Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is eager to disrupt President Obama’s efforts to achieve a nuclear deal with Iran. It’s a familiar pattern. Although Israel claims to be our staunchest ally, it has for decades created more problems than it has solved.

In the 1950s, Israel sent Arab Jews into Egypt to bomb U.S. facilities in ways that implicated Muslim groups. The aim was to discredit Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and thereby disrupt President Eisenhower’s efforts to strengthen ties with that charismatic leader.

In 1967, Israel initiated a war with Egypt and Syria, at the end of which Israel began its disastrous settlement building on confiscated Palestinian land, along with a brutal occupation. (A policy continued by every Israeli leader.)

Nothing else has so poisoned U.S. relations with Arabs and Muslims around the world, making easy the recruitment of young terrorists eager to attack the superpower bankrolling Israel’s injustices toward Palestinians.

Even the former head of CENTCOM, Gen. David Petraeus, concluded that Israel’s belligerent behavior toward Palestinians made it more difficult to achieve our military goals in the region.

In 2002, Mr. Netanyahu assured Congress that an attack on Iraq would have “enormous positive reverberations on the region.” Today’s facts say otherwise. Now he’s again giving Congress foreign policy advice; again, his advice leads toward a military quagmire.

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Ten years ago, Netanyahu claimed Iran was “months away” from having nuclear weapons; now he’s claiming the bombs will be ready in just weeks. Can his “wolf-crying” be trusted? Congress, including Maine’s delegation, should question the wisdom of blindly following and supporting such a troublesome ally.

Bob Schaible

chair, Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights

Buxton


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