynihan approached Begin and praised him for his cutting reply. To which Begin answered with thanks, defining his stand against threats.

Those days are long gone.

Olmert may fool himself into thinking that he is walking in the footsteps of Sharon, Rabin, and Begin, but regardless of whether history will judge them right or wrong, those were men whose willingness to negotiate and compromise followed from a position of strength that earned them the respect of Israelis as well as the Arabs.

Something that cannot be said of Olmert.

by Daled Amos

Technorati Tag: Israel and Olmert and Menacham Begin and Joe Biden Posted by daledamos at December 6, 2006 1:04 AM | TrackBack