The new Republican-led Congress will be more pro-Israel – but it might not be manifest in foreign aid. The incoming majority leader of the House, for instance, will be Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, a staunch pro-Israel lawmaker, and the incoming House speaker-designate is Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, who has outspokenly criticized the Obama Administration for pressuring Israel regarding construction in Judea and Samaria.
On the other hand, as The New York Times has reported, newly-elected senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, with isolationist, Tea Party tendencies, bluntly told AIPAC (the influential American Israeli Public Affairs Committee lobbying group) that they were "going to disagree about the need for foreign aid" to Israel.
The Times reported that the Israeli government was viewed by some as one of the big winners of the midterm elections. “The administration has to take into account that Israel now has a friendlier forum,” Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, told the Times. “It will therefore think carefully about doing things.”
In addition, an up-and-coming Tea Party star, new Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Baptist, celebrated his election victory with a personal trip to Israel; he is planning an official visit after he takes office.
The Times provided two examples of the emboldening of Netanyahu caused by the recent elections. In his visit to the U.S. earlier this month, Netanyahu delivered a speech calling on Obama to harden his policy toward Iran, because, he said, “containment will not work.” The Americans rejected this approach, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates announcing, “We are prepared to do what is necessary, but at this point we continue to believe that the political-economic approach that we taking is in fact having an impact in Iran.”
Additionally, the prime minister responded sharply after Obama criticized Jewish housing projects in parts of Israel’s capital, Jerusalem. “Jerusalem is not a settlement,” his office announced. “Jerusalem is the capital of the state of Israel. Israel never took upon itself any limitations on construction in Jerusalem.”
