Posted on 08/26/2020 7:38:34 AM PDT by silent majority rising
Because he was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and Vice President, Joe Biden is supposedly an expert on foreign policy, and he might be. But just like everything else he has done in his public career, Biden is prone to screwing up his relationship with foreign leaders. And to paraphrase the former SCHMOTUS himself, screwing up in foreign relations “is a big f**king deal.” (Note: SCHMOTUS stands for Schmo of the United States).
Anyone who bothered to prepare themselves for a meeting with Begin knew that he couldn’t be intimidated, he already lived through the worst. But Joe Biden didn’t bother to prepare. On June 22 of 1982, Menachem Begin testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
During that committee hearing, at the height of the Lebanon War, Sen. John Biden (Delaware) had attacked Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria and threatened that if Israel did not immediately cease this activity, the US would have to cut economic aid to Israel.
“Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. 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.”
Not learning his lesson, Senator Biden Senator raised his voice at Begin and banged twice on the table
“This desk is designed for writing, not for fists. 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. Three thousand years of culture are behind me, and you will not frighten me with threats. Take note: we do not want a single soldier of yours to die for us.”
The NY Times reported on the aftermath of the meeting:
After the meeting, Mr. Begin said: ”I enjoyed the session very much. I believe in liberty, that free men should freely discuss problems and if they have differences of opinion they should voice them in sincerity.”
”I said it was a lively discussion,” he said. ”If you want to use other adjectives. …” He paused, then said, ”Lively is enough.”
Now the man who didn’t research a foreign leader he was supposed to meet, and for eight years as Vice President supported the disastrous foreign policy of Barack Obama wants to be President. He will never be POTUS, but he will always be the SCHMOTUS.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Some readers are upset about Begin saying “Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens.” He wasn’t talking about the American heroes and those of our allies who put their lives on the line or lost their lives fighting Hitler. He was talking about the fact that FDR could have saved up to 200,000 of Hitler’s victims but didn’t. Churchill could have saved tens of thousands also but lacked the courage.
In the book “FDR and the Holocaust: A Breach of Faith,” historian Rafael Medoff suggests that Roosevelt failed to take relatively simple measures that would have saved significant numbers of Jews during the Holocaust because his vision for America was one that had a small number of Jews. In other words, FDR doomed many Jew to suffer not because he wanted them to die, but because he didn’t want a lot of them living in his neighborhood. There were many actions FDR could have taken to stop or slow down the Holocaust, he didn’t. “He didn’t permit the immigration quotas to be filled to their legal limit — that alone would have saved 190,000 lives,” historian Rafael Medoff postulated. And there were other examples.
Churchill refused to ease the restrictions of the White Paper of 1939. The White Paper limited the immigration of Jews to Palestine which resulted in the death sentence of so many. A limit of 75,000 Jewish immigrants was set for the five years 1940-1944, consisting of a regular yearly quota of 10,000, and an additional allowance of 25,000, was spread out over the same period, to cover refugee emergencies. Churchill could have saved tens of thousands more, but just like today, the first priority of the British was to appease the Arabs.
Good point - arab countries expect US solders to fight and die on their soil...
Here is an example of Joe Biden’s “character” that the DNC likes to point out. He is a bully and a crook. I especially like the acting out: “Not learning his lesson, Senator Biden Senator raised his voice at Begin and banged twice on the table”. That is when Begin said “This desk is designed for writing, not for fists. 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?”
That is exactly the biden attitude. He tried it in Israel. He tried it in Ukraine. He tried it with China. A leopard never changes it spots!
“He is a bully and a crook.”
Note this is exactly what Biden did when he said no billion dollars from the U.S. if you don’t fire the prosecutor that is investigating my son.
Good point - arab countries expect US solders to fight and die on their soil...
************
Deep state Agents expect US solders to fight and die on muslim soil, in defense of muslims...
Hold on there! Don't be so hard on him!
That is exactly what he did! This despicable man has been a bully and a thief for his entire career. He was an appropriate VP for Obama.
Obama chose the politician for VP who was the most openly and aggressively corrupt. THAT was his standard for his entire cabinet as well.
I agree.
Begin was one tough dude. Biden wouldn’t have lasted two minutes against him in a fight, even in Begin’s old age and Biden’s prime.
Excellent posting! There was, actually, another dust-up when one of Reagan’s persons in the State Department (early in his first term), maybe the Secretary of State (like James Baker, a Conlin Powell type)), decided to be ‘tough on Israel’.
Israel’s response was EPIC! They essentially said that they were no Third World Banana Republic and they don’t expect to be treated as such. After that we got the message and Israel and the Reagan Administration quickly became were BEST BUDDIES!
James Baker always hated Israel.
Yea, that was SICKENING.
"Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. 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."
Not learning his lesson, Senator Biden Senator raised his voice at Begin and banged twice on the table
"This desk is designed for writing, not for fists. 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. Three thousand years of culture are behind me, and you will not frighten me with threats. Take note: we do not want a single soldier of yours to die for us."
The NY Times reported on the aftermath of the meeting:
After the meeting, Mr. Begin said: "I enjoyed the session very much. I believe in liberty, that free men should freely discuss problems and if they have differences of opinion they should voice them in sincerity."
Begin was eloquent in whatever language he spoke. It’s a pity he was a better revolutionary than he was a politician.
???
-PJ
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The bully in the basement threatening Menachem Begin. Would have liked to have heard that exchange.
LOL, ask the Brits about pissing off Begin.
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