U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro gathered the courage to meet with MKs from the Right. The meeting began reasonably. My good friend MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) criticized the American stance on the peace process, but she kept her remarks polite and appropriate for the respected guest. MK Yariv Levin (Likud) did the same. However, those who heard the words and criticism expressed by MKs David Rotem (Yisrael Beytenu), Orit Struck (Habayit Hayehudi) and Nissan Slomiansky (Habayit Hayehudi) were ashamed. America has not done anything for Israel, they said. Its stance was deteriorating the special relationship and the ambassador was insulting their intelligence with his explanation of why his country was not releasing Jonathan Pollard. MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) again asked his delusional question -- who even needs American aid for the Israel Defense Forces? (Perhaps he thought that drying up military funding would solve the issue of equality in the military burden. It's true, without American aid, there would be no need for a draft.) Channel 2's Amit Segal reported the scoop from the unpublished conversation, and Army Radio discovered that someone secretly recorded the meeting, like a thief in the night. I'm dying of curiosity to read Shapiro's report to his government about his visit with right-wing MKs, like Daniel in the lions' den.
