The lessons of history teach that US President’s cannot and should not expect to “push”
an Israeli Prime Minister to abandon their own national interests and legitimate security concerns,
where
On June 22 1982, Senator from Delaware Joe Biden confronted then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during
his Senate Foreign Relations committee testimony, threatening to cut off aid to Israel. Begin forcefully responded,
“Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand
by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.”