Ileana’s oddly adversarial Israel affirmation

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U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), the chairwoman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, this morning affirms her support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, but she concludes with a puzzling implied warning to President Obama:

Congress clearly supports Israel’s right to protect itself against attacks from violent extremists such as Hamas, and I strongly urge this Administration to stand with our ally both bilaterally and in multilateral fora as it seeks to defend its citizens.

Bilaterally? Check, as of Wednesday, hours after Israel launched Pillar of Defense. Multilaterally? Check, in the U.N. Security Council, on the cusp of Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

An adversarial legislative-executive branch relationship is healthy, but it should be underpinned by substantive disagreements, no?

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