How About a White House Invitation for Bibi?
Boycotting the Israeli prime minister was hypocritical, writes Abe Foxman. July 19, 2023 11:12 am ET President Biden in Helsinki, Finland, July 13. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/Zuma Press To say that, “At least rhetorically, the President and his Administration treat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his governing coalition worse than they do the ruling mullahs in Iran” (“What Does Biden Have Against Israel?” Review & Outlook, July 14), is over-the-top hyperbole. I agree, however, that President Biden should stop boycotting Mr. Netanyahu. While democracy in Israel is under assault, as it is in our country, in France and in most democratic countries, Israel is still a vibrant democracy—evidenced by the hundreds of thousands protesting in the streets, the debates all over the press as well as in the halls of the Knesset. For Mr. Biden to have met and received
President Biden in Helsinki, Finland, July 13.
Photo: Henrik Montgomery/Zuma Press
To say that, “At least rhetorically, the President and his Administration treat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his governing coalition worse than they do the ruling mullahs in Iran” (“What Does Biden Have Against Israel?” Review & Outlook, July 14), is over-the-top hyperbole. I agree, however, that President Biden should stop boycotting Mr. Netanyahu.
While democracy in Israel is under assault, as it is in our country, in France and in most democratic countries, Israel is still a vibrant democracy—evidenced by the hundreds of thousands protesting in the streets, the debates all over the press as well as in the halls of the Knesset. For Mr. Biden to have met and received Prime Minister Modi of India, President Erdoğan of Turkey and King Abdullah of Jordan but boycott the prime minister of Israel for so long is, sad for me to say, hypocrisy. Chastising Israel in advance of demonstrations, and telling it how to handle demonstrators in the street, is also arrogance coming from Israel’s closest ally.
I was glad to see that, after much criticism and your editorial’s publication, Mr. Biden picked up the phone and agreed to a meeting with the Israeli prime minister at some future date. Given the strength and importance of U.S.-Israel military, strategic and economic relationships, Mr. Biden should issue a White House invitation.
Abraham H. Foxman
Bergen County, N.J.
Mr. Foxman was national director of the Anti-Defamation League, 1987-2015.
Mr. Biden likes to call himself a supporter of Israel and its security, but his administration has demonstrated the opposite: dabbling in domestic Israeli political matters, seeking to revive the deadly Iran deal, renewed funding for anti-Israel U.N. bodies whose aid money ends up in the hands of Hamas, and returning to decades-old mudslinging over Israeli settlements, when the real roadblock to peace is Palestinian terrorism. Mr. Biden’s tenure is looking a lot like an Obama-style third term, who was by far the most anti-Israel U.S. president in many years.
Yafit Ovadia
Tel Aviv
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