Middle East

Netanyahu Acting Like a Wingnut

Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a Joint Session of Congress yesterday and continues to deliberately mislead the world about the president's position on borders.

“Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967,” Netanyahu said, prompting a big standing ovation.

Later he added: “Israel on the 1967 lines would be only 9 miles wide. So much for defensible borders.”

As Netanyahu himself pointed out, the President has not called on Israel to return to the exact 1967 borders. The President has said that a peace agreement should be “based on 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps."

Yeah, so Netanyahu knows that's not what the president said, but he's playing along with the cynical Republicans and their predictably irrational kneejerk reaction to the president's remarks -- remarks which echo former presidents Clinton and Bush, by the way.

My patience for the over-the-top intransigence of the current Israeli government is wearing very, very thin. And this game being played by Netanyahu is inexcusable.

Adding... Not surprised to read this:

President Obama got 25 standing ovations from Congress during his 2011 State of the Union address. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got 29 today.

Congress is pathetic.