Rand Paul’s Israel Problem Summed Up in One Telling Gif

The Kentucky Senator's unenthusiastic clapping for Netanyahu would seem to confirm the right’s skepticism of his support for Israel.
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Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is learning the hard way that sometimes it’s not enough to just show up.

At least 50 House and Senate Democrats boycotted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, but several right-leaning news sites and pundits were more focused on Paul’s lukewarm reaction to Bibi. The problem for Paul was that he looked very much like a man who didn't want to be at the speech, and the larger perception is that Paul was trying to split the difference between wanting to reach a deal with Iran (the opposite goal of the speech) and not wanting to seem like he doesn’t support Israel.