(JTA) — In the days before social media, embassies used to speak in the carefully circumspect language of Diplomatese. A “frank and honest” discussion meant both sides almost came to blows. If you were kicked out for a country for “activities incompatible with diplomatic status,” it meant you were a spy.
That was then.
The Embassy of Israel in Washington earned kudos for its response to a pungent tweet from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader. On Sunday, Khameini’s Twitter account declared, “Our stance against Israel is the same stance we have always taken. #Israel is a malignant cancerous tumor in the West Asian region that has to be removed and eradicated: it is possible and it will happen.”
The Israeli Embassy didn’t issue an angry statement or demand action in the U.N. — it did something far more devastating: It tweeted a popular meme from the 2004 teen movie “Mean Girls,” in which Rachel McAdams’character demands of Lindsey Lohan’s character, “Why are you so obsessed with me?”
Israel’s supporters were delighted by the shade: Nearly 24,000 of them liked the tweet by Monday afternoon.
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