So conservatives are giving Tea Party Senator Rand Paul (R. KY) grief over this:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
A shot of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) clapping on Tuesday during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress made the rounds among conservatives almost immediately after the moment aired.
Standing among his colleagues, all of whom were vigorously applauding the speech, Paul could be seen delivering a slow clap while looking relatively detached amid the cheers. - TPM, 3/4/15
Here's the Tweet from the National Review:
Now here are some of comments Paul received:
"What if I clap, but only half-heartedly?" the anonymous Hot Air writer Allahpundit imagined Paul saying, calling it proof that the libertarian senator is struggling to prove his conservative credentials.
RedState.com writer Dan McLaughlin, alias Baseball Crank, compared it to the popular GIF of Orson Welles clapping in "Citizen Kane." National Review rounded up reactions from various Twitter users. - TPM, 3/4/15
But the best is the epic Twitter war between him and Jennifer Rubin:
And this is how Paul responded:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
"I think what's funny about it is that you have these gossipy websites who really demean themselves by putting stuff like that out," Paul said as Fox rolled footage of his expression from Netanyahu's address.
The senator also pushed back against critics such as Washington Post columnist Jen Rubin, who sent a barrage of tweets Paul's way on Tuesday, criticizing his expression during the speech and his allegiance to Israel more broadly.
"I gave the prime minister 50 standing ovations," Paul said. "I cosponsored bringing him here."
"And on the day that I also decided to cosponsor the Corker bill, that says any final deal has to be approved, we have gossipy websites looking at up at the metric of how fast you clap," he said. "I think they demean themselves by putting that out." - TPM, 3/4/15
It should be noted that Paul has been trying to shed his anti-interventionist Libertarian skin because he's really planning on running for President. Hence this:
http://thehill.com/...
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has introduced legislation that would block aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA), unless it renounces terrorism and recognizes Israel as a state.
The Kentucky Republican, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, introduced similar legislation last year, but it stalled in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Under Paul's legislation, aid would be blocked until PA officials met a handful of hurdles including recognizing Israel as a state, renouncing terrorism, removing any officials with ties to terrorism from the National Security Forces, and complying with previous diplomatic agreements. - The Hill, 3/4/15
And he wants this guy's love:
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Rand Paul said Wednesday that he met with the Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson this week while Mr. Adelson was in Washington for a congressional address by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.
Mr. Paul and Mr. Adelson are not especially close — personally or in their world views. Mr. Adelson, a staunch supporter of Israel, favors a robust, activist military policy. Mr. Paul, the junior senator from Kentucky and a likely candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has advocated a more restrained approach overseas.
In an interview on the radio program “Jewish Moments in the Morning,” Mr. Paul said that Mr. Adelson had assured him he would not fund an effort by Republicans to defeat him. The New York Times reported last week that Mr. Adelson had told associates that he was open to the idea of underwriting such a campaign. Many hawkish Republicans are worried about the prospect that Mr. Paul could gain traction in the primary and are already attacking him as ill-equipped to lead a country at war with extremists.
In the interview, Mr. Paul said that he met with Mr. Adelson and his wife, Miriam, and that “they assured me there was no truth to that.” - New York Times, 3/4/15
Paul has been trying to cozy up to the pro-Israel crowd for a while now. I'll leave with this Tweet back in January from one of his father's biggest supporters: