Israel Matzav

Bibi undermining Obama and the Democrats?

Along with their threats to break the Oslo accords if Israel doesn't grant concessions that those accords never promised, the 'Palestinians' make ominous noises about Prime Minister Netanyahu undermining President Obama and the Democrats.

Abed Rabbo was also critical of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, stating that he was "making an alliance with the right wing in the US to weaken the [US President Barack] Obama administration."

There's a similar story here and note that a 2-3 month 'settlement freeze' is no longer enough for the 'Palestinians' if it ever was.

The references to Bibi Netanyahu trying to weaken the Obama administration would be laughable but for the fact that the paranoid occupant of the White House probably believes them. But all lies need to have some basis in fact, and here's what Yasser Abed Rabbo's charges are apparently based on. This list was published on Friday by Yedioth Aharonoth, which alleges that Netanyahu drew it up in 2007 in preparation for the Likud primaries.

One of the documents, which includes comments in Netanyahu's handwriting, provides a peek into his fundraising industry in the United States. The then-opposition leader erased from the list people he believed would not give him money for the Likud primary elections. He divided the others into four categories according to whether contacting them is "worth the effort."

The first group includes the foreigners worthwhile of contacting, and only one name – of a person who does not donate to the Right – was erased by Netanyahu. The numbers 3 and 4 were marked next to the names of millionaires with a small chance of donating.

The Israelis marked by Netanyahu on the list did not donate to his primaries campaign. Those who agreed to donate are mainly American citizens, and few British and French people, including extreme rightists and people who got in trouble with the law.

According to estimates, 98% of the funds donated to Netanyahu came from abroad.

One of the men on the list, Kenneth S. Abramowitz, is convinced that concessions are futile and that the crises between Israel and the US will continue until the Obama administration is "thrown out." He referred to the members of the leftist J Street lobby as "in need of psychiatric care."

The Prime Minister's Office said in response to the Yedioth inquiry, "Netanyahu makes his decisions in accordance with what is good for the State, not according to the opinions of donors, as important as they may be. State considerations are his top priority and claims that he would favor those who donated to his election campaign are groundless.

I'm not sure how Abed Rabbo alleges that Bibi is trying to undermine Obama - whether by fundraising from what are likely Republican sources in the US or by competing with Obama in the same fundraising arenas. But the charges from Abed Rabbo appearing the day after this list appeared are no coincidence, and the list must have formed the basis for the charges.

Either way, it seems that Abed Rabbo has hired Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer as his speechwriters. Heh.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:06 PM