Facebook's 'fact checkers': Biased and prevaricating, backed by guess who?
In an effort to eliminate 'fake news' from its site, Facebook has appointed 'fact checkers' to confirm or deny whether stories are true. But one of Facebook's 'fact checkers' has already been caught in a lie while reporting on a story about the Obama administration trying to influence Israel's elections, while another has been accused of falsifying news and embezzling money from its own website.
The first fact checker caught with its pants down is PolitiFact. The second - caught literally with its pants down - is Snopes.
Here's PolitiFact.
PolitiFact, which is part of a new group that will help Facebook flag “disputed” stories, last year rated as “Mostly False” a claim that the U.S. funded an election effort in Israel via the nonprofit One Voice aimed at defeating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
PolitiFact left out of its declaration on One Voice that Craig
Newmark, the founder of Craigslist who lists himself as an adviser and
donor to PolitiFact, documents on his personal website that he has been “helping out” One Voice, where he writes he also serves as an adviser.
Also missing from PolitiFact’s rating about the One Voice claim is that One Voice is partnered with Google, which also happens to be a donor to the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, which owns the Tampa Bay Times. PolitiFact is a project of the Tampa Bay Times.
A senate investigation in July concluded that the State Department
did not do anything illegal in funding One Voice to the tune of nearly
$350,000 in 2013, but that the infrastructure created by One Voice at
the time of the State Department financing could have been used last
year in the anti-Netanyahu campaign.
While PolitiFact noted that
its March 25, 2015 “Mostly False” designation “may change as more
evidence comes to light,” it did rely largely on One Voice’s word on the matter while failing to note the ties between PolitiFact and the partners of One Voice.
Now a DailyMail.com investigation reveals that Snopes.com's founders, former husband and wife David and Barbara Mikkelson, are embroiled in a lengthy and bitter legal dispute in the wake of their divorce.
He has since remarried, to a former escort and porn actress who is one of the site's staff members.
They are accusing each other of financial impropriety, with Barbara claiming her ex-husband is guilty of 'embezzlement' and suggesting he is attempting a 'boondoggle' to change tax arrangements, while David claims she took millions from their joint accounts and bought property in Las Vegas.
The Mikkelsons founded the site in 1995. The couple had met in the early 1990s on a folklore-themed online message board, and married before setting up the site.
Oh, and the PolitiFact article tells us that guess who is behind the 'fact checkers.'
Breitbart News last week reported
that a cursory search of the Poynter Institute website finds that
Poynter’s IFCN is openly funded by Soros’ Open Society Foundations as
well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, the National
Endowment for Democracy and Newmark’s foundation.
Poynter’s IFCN is also funded by the Omidyar Network, which is the
nonprofit for liberal billionaire eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. The
Omidyar Network has partnered with Open Society on numerous projects and has given grants to third parties using the Soros-funded Tides Foundation. Tides is one of the largest donors to left-wing causes in the U.S.
#Wikileaks: Clinton: 'A Potemkin process better than nothing,' exploit Bibi's apology to Israeli Arabs
You might recall that in the final days of the 2015 election, as he was panicked that the Obama administration was underhandedly attempting to remove him, Prime Minister Netanyahu urged Right wing voters to come out and vote to prevent the Arab population from causing the Left to win the election. Later, Netanyahu walked back those remarks.
Netanyahu on Election Day: 'White House is trying to topple me'
On Israeli Election Day in March 2015, Prime Minister Netanyahu called a senior Israeli reporter and told him that the White House 'is trying to topple me.'
At 1:36 P.M. on March 17, 2015, a senior Israeli
journalist fielded a phone call. “I’m transferring the prime minister,” the
voice on the other end told him. “Hello, Mr. Netanyahu,” the reporter
began.
“I want to tell you that what’s happening today
is election stealing,” Benjamin Netanyahu thundered. “Nothing like this has ever
happened in any democracy anywhere. Because you’re in the press, you didn’t
report on this scandal here. I’m about to lose the election.”
The astonished reporter asked the prime minister
what he was talking about and added, “You’re [going to be] the next prime
minister.”
“I'm not,” Netanyahu answered. “The V15 movement,
backed by the American administration, brought software programs
here …. You know what I'm talking about. I don’t want to elaborate over the
phone, okay? Super-software that locates voters.”
The reporter had no idea what software the prime
minister was alluding to. He also sensed paranoia in Netanyahu’s next remarks
about a global conspiracy to topple him that included Washington, espionage
agencies, the V15 movement that sought to unseat him, opposition leader Isaac
Herzog and the Israeli media.
“What do you suggest I do with this
information?” the journalist asked. “The vote is today.”
“I want you to know that this is what happened,”
Netanyahu said, ending the conversation by making an accusation in the plural.
“You won’t touch it. You aren’t handling [the story.] That's why I'm going to
lose the election.”
Netanyahu won the election. But he was right about V15. They did try to topple him. Fortunately, they failed.
Deja vu all over again? Netanyahu supporting Trump?
Four years ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu got into a little hot water for appearing to support Mitt Romney in the 2012 election. Is it about to happen again? This is from Josh Rogin.
“I’ve talked to the members of the Israeli government at the highest
levels. I know who they want elected here. It’s not Hillary Clinton.
It’s not Obama 3,” Giuliani told me in an interview at the Republican
National Convention in Cleveland.
In March,
Giuliani traveled to Israel and met personally with Netanyahu, who has
publicly remained neutral on the 2016 presidential election. Giuliani
also met with several other senior Israeli government officials on his
trip. According to him, Israeli government leaders fear that if Clinton
were elected, she would pursue policies unwanted by the Netanyahu
government, such as pushing to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace
process.
“They are politically aware enough to know that if
Hillary gets elected, she is going to go further to her left, to protect
her left flank against Elizabeth Warren,” Giuliani said.
“They know
she’s going to start the two-state solution thing again, cave in to the
Palestinians. They realize Donald Trump can say Islamic terrorism, can
stand up to it. So there’s no question he would be better for the state
of Israel than Hillary.”
One person close to Giuliani told me
that during his March meeting with Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister
said he preferred Republican administrations to Democratic ones and
gave Giuliani a message to personally deliver to Trump with suggestions
about how Trump should talk about Israel-related policy issues. Giuliani
met with Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in New York following
the trip and delivered the message, this person said.
Of course, Netanyahu's office denies it.
In a statement to me, the prime minister’s office categorically
denied that Netanyahu expressed any preference for who should win the
U.S. presidential election or that Netanyahu asked Giuliani to deliver
any message to Trump.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu did not express
any preference for whom the next American President would be, will
continue to scrupulously avoid being dragged into the American elections
and looks forward to working with whomever the American people elect,”
said David Keyes, a spokesman for the prime minister’s office.
And Giuliani had no comment. Still, it's hard not to think that Netanyahu would prefer Trump over Clinton, right?
Here are two more reasons why Netanyahu might be supporting Trump.
US Senate Subcommittee confirms: Obama sent US taxpayer money to Israel in bid to unseat Netanyahu - UPDATED AND PURGED EMAILS PROVING IT
During Israel's 2015 Knesset elections, a group called V15 attempted to mount a 'grass roots' challenge to Prime Minister Netanyahu. V15 was staffed by Obama campaign staff and financed by Obama supporters (or so we thought) S. Daniel Abraham, the billionaire founder of the Slim Fast food
line, Daniel Lubetzky, a social entrepreneur whose OneVoice Movement is partnered with V15 and Alon Kastiel, a Tel Aviv-based businessman and owner of multiple local venues, including bars, clubs and hotels.
Almost immediately, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx) and Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY) sent a letter to Secretary of State Kerry asking whether media reports that US taxpayer money was being used by V15 to unseat Netanyahu were true.
Today, we have an answer to that question. Under the auspices of Chairman Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) has released a report
today confirming allegations that an NGO with connections to President
Obama’s 2008 campaign (that would be Lubetzky's One Voice, which partnered with V15) used U.S. taxpayer dollars attempting to oust
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2015. This is from Jennifer Rubin.
