Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a dramatic, even historic decision to bar, for the first time, US members of Congress from entering Israel.
Some will mock his "weakness" for heeding the warnings of US President Donald Trump, who tweeted that Israel itself would be showing weakness if it allowed Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the two anti-Semitic congresswomen who support the BDS movement, to visit the country.
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It should be noted: The prime minister's relationship with Trump is perhaps the most important strategic and political asset that Netanyahu brings to bear on Israel's behalf. Trump, we are well aware, has showered Israel with unexpected gifts since entering office in 2016. He moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem and recognized Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights. The conclusion, therefore, is that Netanyahu couldn't have acted any differently, and doing so would have sparked a crisis with the US and its president. That being said, we can expect Israel's relationship with the Democratic Party to take a considerable hit.
And yet, after speaking with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat, and his colleague, Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, I was left with the impression that both parties are united in their support for Israel. We can now certainly expect the degree of Democratic support to be diminished.
At the same time, we almost missed a rare political occurrence, which was downplayed or completely ignored by most Israeli media outlets: More than 70 (!) US lawmakers from both parties recently wrapped up a visit to Israel. In other words, around 16% of the US House of Representatives were here at the same time. Their trip, sponsored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, was geared toward helping the mostly first-time lawmakers learn about the problems that Israel is facing.
It's safe to assume that had the pro-BDS congresswomen – who were looking to create provocations aimed at smearing Israel – been allowed entry, their visit would have been covered by the press far and wide. At the same time, however, we also saw the media minimize the visit of over 70 US lawmakers from both parties – an unprecedented number.
The anti-Semitic Tlaib and Omar would have had cameras on them the entire time. In contrast, the 70 US members of Congress received almost zero media attention. The numbers don't lie.
