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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Neighbors fight cell tower proposal near Ashland Gov. Kitzhaber steps down, federal investigation begins Successor Kate Brown must run for election in 2016 Mt. Ashland offers shuttle service Sadness, relief greet Kitzhaber resignation locally Education Levy supporters kick off campaign Bowling for knowledge Sharing black culture It's alive! SOU students create thought-provoking art Environment Mt. Ashland Ski Area celebrates snow GMO opponents can join Jackson County in defending ban Grant will help restore 'legacy' oak habitat in Southern Oregon and Northern California Mt. Ashland Ski Area crew dips to five Mt. Ashland Ski Area announces layoffs Business Ride & Drive: 2015 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack Silvio Calabi: Range Rover Sport, the off-road GT Where do Ashland’s top chefs go to dine? 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Ashland Calendar: Feb. 14 ... Workers need more power ... Neighbors fight cell tower proposal near Ashland ... Ashland Calendar: Feb. 14 ... Workers need more power ... COMMENTARY Jeffrey Gillespie: Mr. Netanyahu goes to Washington Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Feb. 13, 2015 @ 12:01 am Posted Feb. 13, 2015 @ 12:01 am What do you think? --> Have an opinion on this story? Send a letter to the editor at www.dailytidings.com/sendletter or email ... » Read more X What do you think? Have an opinion on this story? Send a letter to the editor at www.dailytidings.com/sendletter or email [email protected] . » Social News When commenting on Israel, it's almost always tricky to separate the vast importance of the Jewish State from the controversial nature of the man who currently runs it. While Israel has an inalienable right to exist, it is becoming clearer by the day that the country is being led down a reckless path by its current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Most recently, Netanyahu has been invited to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress for the third time. He shares that honor only with Sir Winston Churchill, and is ahead of Yitzhak Rabin and Nelson Mandela, each of whom addressed us only twice. Bearing in mind that Rabin was felled by an assassin's bullet, that Mandela spent 26 years in prison in protest of apartheid and that Churchill was one of three leaders who helped win the Second World War, what particular achievement invites Bibi Netanyahu to join such an illustrious group? He can, at best, be described as hawkish. His detractors, of whom there are many, view him as a war criminal. Is it wise, at such a critical time, for a loose cannon of his ilk to be given a bully pulpit so weighty as the one afforded him by House Speaker John Boehner? The arrangement, which was made without any concession to the White House, is a serious miscalculation by both men. They are playing with fire, insulting the U.S. president, mocking Article II of the Constitution, and significantly undermining the democratic process. Many Democrats will not appear at the speech, taking a cue from Vice President Biden (whose office has announced that he will be "traveling" while Netanyahu is in Washington). While some Republican and conservative Jewish groups are pressing for shaming campaigns against congressional leaders who do not attend the speech, the more liberal sectors of the Jewish community are requesting some conciliatory gesture by the Israeli prime minister. Many are suggesting that he cancel the speech altogether. The address itself is intended to highlight "the grave threats that radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life." That is a highly reckless position to be publicly fielding at exactly the moment when President Obama is using every available back channel in an attempt to find common ground with Iran on a host of mutually problematic strategic issues. ISIL, Iraq, the Iranian nuclear program, and many other pressing concerns could offer the United States a real opportunity for discussion and detente with the Islamic Republic. Netanyahu's idea of good foreign policy seems to vacillate between jingoism (in the case of his neighbors) and blackmail (when dealing with his supposed allies). Boehner's peculiar approach to power continues to show up as pathetic and transparent. His current behavior is based on a combination of genuine political impotence and shallow spin. It is a cynical bid for additional conservative Jewish votes come 2016, and perhaps for additional funding from sponsors like Sheldon Adelson. While Boehner has little to lose from all this domestically, Netanyahu is further degrading his remaining credibility on the world stage. He is continuing to provoke division of opinion among the populations of both the United States and Israel. He is agitating Iran more than is necessary. He is attempting to represent his interests as more important, if not somehow extrinsic, to those of the current world order. One would hope that he will soon reconsider, lest he lose some or all of his few remaining friends, to the detriment of his country, and to the degradation of that ever more evasive goal — a two-state solution. Jeffrey Gillespie's writing has appeared in the Santa Fean and Art Collector magazines, the Portland Mercury and Willamette Week. He lives in Ashland. 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