Obama administration slams Wiesel, Lauder ads
Unnamed Obama administration officials have made known their displeasure with ads placed in American media last week containing letters of support for Israel from Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel and World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder. The administration was also angered by some of the comments made by Israeli officials at Independence Day celebrations (Hat Tip: My Right Word). United States administration officials have voiced harsh criticism over advertisements in favor of Israel's position on Jerusalem that appeared in the U.S. press with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's encouragement. The authors of the most recent such advertisements were president of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel. "All these advertisements are not a wise move," one senior American official told Haaretz.Now some of that may have been Haaretz's peculiar spin on the story - it goes on to tell us for the umpteenth time that other Labor ministers are pushing Ehud Barak to leave the government. But Arutz Sheva - which cannot be accused of having Haaretz's ideological bent - is carrying the Wiesel and Lauder part of the story.
...
The ongoing confrontation with the U.S. administration over construction in East Jerusalem was present in many of the comments made by senior Israeli officials during Independence Day.
Netanyahu himself said in an interview to ABC that freezing construction in the east of the city was an impossible demand, and refused to answer questions on the Israeli response to demands from Washington. Instead, he called on Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table without preconditions.
Foreign Minister Lieberman, meanwhile, made Jerusalem the focal point of his speech in a festive reception for the diplomatic corps at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. President Shimon Peres spoke first, calling for progress in the diplomatic process. Lieberman, who took the podium immediately after Peres, made diametrically opposed statements in his speech, stressing that the Palestinian Authority is no partner for peace.
"Jerusalem is our eternal capital and will not be divided," Lieberman said. Many of the ambassadors in the audience left feeling stunned and confused, some of them told Haaretz. "The gap between Peres and Lieberman is inconceivable," one of them said. "We couldn't comprehend how Lieberman can say all that in front of all the international community delegates."
Speaking at the torch-lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl on Monday, Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin said that there was "an attack on Jerusalem" and that Israel "will not apologize for the building of Jerusalem, our capital."
This should be real fun when Jerusalem Day (the day that marks the liberation of the eastern half of Jerusalem from Jordanian occupation in 1967) rolls around three weeks from today.
But if Obama thinks that he can silence Israel and its friends as he throws Israel under the bus, I sure hope we will continue to prove him wrong.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:20 PM
9 Comments:
Its Chicago thuggery... and what Israel needs to keep on doing is to say "no." A thug will give up when he can't browbeat you into caving into his demands. Israel can't very well give in on Jerusalem. Obama's minions are trying to apply even more pressure. Let's hope it backfires on them.
Indyk slams Netanyahu.
Gee.... do yah thunk there's a pattern here?
Thou shalt not shame the lard, thy obysmal in name only.
Talk about tender skin. When you read so many articles describing obama as thuggish, stories like this show how immature he and his staff really are.
Speaking of Martin Indyk, his thinking isn't too different from Ari Shavit's:
"From Obama’s perspective, a zoning decision in an obscure Jerusalem suburb had dealt the United States a strategic setback. Deferring building announcements and other provocative actions in East Jerusalem thus became the litmus test of Netanyahu’s commitment to the common cause of curbing Iran’s nuclear enthusiasm."
"As he studies his options, Netanyahu would do well to reflect on the decisions taken by two earlier prime ministers from his Likud Party — Menahem Begin and Ariel Sharon."
"Begin gave up all of Sinai for a peace deal with Egypt that avoided a fight with Jimmy Carter over a Palestinian homeland. Sharon believed that the best way to survive politically was to allow no daylight to show between him and the president of the United States. That led him to propose full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in order to head off what he foresaw as inevitable friction with the United States over the West Bank and Jerusalem. Both Sharon and Begin were excoriated by their right wings."
"Or there’s the example of Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s greatest strategic thinker. He believed that the best way for Israel to counter the threat from Iran, in the Middle East’s “outer circle,” was to make peace with the Arab “inner circle.” That led him to offer his hand in peace to the PLO’s Yasser Arafat, and to offer a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights to Syria’s Hafez al-Assad."
