With Friends Like Biden and Schumer...

With Friends Like Biden and Schumer…
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
March 13, 2024

With so-called friends like Joe Biden, current occupant of the White House, and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Israel certainly needs no more enemies. From both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, Israel, the closest ally of the United States in the Middle East, is receiving terrible advice and veiled threats, which undoubtedly will be tossed into the circular file by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

During his State of the Campaign shout fest, Thursday March 7, Biden stated so grandiosely that Israel has the right to defend itself, exactly five months to the day of the heinous Hamas invasion of Israel slaughtering more than 1,200 innocent Israeli children, women, and men. Without missing a beat, Biden all but called for a ceasefire and demanded Israel provide MORE humanitarian aid to Gaza. Lest Biden forget, and there’s a pretty damn good chance of that, a ceasefire existed on October 6, 2023. That ceasefire ended when Hamas invaded Israel, raping women and little girls - it only took a United Nations committee five months to begrudgingly come to that same obvious conclusion.

Hamas also murdered men, women, and children in such horrific fashion as decapitating babies while forcing parents to bear witness before executing the parents. Burning babies alive. And taking more than 200 people hostage from more than a dozen countries, including the United States, of which more than 100 are still in captivity, including five from the United States. Yet Biden, and much more often, Kamala Harris, continues demanding a ceasefire from Israel.

Hamas is also the elected body of Gaza. Hamas controls what comes in and goes out of Gaza - including humanitarian aid. Hamas has commandeered more of these supplies than most people could imagine, depriving those few Gazans not helping Hamas. That said, for Biden to say Israel must step up and provide more humanitarian aid, simply proves his lack of understanding of the situation there, as well as his lack of understanding of war. Did the US provide humanitarian aid to Nazi Germany during World War II? There’s always that double standard concerning Israel. Israel is expected to go above and beyond, but to be fair, Israel historically makes every bona fide attempt to limit civilian casualties. Succeeding is harder than the uninitiated would realize because Hamas infamously hides its terrorists within civilian homes and sites, uses those very civilians as human shields, as well as putting their weaponry amongst civilians in places such as hospitals, kindergartens, the underground tunnels, and even mosques.

And Hamas is not alone in its assault on Israel. Israel is under constant attack by Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa Martyrs, the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, and the Houthis from Yemen. These terrorist organizations are funded and sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Under Biden, billions of dollars have been released to Iran, that heretofore were never surrendered by the Donald Trump administration. 

Both Biden and Schumer foolishly continue calling for a two-state solution, which anyone who pays attention, understands how untenable such a suggestion is, and how much at risk it puts Israel. There is no two-state solution to be had when Hamas and the Palestinians will not even recognize Israel and its right to exist. There is no two-state solution to be had when Hamas and Hezbollah have written in their charters the call to eviscerate Israel and slaughter the Jewish people, as they have continued doing since October 7. Netanyahu referenced a 99-9 vote in the Knesset. “That’s over 90 percent supported my policy of opposing a Palestinian state being rammed down Israel’s throat.”

The most obvious first step toward any kind of peace must begin with the release of all the hostages by Hamas. Has Biden suggested such a plan? Harris? Schumer? NO; and no one should hold their breath. But while Biden is merely a puppet, a stooge, doing the bidding of the radical, progressive, leftists, in desperate need of the Muslim votes from Michigan and Minnesota, Schumer should know better. 

Instead Schumer continues playing politics. Speaking from the Senate chamber on Thursday, March 14, Schumer had the audacity to call anyone opposing a Palestinian state “bigots.” Schumer said new elections in Israel are necessary to bring about a two-state solution and because so many Israelis have lost confidence in their government. But that’s simply not true. Having spoken with numerous friends who live in Israel, to a person, as much as some of them absolutely do not like Netanyahu, they all support the decisions made by his government in its necessary quest to completely eliminate Hamas. They have said that it is vital the nation of Israel stand unified and strong in this common goal and put partisan politics aside - at least for now.

“Ultimately, I’m the Prime Minister of Israel. I’m responsible for the security and future of the Jewish state and I’m supported in my policies - the overwhelming majority of Israelis support my policies - that we have to eradicate Hamas as a terrorist and governing organization, get our hostages back, and we have to make sure Gaza doesn’t form a threat to us anymore,” said Netanyahu. 

“Of course the US cannot dictate the outcome of an election, nor should we try,” said Schumer from the Senate floor. “That is for the Israeli public to decide; a public that I believe understands better than anybody that Israel cannot hope to succeed as a pariah opposed by the rest of the world. As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may. But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice - there needs to be a fresh debate about the future of Israel after October 7,” said Schumer.

Here is where Schumer didn’t just cross a line, he pole vaulted over it. “In my opinion, that is best accomplished by holding an election. If Prime Minister Netanyahu’s current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down, and continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing US standards for assistance, then the US will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course.”

Sounds like more than a veiled threat. Sounds like Schumer is calling for regime change by hook or by crook. This is not the way one ally treats another ally. Seems Schumer wants to install a puppet or stooge in the Israeli Knesset to take orders the same way Biden does. Seems Biden, Schumer, and the Democrat Party have the same visceral hatred of Netanyahu as they do of Trump. Seems Netanyahu and Trump are in good company.

But what Netanyahu said several days ago should remind Schumer of several immutable truths. “Our battle is your battle, and our victory is your victory…. We’re going to defeat Hamas. We’re going to do whatever is necessary to minimize civilian casualties - something we believe in, but we have to defeat this terrorist Nazi army, otherwise there’s no future for anyone in the Middle East,” said Netanyahu. Notice he referenced the entirety of the Middle East, and not just Israel. Netanyahu is not a megalomaniac. He knows the importance of future treaties and alliances as were accomplished under Trump with the Abraham Accords.

Retired army general Benny Gantz, a Netanyahu opponent but member of the Prime Minister’s war cabinet took exception to Schumer’s Senate chamber remarks just a few hours later. Gantz posted on X, “The US and Israel share common values and interests, and the citizens of Israel and its leadership are very grateful for the US standing by the state of Israel in its difficult and complex moments.
“The leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate Chuck Schumer is a friend of Israel who helps her a lot even these days, but he made a mistake in his statement. Israel is a strong democracy, and only its citizens will determine its leadership and future. Any external intervention in the matter is incorrect and unacceptable,” concluded Gantz’s text.

No wonder Gantz is a diplomat - he offered much kinder, and more tactful words than Schumer deserved. Schumer’s words were offensive, threatening, contrary to appropriate behavior between allies, and a shonda - a disgrace.

Michael Herzog, Israeli Ambassador to the United States, also took issue with Schumer’s incongruous message on X. “Israel is a sovereign democracy. It is unhelpful, all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals,” wrote Herzog.

“There is no substitute for total victory - we’ll achieve it,” said Netanyahu. “It’s either Israel or Hamas, there is no middle way. We have to have that victory we can’t have ¾ of a victory. We can’t have ⅔ of  a victory, because Hamas will reconstitute itself, reconquer the Gaza Strip and do the October 7 massacre over, and over, and over, again. For the people of Israel, that’s the Red Line. We can’t let Hamas survive,” Netanyahu said.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Obama Jewish? My Tuchus He Is

Obama Jewish? My Tuchus He Is

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

June 4, 2015

Recently Barack Obama opined to his former senior advisor David Axelrod, “You know, I think I am the closest thing to a Jew that has ever sat in this office. For people to say that I am anti-Israel, or even worse, anti-Semitic, it hurts.” (www.jpupdates.com)

Well, Mr. Obama, stop reading because there’s going to be a whole lot of hurt to follow, as if Obama is actually reading this.

On its prima facie, there can easily be a knee-jerk reaction to Obama’s visceral behavior toward Israel, its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and by extension the Jewish people not just in the United States, but universally.

