Israel Matzav

How Bibi could have handled Obama

When Barack Obama abused Bibi Netanyahu at the White House a couple of weeks ago, Bibi had other options. He could have read Obama the riot act and walked out. He would have saved his own dignity and, I believe, Israelis would have rallied around him. He may still have the opportunity to do so in the future.

Bibi could have learned a lot from the late Menachem Begin, in whose government Bibi served as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. When Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad screamed that he wouldn't make peace with Israel in 100 years, Begin annexed the Golan Heights in response. And when the Reagan administration responded to that move by suspending the Strategic Cooperation Agreement it had signed with Israel just two weeks earlier, Begin responding by calling in US ambassador Sam Lewis and not letting him open his mouth.

Yehuda Avner, a former aide to Begin, provides atmospherics and commentary on this episode at "When Washington bridled and Begin fumed." As he retells it, "The prime minister invited Lewis to take a seat, stiffened, sat up, reached for the stack of papers on the table by his side, put them on his lap and [adopted] a face like stone and a voice like steel." Begin began with "a thunderous recitation of the perfidies perpetrated by Syria over the decades." He ended with what he called "a very personal and urgent message" to President Reagan (available at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs website).

"Three times during the past six months, the U.S. Government has 'punished' Israel," Begin began. He enumerated those three occasions: the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor, the bombing of the PLO headquarters in Beirut, and now the Golan Heights law. Throughout this exposition, according to Avner, Lewis interjected but without success: "Not punishing you, Mr. Prime Minister, merely suspending ...," "Excuse me, Mr. Prime Minister, it was not ...," "Mr. Prime Minister, I must correct you ...," and "This is not a punishment, Mr. Prime Minister, it's merely a suspension until ..."

Fully to vent his anger, Begin drew on a century of Zionism:

What kind of expression is this – "punishing Israel"? Are we a vassal state of yours? Are we a banana republic? Are we youths of fourteen who, if they don't behave properly, are slapped across the fingers? Let me tell you who this government is composed of. It is composed of people whose lives were spent in resistance, in fighting and in suffering. You will not frighten us with "punishments." He who threatens us will find us deaf to his threats. We are only prepared to listen to rational arguments. You have no right to "punish" Israel – and I protest at the very use of this term.

In his most stinging attack on the United States, Begin challenged American moralizing about civilian casualties during the Israeli attack on Beirut:

You have no moral right to preach to us about civilian casualties. We have read the history of World War II and we know what happened to civilians when you took action against an enemy. We have also read the history of the Vietnam war and your phrase "body-count."

Referring to the U.S. decision to suspend the recently signed agreement, Begin announced that "The people of Israel has lived 3,700 years without a memorandum of understanding with America – and it will continue to live for another 3,700." On a more mundane level, he cited Haig having stated on Reagan's behalf that the U.S. government would purchase $200 million worth of Israeli arms and other equipment "Now you say it will not be so. This is therefore a violation of the President's word. Is it customary? Is it proper?"

Read the whole thing.

Bibi really should take a page from Begin's book. But to do so, you have to fully believe in your position. Does Bibi believe in his position? Does he know what he believes? Or would he behaving differently if he had Tzipi Livni in his coalition rather than a group of right wing parties? At the end of the day, the kind of harangue that Begin gave Sam Lewis can only come from the gut. If the gut isn't in it, the person won't know what to say.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:26 AM