Netanyahu’s hypocrisy about intervening in other countries’ affairs

What would happen if a foreign country started lobbying for bills in the Israeli Knesset, going so far as to seek the insertion of specific clauses into them?

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress, May 24, 2011. (Photo by Avi Ohayun/GPO)
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress, May 24, 2011. (Photo by Avi Ohayun/GPO)

The Right in Israel isn’t the biggest fan of foreign countries getting involved in its affairs. It’s true when it comes to the European Union providing shelter for Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank, or supporting human rights organizations that challenge aspects of Israeli legislation in Israeli courts, or Netanyahu’s unproven allegations that European states funded campaigns to increase Arab voter participation in hopes of ousting him as prime minister.

None of that stops the same right-wing Israeli politicians getting involved in other countries’ internal affairs. Three months after Netanyahu urged French Jews to emigrate to Israel, and a month after he broke diplomatic protocol by speaking to Congress to denounce President Obama’s policies without first coordinating with the White House, Netanyahu is now planning to get involved in shaping American legislation.

Haaretz on Tuesday cited a “senior [Israeli] official” saying that the Israeli government is planning to try and rally support for a bill in Congress that will make it difficult for Obama to sign a final nuclear agreement with Iran. Not only that, Israel plans to try and shape the legislation itself, according to the report, urging legislators to insert a specific clause into the bill.

What would happen if a foreign country started lobbying for bills in the Israeli Knesset, going so far as to seek the insertion of specific clauses into them? It’s safe to assume that Netanyahu would be the first one screaming bloody murder about the whole process and anyone involved in it. We would very quickly see Likud and Jewish Home-sponsored legislation aimed a curbing such activity.

And let’s not forget: the European Union’s (uninvited) attempts at intervention in Israeli policy deal almost exclusively with the question of the occupation. For example, Israel’s illegal actions in the territories beyond its borders (establishing settlements, exploiting natural resources, preventing Palestinian development, and more), the way it treats millions of non-citizens who don’t enjoy its — or anyone else’s — protection. Israel’s current intervention in American legislation, on the other hand, is intended to sabotage a legitimate international agreement advancing peace between two sovereign states.

Read this article in Hebrew here.