On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) stated Secretary of State John Kerry “beat up on Israel in a disproportionate way,” the US joined the crowd at the UN in “beating up on Israel,” and responded to Republican criticisms that Obama’s foreign policy legacy will be being tougher on friends than on enemies with, “Well, I think you can say that, unfortunately.”
Engel said that “I think you can say” that Obama’s legacy will be being tougher on allies like Israel than enemies like the Assad regime. He added, “[W]hat Secretary Kerry did was just beat up on Israel in a disproportionate way, sort of gloss over the terrorism that the Palestinians have used throughout these years, neglects the fact that Israel picked up and left Gaza. Left all the settlements there. Did they get peace in return for it? No. They got the terrorism. And it’s just ridiculous to put the blame on the only democracy in the Middle East.”
Engel further stated that while he didn’t know what President Obama and Secretary Kerry’s motivations are, “I think the timing is curious, the fact that they’re leaving office in a few weeks.” And that while friends can disagree with friends, “I think the united nations, in which Israel can never get a fair shake, we join the crowd, beating up on Israel, and it’s really disingenuous to say, well, we abstained. Well, we abstained, knowing full well what that abstention meant. It meant that the resolution would pass, and Israel relies on us to block all these resolutions against them because they can’t get a fair shake.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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