Guest Column by Uri Avnery
“Senator after Senator, Congressman after Congressman comes forward to support the Israeli government against their own president. The same people who jumped up and down like string puppets when Netanyahu made his last speech before both houses of Congress, try to outdo each other in assertions of their undying loyalty to Israel.
“This is now done in the open, in an exhibition of shamelessness. Several Senators and Congressmen declare publicly that they have been briefed by the Israeli intelligence services, and they trust them more than the intelligence agencies of the USA. Not one of them said the opposite.”
“The senators and representatives are no fools (not all of them, in any case). They have a clear purpose: to be re-elected. They know on which side their bread is buttered. AIPAC has demonstrated, in several test cases, that it can unseat any senator or congressman who does not toe the straight Israeli line. One sentence of implied criticism of Israeli policies suffices to doom a candidate.
“Politicians prefer open shame and ridicule to political suicide. No kamikaze pilots in Congress.
“This is not a new situation. It is at least several decades old. What is new is that it is now out in the open, without embellishment.”
CounterPunch
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/11/22/the-battle-of-the-titans/
WEEKEND EDITION NOVEMBER 22-24, 2013
Who is Pulling the Strings?
The Battle of the Titans
by URI AVNERY
Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom.