On January 27, 1945, the now known date of the liberation of Auschwitz, another rescue operation took place hundreds of miles west.
At the Stalag American POW camp, near Frankfurt, Sergeant Major Rudy Edmonds was required by one of the Wehrmacht officers to extradite all the Jewish soldiers among the American POWs.
Edmonds was a simple soldier from Tennessee, but with a solid world of values. In response to the selection ordinance, he ordered all 2,000 American prisoners - Jews and non-Jews alike - to stand at the door of their tents. The Wehrmacht officer, a German named Sigman, immediately understood. "It cannot be that everyone is Jewish," he told Admudance. But the American insisted: "We are all Jews." Sigman in response, pulled out a pistol and pinned the barrel to Edmunds' temple. Without batting an eyelid, the American soldier replied, "If you shoot me, you will have to shoot us all, and after the war you will be charged with a war crime." The Nazi, to his astonishment, put the gun back in its holster, turned and walked away.
The act of heroism of Edmonds, whom neither his wife nor children knew, became known only after he died.
In 2015, Yad Vashem investigated the case and decided to award his family members the Righteous Among the Nations.
As is customary, the Israeli ambassador to the country where the ceremony takes place - in this case it was Baron Drummer, was asked to lead the ceremony.
Drummer was very excited when he learned about the story.
He decided that the ceremony would take place at the embassy in Washington and that the signal would be given to Edmonds' son and grandchildren by none other than the then President of the United States, Barack Obama.
A few weeks earlier, Drummer had done his best to thwart Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, and even partially succeeded.
Various newspapers, in Israel and the United States, have labeled him an enemy of the Obama administration. .
Netanyahu with Mitt Romney, 2012, Photo: Mark Israel Salem
What they did not claim was that Netanyahu was a Republican senator, that Drummer was active in the party, that the two worked for Mitt Romney (who ran against Obama in the 2012 election), that they abandoned the Democrats, and that they fatally damaged bipartisan support for Israel.
He recently refined the claims of Channel 12 foreign news editor Arad Nir during Prime Minister Bennett's visit to the White House in August 2021. "Netanyahu identified himself for a very long time with the Republican Party, sharply and completely," Nir said last month.
"After trying to maintain ties with the two camps since the establishment of the state, Netanyahu sided with the Republicans, did not hide his support for Mitt Romney, and of course the relationship with Donald Trump was very important. He completely neglected the other side, the Democrats."
Abandonment of Democrats - Myth
The media myth that Netanyahu and Drummer abandoned the Democrats was reinforced by the prime minister's political rivals at the time, both when they were in opposition and now when they are in government.
"After years in which the previous government neglected the Congress and the Democratic Party, and caused considerable damage to Israel-US relations, we are today rebuilding trust with the Congress," said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, following the delay in funding the Iron Dome.
The legend has gained so much traction that even at the professional level of Israel, ie in the Foreign Ministry, these claims are already treated as a fait accompli.
"Everyone knows that Netanyahu supported Mitt Romney. He even declared it publicly," a senior ministry official told me recently.
When I asked him to present the facts and quotations on which his claim is based, he found it difficult to do so.
He spent 20 minutes searching - and of course did not find.
The reason for this is simple. Netanyahu has never expressed support for Romani, neither in public nor in closed talks. There is not a single person in the world who has testified or can testify who acted on behalf of Netanyahu on behalf of Obama's opponent. There is not a single report that quotes Netanyahu, directly or indirectly, as if he had done for Romney even one small action that goes beyond what is reasonable or acceptable. What is there? Arguments, impressions, thoughts, interpretations, perspectives - all are subjective. Only one thing is missing: facts.
The same is true of the story that "Netanyahu neglected the Democrats."
Nor is it anchored in reality, or in fact the opposite reality.
Because the previous prime minister, made sure to meet every member of Congress who came to the country, regardless of the party to which he belongs.
Some of the senior Democrats were and remain his personal friends.
Here is a partial list of his meetings, in the years when he allegedly boycotted or boycotted the Democrats: 22.1.2020 - A delegation of members of a bipartisan Congress headed by US Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
3.10.19 - A two-party delegation of Democrats and Republicans, led by Elsie Hastings (Democrat).
7.8.19 - A delegation of about 40 members of the Democratic Congress, led by the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, Stanny Hoyer.
7.8.17 - A delegation of about 18 members of the Democratic Congress led by Congressman Stanny Hoyer.
Netanyahu hosts Pelosi, who visited Israel, 2020, Photo: Amos Ben Gershom GPO
An investigator who reviews Netanyahu and the Democrats' ties will find that there have been hundreds more such meetings.
They were not confidential, but were officially reported by the Prime Minister's Office.
What else?
For too many reporters, commentators and politicians in Israel, these facts spoil a good story.
So they hide them.
In other words, the claim that Netanyahu is a member of the Republicans, harmed relations with the Democrats or sabotaged bipartisan support is a legend detached from reality.
Did he confront the Democrats about Iran and the Palestinian issue?
Definitely yes.
He thought that the American line at the time was harming Israel and insisted on what was important to him.
So did his predecessors and so is the prime minister expected to do.
In contrast, there is not a shred of evidence that he has interfered in American politics.
Everything came to mind.
There are no facts.
Okay, if it was just commentary in the newspapers.
The problem begins when policy makers begin to believe in the bluff they themselves have sold, and on the basis of illusions base policies.
Thus, for example, Lapid claims that Netanyahu neglected his relationship with Congress.
Every child knows that this is Abel's claim, since Netanyahu is actually relying on Congress in his efforts to block Obama's problematic moves.
The highlight was Netanyahu's speech in 2015 against the nuclear deal, which was not carried out in the Knesset or Balfour, but in the same Congress that Lapid Netanyahu said was neglected.
