Rand Paul's Cartoonish View of Pro-Israel Political Power

Joan Walsh writes at Salon

Rand Paul’s craven new pander: Why he’s swung wildly on Israel again

In the last few months, Paul has swung wildly on the issue, becoming even more hawkish than AIPAC. The man who once advocated cutting all aid to Israel now supports an aid hike, and instead wants to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority. Yet Paul’s “Stand with Israel Act” is opposed by AIPAC as too extreme, though it’s backed by the far-right Zionist Organization of America.

On Friday he supported a Senate resolution backing Israel that passed by unanimous consent in the wake of the lamentable ground strike in Gaza – while arguing it didn’t go far enough. “I want more teeth in this,” he told The Hill, urging the Senate to take up his bill de-funding the Palestinian Authority.

There may be no better sign that Paul is running for president in 2016 than his craven flip-flop on Israel. But his transformation has been so extreme that it suggests Paul and his allies harbor a cartoonish view of pro-Israel political power

.