Whenever president Obama and his people want to put forward an idea about Israel, they always leak it through columnist Jeffrey Goldberg. Indeed, the Goldberg writings in The NewYorker and other places are the rough equivalent of statements by an unofficial White House spokesman. That is why the latest article from Goldberg is such an amazing example of arrogance by Obama. In this article, Goldberg argues at length that the best thing that Israel's prime minister Netanyahu can do for his country is to put the leader of the Zionist Union party in as Israel's new minister of defense.
We need to back up a bit to understand just how unbelievable this suggest is.
1. In the last Israeli election three weeks ago, the two principal contestants were Netanyahu of the Likud party and Herzog of the Zionist Union.
2. During the campaign in Israel, Obama funneled American cash to support the Zionist Union in an attempt to oust Netanyahu. Obama also sent his own political experts to help the Zionist Union run an extremely nasty campaign of character assassination against Netanyahu. The Zionist Union and its leader gladly accepted the help from Obama.
3. Despite (or perhaps because of) the massive American support for the Zionist Union, Netanyahu and his party won a smashing victory. Indeed, not only did Likud win big, but the other parties that could support Likud won a large majority in the Israeli parliament.
4. After Netanyahu won, Obama launched a campaign of vilification against the Israeli leader. Charges of racism were leveled at Netanyahu by the Obamacrats even though there was no basis for these claims. Netanyahu's statements in an election interview about the likelihood of there being a Palestinian state were turned into a major issue even after the Israeli clarified what he had said and basically accepted the US position. At the same time, the Supreme Leader of Iran chanted "death to America" in front of thousands of followers and the Obamacrats dismissed this as mere political rhetoric for internal consumption only. The Zionist Union said nothing to defend Israel's leader from this ridiculous attack by Obama.
5. A majority of the members of the new Israeli parliament have made clear their support for Netanyahu. The Zionist Union recognized that it would not be part of the new government as well.
Only now Obama comes with this push (through Goldberg) to get his favorite leftist party, the Zionist Union, a place in the government. Suppose for a moment that the Israeli government were to back a particular Democrat for president in 2016 (something they have never done), and then after that candidate lost, the Israelis were to pressure the winner to pick the Israeli favorite as the candidate for vice president. It would be an outrage. But that, in reverse, is what Obama is doing.
One thing is certain. In the first of his autobiographies, Obama called himself "audacious". The word he should have used is "arrogant".
We need to back up a bit to understand just how unbelievable this suggest is.
1. In the last Israeli election three weeks ago, the two principal contestants were Netanyahu of the Likud party and Herzog of the Zionist Union.
2. During the campaign in Israel, Obama funneled American cash to support the Zionist Union in an attempt to oust Netanyahu. Obama also sent his own political experts to help the Zionist Union run an extremely nasty campaign of character assassination against Netanyahu. The Zionist Union and its leader gladly accepted the help from Obama.
3. Despite (or perhaps because of) the massive American support for the Zionist Union, Netanyahu and his party won a smashing victory. Indeed, not only did Likud win big, but the other parties that could support Likud won a large majority in the Israeli parliament.
4. After Netanyahu won, Obama launched a campaign of vilification against the Israeli leader. Charges of racism were leveled at Netanyahu by the Obamacrats even though there was no basis for these claims. Netanyahu's statements in an election interview about the likelihood of there being a Palestinian state were turned into a major issue even after the Israeli clarified what he had said and basically accepted the US position. At the same time, the Supreme Leader of Iran chanted "death to America" in front of thousands of followers and the Obamacrats dismissed this as mere political rhetoric for internal consumption only. The Zionist Union said nothing to defend Israel's leader from this ridiculous attack by Obama.
5. A majority of the members of the new Israeli parliament have made clear their support for Netanyahu. The Zionist Union recognized that it would not be part of the new government as well.
Only now Obama comes with this push (through Goldberg) to get his favorite leftist party, the Zionist Union, a place in the government. Suppose for a moment that the Israeli government were to back a particular Democrat for president in 2016 (something they have never done), and then after that candidate lost, the Israelis were to pressure the winner to pick the Israeli favorite as the candidate for vice president. It would be an outrage. But that, in reverse, is what Obama is doing.
One thing is certain. In the first of his autobiographies, Obama called himself "audacious". The word he should have used is "arrogant".
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