Israel’s new Knesset (parliament) Speaker Amir Ohana welcomed visiting Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) with a face-melting rendition of the Eagles’ “Hotel California” on the electric guitar Sunday.
יו”ר הכנסת @AmirOhana בקבלת פנים יוצאת דופן לעמיתו האמריקני @SpeakerMcCarthy: ביצוע לקלאסיקת הרוק האמריקנית Hotel California. צפו >>
צילום: דוברות הכנסת pic.twitter.com/kXS2JHSS3t
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) April 30, 2023
Ohana, a conservative member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, is famous for being the first gay speaker of the Knesset. Yet he also showed off his guitar chops for the bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation.
The song was a tribute to McCarthy, who hails from the Golden State. (It might also have been a metaphor for U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East: you can check out any time you like, but you can never really leave.)
Welcome to Israel, @SpeakerMcCarthy! 🇺🇸🇱
(Photo: Noam Moshkovich | Knesset Press Office)
ברוך הבא לישראל, יו״ר בית הנבחרים של ארה״ב קווין מקארת׳י! 🇱🇺🇸
(צילום: נועם מושקוביץ | דוברות הכנסת) pic.twitter.com/SR6XMCENZv
— Amir Ohana – אמיר אוחנה (@AmirOhana) April 30, 2023
McCarthy’s visit comes as President Joe Biden refuses to meet with Netanyahu, despite the fact that the latter was elected six months ago. Biden is isolating Netanyahu because the administration opposes Israel’s judicial reforms, which are far less radical than the “court-packing” proposals that Biden himself recently considered.
Biden also wants to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, which Netanyahu and most Israelis adamantly oppose.
There are also Democrats in the 19-member delegation, suggesting that Biden’s stance does not enjoy wide support even within his own party — at least, not in Congress, which has traditionally been a strong source of support for Israel.
Netanyahu sounded an optimistic tone earlier on Sunday as he suggested that ongoing talks between the government and the opposition about the judicial reforms could reach a broad agreement.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.