(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Disinvite Netanyahu, Support Biden’s Plan for a Cease Fire in Gaza [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-19 Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has invited Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address the United States Congress in July despite Netanyahu defiance of President Biden’s call for a negotiated cease fire in the war in Gaza. Democratic Party leaders, fearful of alienating Jewish voters and donors before the 2024 elections, have agreed to the invitation. The Republicans are hoping that Netanyahu’s appearance will divide the Democratic Party, allow them to maintain their majority in the House, take control over the Senate, and torpedo Biden’s reelection chances. Netanyahu should not be allowed to visit the United States, let alone speak in Congress. The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court is seeking an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, as well as the leaders of Hamas, for war crimes and crimes against humanity and two members of Israel’s war cabinet have resigned in protest over Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, long a supporter of Israel, wrote that “No friend of Israel should participate in this circus.” Friedman sees Netanyahu as a threat to democracy in both Israel and the United States. His governing coalition has endorsed policies inimical to United States interests in the Middle East including prolonging the war in Gaza, annexing the West Bank, and blocking Palestinian statehood. Friedman believes that Israel must end its war on Gaza and detach itself as quickly as possible. In a recent New York Times opinion essay, Friedman endorsed positions taken by Ehud Barak in a June 13, 2024 essay in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz where Barak argued that “Israel must oust its failed government before it sinks into the moral abyss.” Barak, now in his eighties, is a former general in the Israel Defense Force (IDF), prime minister, and leader of the country’s Labor Party and is among the most highly decorated soldiers in Israel’s history. Barak was born in Israel, but his maternal grandparents were murdered in the Polish death camp Treblinka during the Holocaust. In the essay, Barak argues “Israel is at the height of a developing crisis that is far from being over. It's the most serious and dangerous crisis in the country's history. It began on October 7 with the worst failure in Israel's history. And it continued with a war that, despite the courage and sacrifice of soldiers and officers, appears to be the least successful war in its history, due to the strategic paralysis in the country's leadership.” He accuses the current governing coalition under Prime Minister Netanyahu of trying to establish a “racist, ultranationalist, messianic and benighted religious dictatorship.” Barak fears that if the current government is not replaced, in the very new future Israel will “still be in Gaza, with no clear victory, while also being in an all-out war with Hezbollah in the north, a third intifada in the West Bank, conflicts with the Houthis in Yemen and Iraqi militias in the Golan Heights and, of course, conflict with Iran itself, which has already shown through April's missile attack that it is willing to act against us directly.” He worries that “all this would be happening while Israel is isolated and at odds with the United States, the only country that provides us with arms and effective diplomatic backing.” Barak calls for an “immediate deal to bring the hostages home, even at the price of committing to end the war; calming the situation in the south; calming the north through a diplomatic agreement, even if only temporary, mediated by Washington; returning the people evacuated from southern and northern Israel to their homes; replenishing our arsenals and letting our troops recover; and restoring the economy to normal operation.” Barak believes that if Israel succeeds in “restoring our close relationship with the U.S. administration, this might well enable us to move forward on normalization with Saudi Arabia and to forge an Arab force that would replace the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza and provide backing for the return of civilian control by a Palestinian actor other than Hamas.” To achieve these goals, Barak is calling for a nationwide strike by the opponents of the Netanyahu government and protests that that would shut down the Israeli parliament until the government falls and new elections are held. Thomas Friedman and Ehud Barak cannot be dismissed as anti-Israel or antisemitic. They do not want revenge for the brutal October 7th attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas. They do not want a broader Middle East war. They are strong and reasonable supporters of the survival of Israel as a Jewish state. American politicians like Democratic Party Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer House and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries should very carefully consider what Friedman and Barak wrote. A number of Democrats in Congress have already announced they will not attend the speech if it happens as scheduled. Representative Jan Schakowsky (Dem-Illinois), who is Jewish, explained “The role that the prime minister is playing is very negative, and I don’t want to be there.” Benjamin Netanyahu’s intent is to interfere with the November elections in this country and shore up his domestic political situation in Israel while his government commits war crimes in Gaza against its civilian population. He should be barred from visiting the United States and addressing Congress. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/19/2247457/-Disinvite-Netanyahu-Support-Biden-s-Plan-for-a-Cease-Fire-in-Gaza?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/