Former President Donald Trump’s unprovoked attack on former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is raising serious questions about whether Trump can lead the nation effectively on the world stage if he runs for president again in 2014.
Though he emphasized that he still supported Israel, regardless of his anger toward Netanyahu, Trump said he resented Israel’s former leader for recognizing Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election after the networks called it.
Trump also said that he had not spoken to Netanyahu since then, and implied that if Netanyahu had supported him, other world leaders might have followed, and he would have stood a chance at contesting the election results more effectively.
Essentially, Trump said that Netanyahu ought to have interfered with an American election, and jeopardized his country’s relationship with the United States, in return for the help Trump gave Israel in general and to Netanyahu in particular.
Netanyahu responded without escalating the fight, noting that as Israel’s leader, he had no choice but to congratulate Biden. Left unsaid was that he was worried about the anti-Israel turn of the Democratic Party and could not afford to alienate it.
There is a chance that Trump could win in 2024 — and that Netanyahu could return as prime minister of Israel. That could have been an opportunity for renewed, stronger ties — but Trump has now placed that relationship in an awkward position.
Trump fans are alarmed that he continues to sit down with establishment media outlets and left-leaning reporters, such as Axios’ Barak Ravid, who broke the story of Trump’s attack on Netanyahu.
In the past, such outlets did nothing but attempt to undermine Trump’s presidency, and yet he seemed desperate for coverage by the likes of the New York Times. The fact that the pattern has continued suggests that he has learned little from the experience, despite his opposition to the “fake news.”
Pro-Israel advocates are also worried that Trump, in his recent remarks, seemed to accuse Netanyahu of trying to avoid a peace deal with Palestinians, while crediting Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas for wanting one.
Not only is that statement untrue, but it suggests a future Trump administration could actually be more pro-Palestinian, out of spite.
Several other Republican hopefuls could run in 2024, and Trump has just given them material to make a case against him.
https://www.axios.com/trump-netanyahu-disloyalty-fuck-him-276ac6cc-3f70-4fba-b315-c82a59603e67.html
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
