Israel Matzav

Alex Fishman gets it all wrong

How wrong did Alex Fishman get it in Sunday's Yediot? So badly that he refers to Representative Eric Cantor (R-Va) as the Senate Majority Leader. He's not. Unfortunately, the Democrats, the favorites of Israel's defeatist Left, still hold the majority in the Seinnate. Cantor is House Majority Leader - he's number two after Speaker John Boehner.

But that's not all that Fishman gets wrong. Fishman credits Clinton with bringing Netanyahu down and implies that if Netanyahu challenges Obama, it will happen again. He couldn't be more wrong. Clinton played a role in making sure that Netanyahu lost the 1999 election after Israel's Right brought Netanyahu down - a mistake that is unlikely to happen again unless Netanyahu takes Fishman's advice and tries to give the store away. Clinton had a strong Labor party with a then-popular leader who could run against Netanyahu. Obama has Kadima and Tzipi Livni. But most of all, Clinton was the most popular US President in Israel whose name wasn't George W. Bush. Obama's negative numbers are comparable only to Carter and Eisenhower. In fact, they're the worst numbers an American President has ever had here. Obama is trusted by almost no one here whose name isn't Alex Fishman. If he campaigns for Livni, it will cause people to vote Netanyahu.

So do we believe what Fishman claims Netanyahu will present to the US Congress next month? Maybe. But Netanyahu is wily enough that you can bet there is something else up his sleeve. And you can bet that Eric Cantor and the other Republicans in the House will back him if he gets up in front of Congress and says he's not going to give anything except in direct negotiations.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Alex Fishman, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Binyamin Netanyahu

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:46 AM