Yet even I understand that just because Obama may not have the warmest relationship with Netanyahu doesn’t make Obama anti-Israel. Is Obama anti-Israel because he disparaged Netanyahu in November 2011 over an open microphone in a conversation with then French President Nicolas Sarkozy? Is Obama anti-Israel because he refused to meet with Netanyahu during his September 2012 UN visit? Is Obama anti-Israel because he made no effort to determine which member of his administration called Netanyahu a “chickenshit” in October 2014? Is Obama anti-Israel because from January through March of this year he repeatedly criticized Netanyahu for coming to the United States and delivering a speech to the body Congress, by invitation from Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH)? (http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2015/03/bibi-brings-down-house-and-senate.html) Is Obama anti-Israel for not meeting with Netanyahu following his Capitol Hill speech? Is Obama anti-Israel for trying to influence and interfere with Israel’s elections in March? Taken individually, probably not – just personal animus toward Netanyahu.

However, Obama’s demands for Israel to return to its pre-1967 War borders certainly was not in the best interest of the tiny Jewish state, roughly the size of New Jersey. Obama’s continual turning of a blind eye to Iran’s proliferation of materials for the construction and ultimate use of nuclear weaponry against Israel is demonstrative of someone who is anti-Israel. In the last year and a half, Iran has increased its nuclear stockpile by 20 percent, according to the New York Times. The Obama State Department says it is “perplexed” by this activity, conducted right under Obama’s nose. Russia is brashly building a nuclear power plant in Iran.

This is the same Iran who will not allow nuclear inspectors within its borders. The same Iran committed just as ever to the destruction of Israel. The same Iran whose government denies the Holocaust. Obama sits idly by fiddling a la Nero as Iran prepares to burn down the world, or at least the Middle East.

Yet, Obama appeared on 60 Minutes where he dismissed Israel’s concerns about Iran’s future as a nuclear power as merely “noise.” With a June 30 deadline looming overhead like the Sword of Damocles a bad deal with Iran is worse than no deal regarding its potential nuclear prowess to the detriment of Israel, what Iran calls the Little Satan, and eventually, the United States, what Iran calls the Big Satan. Even France has condemned the deal.

Obama’s actions are demonstrative of one who is anti-Israel, while his words merely pay lip service as he glad-hands and fist bumps his way through campaign stops and fundraisers collecting millions from liberal Jewish supporters who continue to fawn over Obama like obsequious weasels. Fortunately, Obama’s hold over the Jewish constituency was begun to wane, as more Jewish voters are coming to their senses and finding a home with the Republican Party. (Not enough yet, but it’s a work in progress.)

Is Obama an anti-Semite? Obama continues to literally bow down to the Muslim world. He made his first overseas visit upon taking office to Egypt. Obama said he would create daylight between himself and Israel. Obama refused to cease aid to the Palestinian Authority, even following a peace deal between the PA and Hamas. Obama has put Israel and terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad on an equal plane. Obama has made demands that Israel needs to consider a two-state solution, yet made no demands of concessions that should come from the terror groups. These terrorist organizations won’t even recognize Israel let alone accept its right to exist among the community of nations. Yet, there is Obama, sidling up to them as though they were legitimate states. What do those entities have to offer that Israel doesn’t in terms of economic or strategic partnerships? Nothing. Thus something must be drawing Obama and his minions toward terrorists while shunning the only democratic country and long term ally in the Middle East.

Obama has surrounded himself with anti-Semites, and to suggest that there is no guilt by association, one can define a person by the company with which he keeps – starting with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, himself a virulent anti-Semite. In his administration, Obama has UN Ambassador Samantha Powers, an outspoken supporter of a Palestinian state. Obama’s former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is a rabid anti-Semite having said, among other things, “the State Department has become adjunct to the Israeli foreign minister’s office.”

Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice sharply rebuked Israel for continuing to build settlements in the territory occupied in 1967, demonstrative of her lack of knowledge of history and of warfare – when one wins a war, one does not return territory. And Obama’s current Secretary of State, John Kerry, also demanded Israel make concessions to Palestinians or suffer global condemnation and possible financial repercussions.

