Shabbos Kestenbaum's Mic-Drop Closing on Israel and Foreign Aid

Reassessing Foreign Aid and Lobbying

• 🎯 Kestenbaum agrees with the idea of zero blank checks for foreign aid, advocating for the end of all foreign aid to every country, not just one.
• 🔍 He highlights that Qatar has more registered Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) agents than Israel, with significantly more meetings with Congress.
• 🇺🇸 He argues that organizations like AIPAC, comprised of Americans, are American lobbying groups, similar to the NRA or Chamber of Commerce, and that Americans are free to lobby their government.

Challenging the Narrative of Israeli Control

• 🏛️ Kestenbaum lists multiple US presidents who have forced Israel to withdraw or halt advances, questioning the premise that Israel controls American foreign policy.
• 📉 He points out that despite strong opposition from Netanyahu and AIPAC, the Iranian nuclear deal (JCPOA), considered an existential threat by Israel, was still passed.
• 🤷 "If Israel controls America, they're doing a pretty shitty job," he states, underscoring the perceived ineffectiveness of this alleged control.

Identifying the True Threat

• ⚔️ Kestenbaum refutes the claim that Israel is the sole reason for America's enemies in the Middle East, noting the US fought Islamists off the coast of Libya over 140 years before Israel's creation.
• 🚨 He identifies the rise of radical Islam as the primary problem in the United States over the last 25 years, listing numerous terrorist attacks attributed to it.
• 🕊️ He contrasts this with Jewish people wearing Kipas, stating they are not a threat, while radical Islamists pose a danger, citing over 58,000 Islamic terrorist attacks globally since 9/11.
• 🌍 Kestenbaum concludes that the West's weakness is being exploited by Islamists, and the US is obsessing over the wrong country while ignoring a larger threat.