It is not clear how a person who claims to be serious writes such nonsense.
Netanyahu opposes President Obama's position in speech in Congress, 2015, Photo: Amos Ben Gershom, GPO
In an attempt to glorify his new policy, Lapid also reported to the public about a telephone conversation he had with Democrat leader Hoyer, which Netanyahu allegedly boycotted.
But what to do that the archive is full of photos of the meetings between Weyer and Netanyahu, including mutual hugs - ones that Lapid has not yet received.
So the citizen again asks himself, if he does not deserve a little more seriousness and thoroughness on the part of his leaders?
Former Prime Minister Netanyahu with Stanley Hoyer, the Democratic leader in Congress.
Lapid has not yet received a hug., Photo: GPO
Lapid blames Netanyahu for the delay in transferring funding to the Iron Dome, which was initiated by three anti-Israel congressmen, led by the AOC.
This is a shallow claim.
Do Israel's foreign ministers really think that Rashida Talib and Ilan Omer are taking an anti-Israel line because of Bibi?
Can he persuade them to move from hatred to Israel to support it?
Who is he working on with this populism?
About himself or about us?
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid / Photo: Gideon Markovich,
The erroneous, repeated remarks of the powerful man in government are frightening.
He is supposed to make crucial decisions about our lives.
Were they really doomed to such superficiality?
And as mentioned, this is not only about him, but also about our best diplomats, who do not know basic facts about Israel's US-US relations. Prime Minister Bennett and his advisers also participated in this spin-off celebration, and this is very disturbing.
Because if he had been in the "Netanyahu boycotts the Democrats" legend, then-Ambassador Drummer would not have thought of inviting Obama to the award ceremony for Rudy Edmonds' family - an invitation he himself signed.
But Drummer knew the facts.
After honoring the participation of then-Vice President Joe Biden at the Independence Day party held by the Israeli Embassy in 2015 at the height of the conflict over the agreement with Iran - Drummer believed that the president would arrive.
In December 2015, then-President Reuven Rivlin met with Obama and Drummer Liva and him as usual.
As the two presidents turned to talk in private, Drummer approached Obama's chief of staff, Dennis MacDonald, briefly told Edmonds' story and submitted the invitation.
"Within two weeks you will receive an answer," the senior US official promised.
Alexandria Oxio Cortes, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Taib // Photo: Reuters,
Time passed and no answer came.
The few advisers at the embassy who knew what the ambassador was planning told him that it was a pity and that the president would not come.
Drummer went on to believe that Obama will come.
He estimated that precisely after the clash with Israel, the American president would want to publicly demonstrate his commitment to the security of the Jewish state.
The days have passed and there is still no response from the White House.
The ceremony was scheduled for January 27, 2016 and the embassy began inviting guests, but did not set a clear order for the event or determine who the speakers were.
Drummer was still waiting for Obama.
In early January, anger in the country over him grew.
Briefings against him on behalf of Foreign Ministry officials, for spoiling an important ceremony, surfaced in the newspapers.
Later, an angry call from a senior official at Yad Vashem also arrived.
On January 12, a week before the scheduled ceremony, Obama delivered in Congress his annual speech to the American nation.
Shortly before the incident began, Drummer arrived at the White House with a specific mission that Netanyahu had assigned to him.
After conveying to Macedonia the message entrusted to Netanyahu, the chief of staff informed him that Obama had accepted the invitation and would attend the ceremony at the embassy.
Bingo.
MacDonald just added a request not to publish the thing.
"The White House will take care of the media arrangements," the chief of staff clarified.
Then MacDonald surprised Drummer with the question, "What else can I do for you"?
Ambassador Drummer with President Obama, 2013, Photo: White House
The Israeli ambassador had an answer.
He said he was "sorry to miss the president's speech in Congress. I really like this event and make sure to go to it every year. But as you and I speak here, they have already blocked the roads because the speech starts right away."
MacDonald again surprised and replied, "No problem, come with us."
and so it was.
The Israeli ambassador, who in Israel wrote that he had burned ties with the White House, arrived in a convoy of the president's men for his annual speech to Congress.
Friday has arrived.
The White House has announced as promised the President's surprise and precedent-setting arrival at the Israeli Embassy.
Dozens of Jewish leaders - including those who used to brief the media in Israel and the United States because Drummer was boycotted by Democrats in general - pounced on his phone asking for an invitation to the ceremony.
The more difficult problem was that that weekend heavy snow fell in Washington.
The snow piled up in the embassy yard to a height of a meter and a half and blocked the access roads.
The ceremony is set for Wednesday, when Sunday is a Sabbath day in the US and that week also on Monday the city was shut down for some reason. So there was actually one day left to clear the snow and set up the security checkpoint and host.
The technical department at the embassy informed Drummer that in these conditions and during this period of time they would not be up to the task.
"This is a historic event. There is no way to postpone it. If you do not find someone to clear the snow, my children and I will do it," the ambassador replied.
On Monday morning, 48 hours before the ceremony, he did set a personal example and began clearing the snow himself.
Soon he was joined by many of the workers and a magic act even a professional company that would do so was suddenly found.
President Obama and Rabbi Lau at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, 2016, Photo: AP
On the appointed day, members of the Admudens family, President Obama, President Yad Vashem Rabbi Lau and 150 other guests arrived at the embassy.
Drummer said in his speech that Rudy Edmonds answered man's answer to God's question "Eicha".
Obama said each of us should ask ourselves if he would have behaved like Edmonds if he had been in his situation.
The Democratic president signed his remarks with the words, "God bless the United States and the State of Israel."
Nine months later, Obama ratified the most comprehensive security assistance agreement the United States has ever signed with Israel. These are the facts about Israel and the Democrats during Benjamin Netanyahu's time.