"Today, nothing could better help Obama to isolate Iran than for Netanyahu to offer to cede the Golan, as four other Israeli prime ministers have, in exchange for peace with Syria, which serves as the conduit for Tehran’s troublemaking in the Arab-Israeli arena."
Basically, this is what Haaretz calls the Golan For Natanz option. Get the Syrians out of their alliance with Iran to stop Iran's nuclear proliferation. The problem of course is that withdrawals have not strengthened Israel's security - just the opposite. And the centrality of Jerusalem to Israelis is lost on Indyk who says Israel has to follow the Obama line or else.
Here is the punch line:
"The shift in America’s Middle East interests means that Netanyahu must make a choice: take on the president of the United States, or take on his right wing. If he continues to defer to those ministers in his cabinet who oppose peacemaking, the consequences for U.S.-Israel relations could be dire."
Yup - an ultimatum from the Obami. Sounds reassuring, doesn't it? The rest here: Read it all
My government makes me ill. Ignoring the fiasco known as healthcare, where the democratic congress passed legislation turning off their own healthcare funding, the foreign policy of the current administration is a tattered mess of broken alliances, abject and profound failures, and very poorly thought out 'vision' attached to and badly implemented efforts.
Understand that the democrats appear on their way to a defeat of historic proportions in 7 months. Understand that BHO realizes that he will be defanged after that, and very likely kicked out of office in 2012.
This is a very prominent feature of the democratic party's mindset, and so they are starting to push hard on the things they really want to do before they lose power in 9 months.
And Israel is front-and-center in their cross hairs.
Stay strong, and on behalf of most of the sane portion of the US, I apologize for the failure that this president and his administration is. I apologize for a terrible foreign policy, an insane agenda promoting the desires of the presidents radical islamist and 'palestinian' friends over reasonable approaches. I apologize for the beating these dimwits are giving you.
The American people overwhelmingly admire, respect, and support you. Its this radical anti-American, anti-Ally, and I would even go so far as borderline anti-semitic, administration that is the problem. We will solve some of the problems this November, and the next set in another 2 Novembers. I apologize we cannot do it sooner, but barring impeachment and removal ... where we would get a Biden for president ... this is the best we can do.
Hang in there, stay strong, don't give in to them. They blew up the relationship. Thats their loss.
Its also high time to stop being so accommodating, and start insisting that no embassies are allowed outside of the capital city. And that any country that has an 'embassy' to the 'Palis' in Jerusalem, needs to close it and move it to Gaza or Ramallah. Give them 6 months to comply, or declare their staff PNG.
Shy Guy,
You just knew I was going to come out with it, didn't you? G-d works in strange ways, my friend.
Heh
Someone should ask the Obama admin to elaborate on why Wiesel and Lauder are being "unwise". Are they going to face any consequences for speaking out?
The angrier these dweebs get, the better. It just shows them publicly for what they are, in case someone missed all the earlier signals.
Again, look up the definition of narcissism. Obama fits it to a tee.
No one dare stand up to a narcissist. If they do, this is exactly what they get. This is why we are seeing an administration who is never wrong!! Couple that with open aggression (as toward Israel) and it is easy to see what is happening here. Even if the narcissist looses in the end, the road in-between is truly paved with Hell.
The drama to which Israel is being accosted at every turn was sparked by Obama's narcissism and open aggression towards Israel. (The danger of course it is starting to look like a wild fire soon out of control)
Those who work around and for Obama have learned narcissism which is why anytime anyone question Obama they all go nuts including their boss.
As for Indyk, he is the typical liberal Jew whose belief system of rising above one's enemy (even at cost to oneself) is ingrained in their souls. I know this for I was raised in such a family. "Always turn the other cheek for you are better then that."
On the positive side, these Liberals produced off-spring who take no sh*t, are less tolerant when getting pushed around and are more religious as well. If they all don't get us killed off first, there is hope for future generations.
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