Did Netanyahu and American Jews Kiss and Make Up at the General Assembly?

[King_David]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lacked his most powerful tool for rousing an American Jewish crowd to its feet as he stood in front of the final plenary of the General Assembly of Jewish Federations of North America – his booming voice.

The Israeli leader was uncharacteristically hoarse, after an autumn cold and the Washington chill took their toll on him. (Ironically, the tune piped in to introduce his speech was a Hebrew song called “Will You Hear My Voice?”)

His illness ended up serving him well. After the difficult year that the American Jewish community endured watching their president and the prime minister of Israel go toe-to-toe in the bitter fight over the Iran deal, many of those attending the General Assembly were ready for a quieter and gentler version of Netanyahu.  

Mingling among the delegates to the 3,000-strong gathering – Jewish lay leaders, federation professionals, activists and university students – as they waited for Netanyahu to arrive, I asked them what they wanted and hoped to hear from the Israeli prime minister. They answered using phrases like “building bridges” and “healing wounds," and it was clear that they wanted – and needed – him to say positive words about President Obama.

“I don’t think that he has any idea of the damage done to the American Jewish community by turning Israel into a partisan issue,” one delegate told me. Following the knock-down drag-out congressional fight over the Iran deal pitting Democrats against Republicans, he said, “We have to face facts, Israel is simply no longer a unifying subject for American Jews.”
Given that most of the audience was dedicated to promoting unity and solidarity in their Jewish communities either as professionals or volunteers, the angry local debates over the Iran deal made their mission a lot more difficult.

Did the speech do the job when it came to smoothing things over? Some of Netanyahu's remarks did hit most of the notes that the audience of American Jews was hoping for. He sent the message that the rift with the White House was on its way to being healed by praising Obama for his commitment to maintaining Israel’s military "qualitative edge" and bolstering its security "at a time when the Middle East is becoming more dangerous than ever.”

A crowd favorite was the line: “Israel has no better friend than America and America has no better friend than Israel.”

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.685402

[geek tragedy]

1. Everyone has the same position on the Israel/Palestine dispute, so that certainly helps

smooth things over.

That position being:

1) status quo;
2) lip service to the two-state solution;
3) everything is the Palestinians' fault

[King_David]

2. Who is "Everyone"?

[geek tragedy]

3. Everybody.

[Jefferson23]

6. lol

[Little Tich]

4. Am I the only one that feels uncomfortable with the General Assembly letting Netanyahu speak?

Netanyahu is a racist, and he should be isolated, not encouraged.

[branford]

5. Are you really suggesting

that the General Assembly of Jewish Federations of North America wouldn't or shouldn't listen to the democratically elected prime minister of Israel?

If you ignored the actual OP and article, and believed it referred to the General Assembly of the United Nations, I would urge you to research the various tyrants and murders, many responsible for far worse crimes and ideologies that you could ever possibly attribute to Netanyahu, as well as the entire reason for the UN's existence, before suggesting he not speak before the body.

[Little Tich]

7. He's a Hitler apologist.

I think Jewish organizations should combat racism instead of embracing racists. Just because Israel has a racist POS for PM doesn't mean that those who support Israel must support him.

[6chars]

9. hyperbole

[leftynyc]

10. Oh brother

A hitler apologist? For saying something stupid like the truth that the grand mufti supported the nazis? Even for you, that's hyperbolic bullshit.

[Little Tich]

12. Seriously, how much of a racist would you say that Netanyahu is?

I would personally put him on the same level as Ahmadinejad, who's dabbled very much in the same kind of Holocaust revisionism as Netanyahu. Anyone who's trying to let the Nazis off the hook must be a racist to a very high degree - at least that's what I believe.

Do you think he's just as much a racist like Ahmadinejad, or less than him? Do you think he's a racist at all?

[leftynyc]

14. Just stop it already

Ahmadinejad didn't engage in holocaust revisionism. He engaged in holocaust DENIAL. As in, it didn't happen and even if it did, only a few Jews died. So stop your bullshit already, bibi didn't let hitler off the hook at all. I don't think he likes Arabs but I think they've given him plenty of reasons to feel that way...he's had to attend a lot of funerals for his own people - most of whom were just trying to live their lives.

Go here and take a look at what the madman from Iran had to say about Jews and Israel and then you post a link to quotes that make bibi just as bad:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_and_Israel#Description_of_Israel_as_a_germ

I'll wait or you can just admit you engaged in hyperbolic bullshit. Your choice.

[Little Tich]

15. I can't see how Ahmadinejad falsification of the Holocaust is worse that Netanyahu's.

Both are using one of the most heinous criminal acts in history to demonize an ethnic group.

I really disliked Netanyahu before for his political views and what he's done to Israel. But trying to revise the Holocaust in order to demonize a whole ethnic group is really, really bad.

[leftynyc]

16. He very clumsily

tried to make the mufti share some of the blame but in reality he was no more to blame than any of those who didn't fight the nazis. Pretending the mufti loved Jews and wasn't thrilled to watch them die is just denying history which you're free to do. Still waiting for the quotes from Bibi that resembles anything like the ones I provided you about ahmadinijad. Just saying they're the same is nothing but bullshit so I await your EVIDENCE.

[shira]

11. Mahmoud Abbas says Zionists collaborated with Nazis to kill Jews....

He also questions whether 6 million were killed, or any number close to that.

Where's your outrage at Abbas?

[Little Tich]

13. Abbas has recanted, and anyway his belittling of the role of the Nazis

in the Holocaust was never a political cornerstone for him, unlike Netanyahu.

I would be seriously outraged if Abbas said something similar to what Netanyahu did.

[leftynyc]

17. abbas is nothing but a victim to these people

He can say and do whatever he pleases and they'll NEVER condemn. Israel is 100% at fault for what's going on. That much has become glaringly obvious on the I/P board for years. It's attitudes like that that prevent the Palestinians from swallowing what needs to be done in order to get what they say they want. Either they want their own state or they want the entirety of Israel. The far left helps their fantasy of getting the latter.

[leftynyc]

8. Yes, you're the only one

because the rest of us have seen brutal dictators, holocaust deniers and general pieces of crap take to the floor of the UN (by the way, this isn't the UN General Assembly) for years. That you think the only Jewish country's leader shouldn't be able to speak only says something about you (or your ignorance of history).