Israel Pulling The Strings?

Obviously, that's Engel in the middle

AIPAC managed to get its most subservient congressman, New Dem Eliot Engel, elected Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. If you want to hear what the extreme right parties in Israel are behind, just pay attention to what Engel says. He's their spokesperson. He doesn't care what his constituents in Westchester and the northern Bronx say; he's the Likud's man on the scene first and foremost. If Assemblymembers Jeffrey Dinowitz or Amy Paulin are as smart as they appear, they're starting to think about a primary challenge to Engel. Engel would win in Tel-Aviv, hands down, but what about Scarsdale, Riverdale, Mount Vernon, Yonkers and Rye? That remains to be seen... I hope.

Israel is kind of laying low, at least publicly. They are whipping their congressional supporters but they can't be too loud of it scares America's Arab client regimes. But Netanyahu wasn't thrilled that Obama went to Congress and he's making it clear he wants action-- and he wants it now!

Behind an official wall of silence, Israel is signaling it wants the U.S. to strike Syria sooner rather than later, fearing that continued inaction could hurt American credibility in the region.

Yet at the same time, Israel appears to have little desire to see Syrian President Bashar Assad toppled, on the theory that a familiar foe is preferable to some of those who might replace him, especially the Islamist extremists who are increasingly powerful in the rebellion.

These contradictory forces have put Israel in a delicate position as the U.S. contemplates military action. In public, Israeli leaders have said little about President Barack Obama's handling of the Syria crisis. But following his decision over the weekend to postpone military action by seeking the backing of Congress, the signs of confusion and consternation appear clear.

"I have full faith in President Obama's moral and operational stance. I recommend patience," President Shimon Peres said in a radio interview Monday, seeking to calm a nervous public. "I am confident that the United States will respond in the right way to Syria."

Israeli leaders have been careful about voicing their thoughts about what the U.S. should do, wary of creating any perception that they are meddling in either American politics or the civil war in neighboring Syria.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuked a junior Cabinet minister who publicly criticized Obama. In a radio interview, Housing Minister Uri Ariel compared the American foot-dragging to Western inaction during the Holocaust. He also said American inaction sent a message to terrorists and hostile governments that there was no price to pay for using nonconventional weapons.

Netanyahu ordered his Cabinet to keep their opinions to themselves, stressing the need to behave "responsibly" at such a sensitive time.

But in a meeting last week with the visiting French foreign minister, Netanyahu himself called for a tough response to Syria, saying the world's reaction to the use of chemical weapons would have deeper implications for the international handling of Iran's nuclear program.

Israel, along with many Western countries, believes Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, and Netanyahu has repeatedly raised concerns that international pressure to curb the Iranian nuclear program has been insufficient.

"Assad's regime has become a full Iranian client and Syria has become Iran's testing ground," Netanyahu said. "Now the whole world is watching. Iran is watching and it wants to see what would be the reaction on the use of chemical weapons."

For this reason, many Israelis reacted with disappointment after Obama announced over the weekend that he would seek a congressional vote before a use of force against Assad. Israeli newspapers and commentators criticized the American leader for appearing weak and indecisive.

"You can't count on someone who isn't sure of himself," said Hanna Tzikli, a resident of northern Israel.

Israelis have expressed their desire for American action with a mixture of moral and strategic concerns. Watching civilians die from poisonous gas is painful in a country built on the ashes of the Holocaust, in which the Nazis sent countless Jewish victims to their deaths in gas chambers.

Israel's fondest hope is that an American attack on Syria triggers a response from Iran that causes the U.S. to bomb that country. American neoCons agree 100% and are pushing Obama towards going further than he-- or the U.S. military-- wants to go.