Netanyahu at AIPAC: It's not about the Benjamins

Netanyahu's speech via satellite at AIPAC.

Times of Israel diplomatic correspondent Raphael Ahren wrote an article regarding a speech by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  The speech was given by Netanyahu at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington by satellite to approximately 18,000 people in attendance.  AIPAC is a lobbying organization that promotes pro-Israel policy to Congress and the President of the United States.  Ahren’s highlights of the speech were the reference to U.S. Congresswomen of the 5th District of Minnesota, Ilhan Omar’s tweet, Netanyahu’s thanking the United States President Donald Trump for recognizing Golan Heights as territory of Israel, Netanyahu’s defense against criticism of Israel’s basic law regarding nation-state, and Netanyahu rebuking anti-Semitism.  A tweet by Omar in February, Ahren said, referred to AIPAC’s influence on American politics when she said, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.”  Omar’s remarks were deemed as inappropriate by many, and perhaps anti-Semitic in the stereotype of relating Jews to money – “Benjamins” is slang for U.S. $100 bills.  Omar’s tweet was removed after widespread criticism, and she subsequently apologized.  Ahren quoted the Prime Minister as he indicated that some people do not understand the vast support for Israel, and delivers the article’s tag line, “it’s not about the Benjamins.”  The article continues with Netanyahu expressing gratitude to the U.S. President Donald Trump for a recent announcement regarding Israel’s sovereignty in the Golan Heights.  Netanyahu rationalized his position regarding the Golan Heights with its ancient ties to Jewish people and an area of defensive strategy vital to Israel.  Ahren then addresses Netanyahu’s defense of equal rights for individual citizens regarding Israel’s nation-state law, a symbolic declarative law regarding the state of Israel.  Netanyahu stated that Israeli citizens are all first-class citizens and always will be, despite controversy and critics who, Ahren says, the law hallows non-Jewish citizens as second-class.  The article concludes with several quotes from Netanyahu’s speech that were aimed at critics of the relationship between the U.S. and Israel – particularly against anti-Semitic discussion.

U.S. Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar.

Raphael Ahren is a well-known journalist and a source of reliable information.  In his article, he objectively identifies Netanyahu’s “about the Benjamins” remark in relating it to Ilhan Omar’s tweet and her apology for anti-Semitic criticism.  The article shows a screen shot of a tweet from Omar, which was in response to another tweet that quoted Netanyahu’s tag line.  In her tweet, she condemned Netanyahu’s quote by highlighting the fact that Netanyahu is facing indictments for bribery and corruption charges.  There is an apparent strategy behind Ahren's use of this tweet.  Reuters and Haaretz reported similar news with a similar title, but centered its discussion only around the hostility between Omar and Netanyahu.  Nevertheless, Ahren selected many more quotes from Netanyahu’s satellite speech at AIPAC.  Ahren gave commentary in between some of Netanyahu's quotes in order to point out key facts relevant to what the Prime Minister spoke about.  For example, Netanyahu's defense of the nation-state law claimed that the law gave everyone in Israel equal individual rights.  However, Ahren cleverly points out that Netanyahu has insinuated against the legitimacy of Arab political parties in the Knesset, which is a way for Ahren to use Netanyahu’s words which many interpret as a way to denote Arab parties as second-class.  

Netanyahu, with Trump recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights

The article was written from a viewpoint that criticizes Benjamin Netanyahu.  While the use of Netanyahu’s quotes was objective information, there is some indication of subjective opinion, particularly critical of the Israeli Prime Minster. First, in using the screenshot of Omar's tweet, he gave her the last word between the hostile exchange in this article.  In addition, it is important to note the article’s subtitle, which weighs criticism on Netanyahu, when Omar scoffs at the Prime Minister's attention to her tweets, “this from a man facing indictments.”  Ahren refers to Netanyahu's association to the Otzma Yehudit party, a right-wing political party in Israel, and labels the party as racist.  While that may be true, it is a subjective term only because the organization’s leader Michael Ben-Ari claimed otherwise.  In the same sentence, Ahren described AIPAC as bipartisan, but implies that Netanyahu’s high regard of President Trump undermines the future of bipartisan support of Israel.  This is subjective information, because of the elections cycles in both countries – it is possible that Netanyahu might not be Prime Minister after the April 9, 2019 election, and it is possible that Trump may not be President beyond the 2020 election.   The use of Netanyahu’s quotes represents a critical point of view of the Prime Minister that is echoed by not just Ilhan Omar, but as seen in Ahren’s writings, many Israelis as well.