Israel should not tell the U.S. what to do

Bibi Netanyahu Makes Trump His Chump

Thomas L. Friedman — DEC. 28, 2016
New York Times

[LP note: Friedman's latest book, Thank You for Being Late, for anyone who wants to know what's really going on in the world today — no, not just political stuff but technology and, indeed, the future. Anytime I can read a book and learn something, I'm impressed. I'm just a quarter thru Thank You, and already I'm very impressed.]

For those of you confused over the latest fight between President Obama and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel, let me make it simple: Barack Obama and John Kerry admire and want to preserve Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in the Land of Israel. I have covered this issue my entire adult life and have never met two U.S. leaders more committed to Israel as a Jewish democracy.

[Key point:]

President-elect Donald Trump — who could be a fresh change agent — is letting himself get totally manipulated by right-wing extremists, and I mean extreme. His ambassador-designate to Israel, David Friedman, has compared Jews who favor a two-state solution to Jews who collaborated with the Nazis. I’ve never heard such a vile slur from one Jew to another.

(More here.)