Everyone, including Mayor Bloomberg is more than welcome to visit Israel and see the modern land of milk and honey. Having been there a few times myself, I know what an incredible country that it is. However, when you wear the politician and Mayor of New York City's hat, the rules change. You are there to be a tourist and as far as political relations go, do business on a city to city level. Tel Aviv is a very cosmopolitan place and so is our very own NYC. Beyond that though, when dealing with foreign relations and crises such as the conflict with/on Gaza, leave the country to country stuff to the President and the Senate, as the Constitution mandates.
From The Columbia Spectator:
Exactly, and as the article points out that Bloomberg did nothing specfically to violate that (sign treaties, etc) rule, he was still trying to represent the American people and provide a viewpoint not shared by all of the people here. Members of Congress and the President, along with certain members of the Cabinet are within their rights to do so, but they are held accountable by the people as a whole and not just a single, solitary Mayor who just so happens to be from New York City.Disregard your political views surrounding the recent violence in Gaza. Forget your opinion on whether Israel acted offensively or defensively, whether Hamas is a terrorist organization, or whether the ceasefire came too soon or too late. Put the war aside all together, and still Bloomberg acted out of line and inappropriately when he made a trip to Israeli towns near Gaza on Jan. 4 and offered his support to Israel.
The thousands of demonstrators who filled Times Square two weeks ago and demanded an end to the violence made the first argument against Bloomberg’s trip extremely visual. They made it clear that New York does not speak with a unified voice on this issue. Mayor Bloomberg represents the city—he should represent all parts of it.
Yet, many are quick to respond to this argument by stating that whether or not each American agrees with U.S. foreign policy, Israel is a political ally of the United States, and our federal government provides it, at the very least, with diplomatic support for its actions. In this way, Bloomberg’s trip can be viewed as in line with U.S. policy. Yet, ironically, it is this very argument that brings the true inappropriateness of Bloomberg’s actions into focus.
Our federal government’s foreign policy might support Israel, but Bloomberg is not a federal official. He is a city mayor. The constitution makes clear that matters of international relations are to be left to the national government. Article 1, Section 8 delegates the powers of international commerce and war to Congress, while Article 2, Section 2 gives the president the power to make treaties, appoint ambassadors, and serve as commander-in-chief. These rules were designed to prevent one state, or in this case, one city, from forming alliances with different international actors that would conflict with alliances other states would make. The fear was that other countries could divide our nation, pitting one state against another if individual states conducted their own foreign policies. And so it was decided that we could present a unified face abroad and temper potential divisions only if the federal government controlled our foreign policy. It is in the constitution—city mayors are not to be diplomats.
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