To call himself, or simply suggest, that he is “the closest thing to a Jew that has ever sat in this office” is a disgrace and an affront to every self-respecting Jewish man, woman, and child the world over. The Jewish people, for one, are not “things.” Obama was completely insensitive by moving the White House observance of Chanukah in 2011 to suit his scheduling. Was Christmas observed on any day other than December 25^th? Was Obama’s precious Ramadan celebrated in a month other than that which the calendar states? (http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2011/12/obamas-inconvenient-chanukah.html)

With “friends” like Obama, do Israel and the Jewish people need enemies?

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Netanyahu Deserves Better from Obama

“There is a triple standard when it comes to Israel. There is a standard for dictatorships, there is a standard for democracies, and there is still a third standard for the democracy called Israel. Why is that the case? Because old traditions die hard, and anti-Semitism is a very old tradition.” – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 10/25/14

Netanyahu Deserves Better from Obama

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

November 1, 2014

It matters not who made the most disrespectful statements toward and about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Atlantic magazine article penned by Jeffrey Goldberg. To call him a coward and a chicken-shit anonymously is typical of the vainglorious behavior of a member of the Obama administration as well as indicative of the long standing anti-Israel opinions held by Obama himself and his minions.

The only reason it might matter to identify this insolent oaf is to have this coward exposed to the public and fired. Either way, he or she is the bigger coward and chicken-shit for hiding behind the cloak of anonymity. And, according to the State Department, there will not be an investigation to unearth the uncouth speaker, which is tantamount to approval from Obama himself, despite a milquetoast apology from Secretary of State John Kerry.

This is a most hypocritical statement coming from THIS administration. Netanyahu shows restraint every time THIS administration demands it of him, and he fights every war with respect for human life – including those of his enemies – that is not chicken-shit. 

The chicken-shit label should be firmly ensconced upon Obama and his acolytes who don't have the "stones" to do what is right regarding Benghazi, the IRS, the Keystone Pipeline, Ebola, illegal immigration, ISIS, and Obamacare. Obama has been feckless, reckless, and gutless regarding these issues and scandals. There has also been a complete lack of transparency during his two terms – the antithesis of what he promised during the 2008 campaign.

Obama has been a coward for not calling for a travel ban from West Africa during this Ebola scare, in spite of the fact that 30 African countries issued such a ban.

Obama has been a coward for not going after ISIS with the vim and vigor needed to destroy the terrorist group. This after being foolishly wrong calling them the “JV team.”

Obama has been a coward for not approving the construction of the Keystone Pipeline that would help the United States become less reliant upon Arab oil – even with support of unions – major backers of Obama.

Obama has been a coward for not calling out the IRS and their ubiquitous bias against conservatives – dwarfing Richard Nixon’s enemies list by leaps and bounds.

Obama has been a coward for not demanding a deeper investigation to why former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton abandoned, and ultimately allowed to be murdered, Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty.

Obama has been a coward for not admitting Obamacare has been an abject failure since the launching of the dud of a website, the attempts to force religious organizations to violate their precepts, and the deleterious effects it is having on the economy by coercing many businesses to cut their labor force pushing people to find several part time jobs with no insurance instead of keeping one fulltime job with meaningful health coverage containing options versus a government plan costing more with fewer options.

Obama, and for that matter, both sides of the aisle have been cowards for not appropriately dealing with illegal immigration for reasons too numerous to address here. See: http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-southern-border.html  and: http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2014/01/illegal-alien-granted-law-license.html.  And further proving his cowardice, Obama is expected to take executive action on immigration after Election Day.

It is epic hypocrisy for Obama to support the calling of Netanyahu a coward and a chicken-shit considering the military careers of the two men. Netanyahu graduated high school in 1967, served in the Israeli Defense Forces from 1967-73, earning the rank of Captain, fighting in the War of Attrition (1969-70), was wounded in combat, and fought in the Yom Kippur War (1973). By 1977 Netanyahu had earned two degrees from MIT in the United States. The true coward, Obama, on the other hand, has no military service and during his high school years and beyond spent time smoking pot and snorting cocaine, as he admits in his book Dreams From My Father. Seems Obama has been giving America nightmares since arriving in the public arena.

Obama personally owes Netanyahu an apology, although I wouldn’t hold my breath awaiting one.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.