Daily Caller editor-in-chief Tucker Carlson became an unexpected addition to the chorus of people critical of Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer following the news that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been invited to address a joint session of Congress next month.
He was asked on Fox News about reports that Vice President Joe Biden and Democratic National Committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz would not attend Netanyahu’s speech on Iran. The White House has also said that President Barack Obama will not meet with Netanyahu during his visit to Washington, D.C., citing the Israeli elections two weeks after the speech.
The speech has rankled Democrats because House Speaker John Boehner extended the invitation without consulting the Obama administration. Dermer reportedly coordinated with Boehner’s office on the invitation.
“The whole thing is just so sad. It’s not like the United States has too many allies. To see a rift between the U.S. and Israel is just depressing,” Carlson said. “I think there’s a lot of blame to go around. I do think there is a problem with the Israeli ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer.”
“He went up to the Hill and gave a briefing to members, some of whom are very strongly pro-Israel,” he continued. “I know some of them and I talked to some of them and some of them said, ‘Look, this guy just flat-out alienated us.’ So I think it’s a mistake not to meet with Netanyahu for the White House. But I also think Israel, and our relationship with Israel, is not being well served by the ambassador to the United States from Israel. And that’s just a shame.”
Dermer has been trying to ease the tensions caused by the speech invitation in recent days, meeting with a number of House Democrats on Capitol Hill. But the list of Democrats who say they won’t attend the speech has continued to grow.
This proves that, “even a broken watch is right twice a day.”
It proves that this little stunt of Boehner’s isn’t helping the GOP in the polls, and quite frankly is hurting them. So now they want to toss Bibi under the bus and pretend they had nothing to do with it.
It was/is an incredibly bad plan in the foreign policy arena, and the domestic arenas for both the GOP and Netanyahu. And now that’s becoming clear to all involved, everyone wants to get on the record saying “Wasn’t my idea!!”
It is the job of an Ambassador to guide his government carefully around the internal politics of his host nation. Dermer should have been screaming at Bibi that Boehner not clearing the speech with the Administration was a giant mistake. He didn’t and actually acceded to Boehner’s request that he not clear the visit with the White House. Dermer should be fired. I don’t care that Netanyahu was born and raised in America and has spent decades mucking around in American right wing politics. He is blinded by his personal hatred for Obama as well as more than a twinge of racism. An ambassador has to be a grown up. It was a stupid stunt from the beginning any anybody with a brain would have seen it wasn’t going to end well.
Democrats should to a member boycott the speech.
Send Dermer home. It was his idea, he should take the fall.
EDIT: PS - Tucker Carlson is a shameless hack. His opinions don’t matter, nor do they warrant repeating.
Ron Dermer has compromised Israel’s national security and foreign policy interests immeasurably through incompetence and divisiveness. He should be declared persona non grata. Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahoo was clearly misled by the equally incompetent and emotionally unstable John Boehner and Ron Dermer. He should use the deceit and the approaching election campaign as the basis for canceling the speech. He should post the speech on YouTube if he wants people to listen to what he has to say.