Israel Matzav

Just whom are you calling 'chickensh*t', Mr. President?

Simon Wiesenthal Center founder and director Rabbi Marvin Hier is demanding that President Hussein Obama 'name, apologize for and repudiate,' the anonymous official who called Prime Minister Netanyahu 'chickenshi*t.' This is from the first link.

In a telephone call with The Algemeiner from his Los Angeles office, an incensed Rabbi Hier declared: “It is rather ironic that a senior American official is prepared to curse his friends, yet when it comes to the mortal enemies of the United States – as the Iranians discovered during the recent nuclear negotiation – praise is heaped on them.”

Goldberg’s piece extensively quoted an anonymous “senior Obama administration official” who showered Netanyahu with invective, saying, “The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickenshit.”

Goldberg then observed: “Over the years, Obama administration officials have described Netanyahu to me as recalcitrant, myopic, reactionary, obtuse, blustering, pompous, and ‘Aspergery.’ (These are verbatim descriptions; I keep a running list.)”

The word “Aspergery” is a derogatory term for individuals with Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism that affects the part of the brain that processes emotions.

The same official is quoted as saying: “The good thing about Netanyahu is that he’s scared to launch wars. The bad thing about him is that he won’t do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states. The only thing he’s interested in is protecting himself from political defeat.”

Another senior official, Goldberg wrote, “agreed that Netanyahu is a ‘chickenshit’ on matters related to the comatose peace process, but added that he’s also a ‘coward’ on the issue of Iran’s nuclear threat.”

Commenting on the remarks of this second official, Hier asserted: “He said Netanyahu is a coward for not taking pre-emptive action against Iran, but I suppose this anonymous official who is hiding behind his desk is very brave.”

Asked whether he thought Obama should fire the officials who made these comments, Hier said “that’s up to the president.” However, he added, “a senior American official who doesn’t name himself and then hurls curse words at one of our strongest allies should be repudiated by the president. President Obama needs to make it clear that these officials don’t speak for him.

Most of all, an apology is in order: That is not the way a senior American official should speak to the Prime Minister of Israel, that is not the way to conduct foreign policy.”

But what if the 'senior official' is Obama himself? Could he repudiate himself? (He wouldn't - nor would he apologize or name himself because Obama is as yellow-bellied as they come, so the second question is almost beside the point). Goldberg is known to be close to Obama, and to allow himself to be used as a mouthpiece when Obama wants to get something out there. It's definitely not beyond Obama to make that kind of comment and to use Goldberg to spread the word.

In the meantime, Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett has rushed to Netanyahu's defense.

“The United States administration is planning to throw Israel under the bus,” Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday night, responding to harsh words against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu which were attributed to senior officials in the Obama administration.

“Israel is stronger than all those who curse it,” said Bennett, after Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic quoted officials in Washington as having described Netanyahu as “chickens**t”, among other things.

“The prime minister is not a private individual, but the leader of the Jewish State and the Jewish world as a whole. Serious curses such as these against the Israeli Prime Minister are harmful to millions of citizens of Israel and Jews worldwide,” added Bennett.

“Neither the leader of Syria, who has slaughtered 150,000 of his citizens, nor the leader of Saudi Arabia, who stones women and gays, have been called ‘chickens**t. If what is written is true, then the current administration intends to throw Israel under the wheels of the bus,” he said.

...

“Instead of attacking Israel and forcing suicide conditions upon it, it should be strengthened.  I call upon the U.S. administration to renounce these abusive remarks and reject them outright,” he concluded.

Fat chance. I honestly believe that comment was made by Obama himself. In fact, the second 'anonymous official' who agreed is likely John Kerry. Anyone want to argue with me?  Anyone looking at the picture above have any doubts about who is 'chickensh*t' and who is not?

UPDATE 8:44 AM

Now that I think about it, one of the officials is likely Martin Indyk, who is known for blaming Israel and for his foul mouth. 

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Jeffrey Goldberg, John Kerry, Naftali Bennett

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:07 AM