The response of the “anybody but Bibi” crowd to President Joe Biden’s exit from the presidential race has been as ridiculous as it was predictable.
Obfuscating the chain of events preceding Biden’s announcement on Sunday night that he was withdrawing his candidacy—via a letter posted on X, rather than an address to the nation—Israeli oppositionists used the dramatic event as yet another pretext to bash Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It would be funny if it weren’t so pathetic that the Democrats’ counterparts in the Jewish state are incapable of coming up with any new material. And it’s a bit disappointing, given the fact that the bulk of copywriters and advertising executives are on the side of the spectrum afflicted with Netanyahu Derangement Syndrome.
Their NDS didn’t suddenly appear after the debacle of the Oct. 7 massacre, when Hamas caught Israel by surprise and perpetrated the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust. No, the illness was symptomatic for years prior to the slaughter of 1,200 people and abduction of 250 others.
It was on full display before and during the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns. This was when “Crime Minister” raves—replete with pornographic costumes caricaturing First Lady Sara Netanyahu—were given a green light, yet family gatherings and synagogue attendance were nixed.
The “Let my people go” slogan, chanted by demonstrators carrying huge banners of Netanyahu-as-Pharoah, was dreamed up during the protests against the then-newly formed government’s plans to reform the judicial system.
In the aftermath of Oct. 7, many of the same NDS sufferers replaced the “Let my people go” mantra with one more befitting of the somber atmosphere, but equally accusatory against you-know-who: “Bring them home now.”
Though the desperation to rescue the hostages in captivity in Gaza was and still is shared by all Israelis, the catchphrase—engraved on “dog tags” and written in neon lights on theaters, banks and buses—was aimed at Netanyahu. You know, as though he was holding the men, women and children snatched on the fateful day in his basement.
Or that he didn’t care enough about their welfare to do anything about their plight.
Never mind that his government launched a war to free them and destroy their captors. In the NDS universe, Bibi is as bad, if not worse, than massacre mastermind Yahya Sinwar.
Which brings us to Biden. No matter how often or loudly Netanyahu expressed his gratitude for American backing in the war against Hamas—which he did on a daily basis—the NDS-ers continued to claim that he was to blame for turning Israel into a partisan issue in the United States.
This nonsense, too, is old and tired. Nevertheless, it’s a notion that lies in the NDS comfort zone, always there when needed to be dusted off and shlepped out at a moment’s notice.
Netanyahu provided his detractors with the opportunity to do just that last month, when he released a video clip in which he called it “inconceivable” that the United States had been “withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
It was the first and only time that the Israeli PM dared to call out the administration in Washington. Though he was absolutely right to issue the mild reprimand, his foes at home were happy to have their false assertions vindicated.
They pounced, as well, when Netanyahu accepted an invitation to address both houses of the U.S. Congress. Naturally, they fault him for causing a rift and simultaneously for taking steps to illustrate that none exists.
NDS reactions to his trip to DC were therefore universally negative. He shouldn’t go, they said, because he hasn’t yet signed a ceasefire deal that would see the release of hostages. And anyway, they added, he was only going to signal to former President Donald Trump and the Republicans that he was counting on their victory in November.
It didn’t occur to them that his address on Capitol Hill might assist in the effort to free the captives and confront Iran, the head of the octopus behind the seven-front war being waged against Israel and the West.
The news of Biden’s retreat threw a wrench into their campaign. Still, they managed to spew some anti-Bibi vitriol on social media.
Ignoring the fact that Biden was forced by fellow Democrats to leave the race, Haaretz writer and The Economist correspondent Anshel Pfeffer tweeted, “How rare to see a leader choose his country’s interests over his own.”
Yes, we all got the point.
Member of Knesset Gilad Kariv from the new Israeli hybrid Labor-Meretz party, The Democrats, wrote on X: “President Joe Biden is one of the greatest friends and supporters of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Decent Israelis will remember him as someone who was a man of true responsibility and sanity in times when the people who were supposed to lead us failed and abandoned him. Thanks, friend.”
Former Defense Minister (in a previous Netanyahu-led government) Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon was more succinct. “President Biden, thank you for your efforts to save us from ourselves. All the best,” he posted.
