Posted on 02/03/2021 11:32:38 AM PST by SJackson
What really happened when Menachem Begin visited Washington during the First Lebanon War?
...snip...
The “bitterest exchange,” however, writes the Times, was that between Prime Minister Begin and someone else still around today – Senator Joseph Biden. According to the report, Biden told Begin that he had no specific problems with the way in which the campaign in Lebanon was being fought, but objected to Israel’s policies in the “West Bank.” He claimed that Israel was losing its support in America due to its policy of establishing communities in the “occupied territories,” and, according to Begin himself (in a press statement following his return to Israel), “He hinted - more than hinted - that if we continue with this policy, it is possible that he will propose cutting our financial aid.”
Begin was not cowed, and responded:
“Don’t threaten us with slashing aid. Do you think that because the US lends us money it is entitled to impose on us what we must do? We are grateful for the assistance we have received, but we are not to be threatened. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.”
The Times notes that the acrimonious meeting with the senators was an anomaly to an otherwise successful visit to the United States, concluding that “Mr. Begin left Washington pleased at having his basic approach to the Lebanese crisis endorsed by [then-President] Reagan.”
(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
Buyden has always been an a-hole, even when he was young.................
Yep...
Traitor Joe is still around. Not for long.
He claimed that Israel was losing its support in America due to its policy of establishing communities in the “occupied territories,” and, according to Begin himself (in a press statement following his return to Israel), “He hinted - more than hinted - that if we continue with this policy, it is possible that he will propose cutting our financial aid.”“Don’t threaten us with slashing aid. Do you think that because the US lends us money it is entitled to impose on us what we must do? We are grateful for the assistance we have received, but we are not to be threatened. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.”
Adding my post from the other thread.White House Can’t Explain Why Biden Hasn’t Called Netanyahu In First 2 Weeks
Most of the comments on that thread seem to find an answer in Biden's hatred of Israel and/or Jews, or his deteriorating mental abilities.
I'm going to suggest an alternative, though I have no background in psychology or psychiatry. Thus by inability to state he's mentally incompetent as well.
My take on Biden over the years, he has a politician's ego, large. He's never seemed to me to have a strong moral sense, thus a "devout" Catholic who is pro abortion and pro gay marriage. Not that these issues might not be the government's business, but that they're morally acceptable per his religious scruples. Were his beliefs as deeply seated as some who suggest he's our most religious President, I'd think he'd be looking for a more acceptable religious denomination.
And, also my opinion, his judgement through his career particularly, to quote Robert Gates (I don't plagerize) Biden has "been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades." He's been around a long time. He knows he's going to get a similar answer from Bibi. And given his background vs those of Bibi and Begin, he can't just take them behind the garage or tell them about his confrontation with Corn Pop. I think Netanyahu was an intimidating figure to Obama, and is to Biden as likely was Biden. If, in the context of a mortal conflict, in this case with Iran, his threat to end aid won't be well received. And the issue this time is a mortal threat, not about where Biden thinks Jews should live, but whether they live.
This story of Begin so eloquently putting Biden in his place has been told and re-told, and I certainly wish Begin had said something like that to Biden, but I’m not sure how much of it is reality. The confrontation supposedly happened at some sort of Senate hearing or meeting in 1982, but does anyone have a source, audio or transcript from that period? The “I’m not a Jew with trembling knees” monologue is certain a kick-ass response, but for some reason I’m skeptical that Begin or any Israeli leader of that period would show up at a U.S. Senate hearing with such “eff off” attitude. I’m open to persuasion otherwise, though.
‘Not for long.’
Tell me the plan!
Every state seems to have a Begin Freeway.
Actually, I’m going to moderate my skepticism. I wasn’t able to find anything resembling a contemporaneous transcript, but the NYT, 6/23/1982 did report that Begin’s “bitterest exchange” at the Senate hearing was with Biden. So perhaps it did happen more or less as reported here.
“Joe Biden’s ‘lively discussion’ with Menachem Begin”
Menachem Begin died 28 years ago. Has anyone told Biden that, recently?
Plugs the Pedo: “JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS !”
Possibly. I don't remember thinking of him as one until the Clarence Thomas confirmation. I didn't think much of him when I learned about his plagiarism problems in the 1988 primary campaign, and his earlier problem with plagiarism in law school.
Since I mentioned plagiarism, you might note this thread I posted after the inauguration.
It appears he lifted a phrase in his inaguration speech from a Bill Clinton speech in 2008 supporting Obama. He changed Bill's Most important, Barack Obama knows that America cannot be strong abroad unless we are strong at home. People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power. to Tonight, the whole world is watching America. I believe at our best America is a beacon for the globe. And we lead not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.
The Palestinians are the Arabs that even Syria didn’t want to have in their own country. So they moved them to a region known as Palestine.
Palestine was never a country, It was just an area like western New York or southern California Or Louisiana territory (Before it became an actual state)
Israel won that territory when they were attacked from it and kicked their ass. Territory won in battle is yours to keep if you so decide.
The Gaza Plateau is high ground that kept attacking Israel from above. They would be stupid to give it back, but the country they would actually give it back to would be Syria.
Wood Syria lop off that part and give it to the ‘Palestinians’ to make their own country? (Maybe because the Palestinians were segregated there by Syria in the first place, because they didn’t even want them nearby)
It may have been Lebanon instead of Syria... It’s been a long time since I thought about this.
How can Joe Biden have a lively discussion when he reads from cue cards
This was almost 40 years ago. Given Biden’s effectiveness he should have used cue cards rather than counting on his own talent.
Biden also told Bibi Netanyahu that he better get used to a nuclear-armed Iran.
“losing its support in America due to its policy of establishing communities in the “occupied territories,”
I’m naive. I just don’t know this. What is the reason Israel wants to establish communities in the occupied territories?
Let me add, starting with the question of your age, because I am old enough to remember Begin and his character quite well, read his book “White nights: The story of a prisoner in Russia” and know his history as a leader of an underground resistance organization during Israel’s campaign for statehood. Based on that, I have no doubt that the quote, if not verbatim, was certainly something Begin was capable of saying at any time, especially to an obnoxious punk like Biden. As much as they try to paint him as “nice guy Joe” he is and always was, a nasty jerk.
Of course, the answer starts with the name “occupied territories”. Israel conquered that land in a war started by the then prevailing government of Jordan. Both the “occupied territories” and Jordan itself were lands designated by Britain and the League of Nations for the establishment of the Jewish state. As much as there might be some formal technical rubric for the term, it does not accurately describe what the status of the land is or should be.
Next, the “occupied territories” are known to Jews as Yehuda and Shomron, the names these lands were given by our ancestors. They were and remain, the actual heartland of the Land of Israel. It is entirely appropriate for Jews to live in the heartland of the Land of Israel.
Finally, the question remains: why shouldn’t Jews live there regardless of the historic, strategic or political status of the land? Is there some kind of Judenrein principle that applies to require this particular land to be ethnically cleansed of Jews?
I apologize if my response is strident. The tone is not directed at you or your question but at the vile nature of the propaganda war that has been waged for decades to deprive Jews of the right to live in their own homeland.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.