Senate Democrats have opened a rare public feud with President Barack Obama over a congressional effort to discourage America’s trading partners from targeting Israel with politically motivated boycotts and sanctions.
Minority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats voiced their objections to Obama’s decision not to implement provisions in a trade law that instructs U.S. negotiators to protect Israel from being punished economically for its treatment of Palestinians.
House Speaker Paul Ryan also criticized Obama and said Congress would use its power of oversight to ensure the provisions are enforced.
“Only this administration would try not to enforce a trade enforcement law,” the Wisconsin Republican said Friday.
Specifically, the provision instructs U.S. negotiators to resist other countries’ actions that support the “boycott, divestment and sanctions” movement, known as BDS. The senators said the movement tracks with growing anti-Semitism around the world.
Obama is opposed to the boycott movement and has pledged to fight it “as long as I am president.”
But his administration took issue with part of the bill that it said conflates Israel with “Israeli-controlled territories.” That’s a reference to the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war but the Palestinians demand for part of their future state.
The U.S. considers Israeli settlements in the disputed West Bank to be illegitimate, and the White House said the language lumping Israel and the Palestinian territories together contradicts U.S. policy toward the settlements.
In a signing statement Obama issued Wednesday, he said he intended to interpret the newly signed law “in a manner that does not interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct diplomacy.”
But the senators said the White House has mischaracterized the provisions as making a U.S. policy statement about Israeli settlements. “This simply is not the case,” they said. The provisions are aimed at countering “commercial actions aimed at delegitimizing Israel and pressuring Israel into unilateral concessions outside the bounds of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations,” according to the senators.
Reid was joined in the statement on Thursday by Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Michael Bennet of Colorado and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
(AP)
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8 Responses
Vanachapachi Obama imachshm shall have the same ending as human
The above comment is obviously a Hassidic so I will interpret. נהנפוך הוא, Obama ימח שמו should have the same end as המן.
Just another in HIS long string of Obaminations. History will not be kind with this President. With his many failures and having placed the nation at risk many times, he will score at the abolute bottom for all time.
These last two comments should be removed immediately.
They can create chas v’sholom a terrible Chillul Hashem and in this day can possibly lead to prosecution. People don’t understand the Chomer of such talk.
The Senate Democrats are right on the merits, of course, but under the Constitution the President probably has the power here. The courts rarely if ever interfere in foreign policy matters.
“Obama ימח שמו should have the same end as המן.”
I would suggest that calling for the killing of the President of the United States might be out of line.
It also might trigger a Secret Service visit.
If its a statute, Obama has no choice. Perhaps the article should mention which statute is referred to and quote the language of the statute.
Do you read these posts?
How can you leave a post on your site that suggests such an action against a president?