If they are now trying to say they sent the letter as a joke, sending joke letters to foreign diplomats is even more scandalous than sending serious letters.
Republicans are only humorous unintentionally, anyway.
Disingenuously claiming that something was a joke is generally the Republican line of defense when one of them says something horrible about race or gender, and it works more often than not. Considering that the purpose of this letter and the Netanyahu speech is to turn Israel into yet another Culture War wedge issue to be wielded against Democrats, that they would fall back on this isn't at all surprising.
Of course, the very real danger here is that it will undermine Democratic support for Israel in the long run, leading future Democratic administrations and congresses to assert more pressure on Israel on issues like settlements and Arab Israeli civil rights. Paradoxically, this may push Israel to reach a peace agreement that will guarantee its long-term survival, though almost certainly not on terms that the current Israeli government or its Christian Zionist supporters would like.