A press release states:
Today,
U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.),
Chairman and Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations (PSI), released a bipartisan report examining the U.S.
State Department’s grants to OneVoice—a non-governmental organization
operating in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. The group received
nearly $350,000 in grants from the U.S. State Department to support
peace negotiations between Israelis and the Palestinian Authority over a
14-month grant period ending in November 2014. In December 2014,
Israeli elections were called following the collapse of peace
negotiations.
The Subcommittee’s investigation concludes that
OneVoice Israel complied with the terms of its State Department grants.
Within days after the grant period ended, however, the group deployed
the campaign infrastructure and resources created, in part, using U.S.
grant funds to support a political campaign to defeat the incumbent
Israeli government known as V15. That use of government-funded
resources for political purposes after the end of the grant period was
permitted by the grant because the State Department failed to adequately
guard against the risk that campaign resources could be repurposed in
that manner or place limitations on the post-grant use of resources.
McCaskill tried to put the best face on it.
"While this report shows no wrongdoing by the Administration, and
should put to rest such allegations, it certainly highlights
deficiencies in the Department’s policies that should be addressed in
order to best protect taxpayer dollars.”
Really? No wrongdoing in using US taxpayer dollars to unseat the democratically elected Prime Minister of an ally? I must have been asleep in my Constitutional Law class when they said that was okay.
Through a spokesman, Portman had a different view.
The campaign’s explicit goal was to elect “anybody but Bibi [Netanyahu]” by mobilizing center-left voters. . . .
The
State Department permitted One Voice to use a taxpayer-funded grant to
build valuable political infrastructure—large voter contact lists, a
professionally trained network of grassroots organizers/activists, and
an impressive social media platform—for the putative purpose of
supporting peace negotiations. But during the federal grant period,
OneVoice devised a plan to target Prime Minister Netanyahu; immediately
after the grant period ended, OneVoice deployed its taxpayer-funded
campaign resources to launch the largest anti-Netanyahu grassroots
organizing campaign in Israel in 2015. Despite OneVoice’s known history
of political activism in Israel, the State Department did nothing to
guard against the clear risk that OneVoice could engage in
electioneering activities using a taxpayer-funded grassroots campaign
infrastructure after the grant period. Remarkably, according to the
State Department, OneVoice’s conduct was fully compliant with Department
regulations and guidelines.
And I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop and to hear that both the White House and the State Department enthusiastically approved OneVoice's activities.
But wait. There's more.
Among the report’s most damning findings, evidence was found that the
“durable campaign resources” built during the grant with taxpayer
dollars included “a larger voter contact database, a professionally
trained network of grassroots activists across the country, and an
enhanced social media presence on Facebook and Twitter. OneVoice was
even permitted to use State Department funds to hire an American
political consulting firm called 270 Strategies — run by Obama
2008 campaign veterans — to train its activists in how to execute a
‘grassroots mobilization’ campaign.”
Can't wait to hear all the lemmings tell us how this is the 'most pro-Israel administration evah.' UNbelievable.
PS For those wondering why I am up at this hour even though I'm in Israel.... I got counterparty comments and client comments on an agreement between 11:00pm and Midnight and the client asked that I read his comments and call. That's all for tonight....
UPDATE 1:47 AM
Sorry - not all for tonight. The State Department purged the emails that proved it. This is Adam Kredo.
A senior State Department official admitted to congressional
investigators that he deleted several emails pertaining to the
administration’s coordination with OneVoice.
“The State Department was unable to produce all documents responsive
to the Subcommittee’s requests due to its failure to retain complete
email records of Michael Ratney, who served as U.S. Consul General in
Jerusalem during the award and oversight of the OneVoice grants,” the
report states.
Investigators “discovered this retention problem because one
important email exchange between OneVoice and Mr. Ratney … was produced
to the Subcommittee only by OneVoice,” the report continues. “After
conducting additional searches, the Department informed the Subcommittee
that it was unable to locate any responsive emails from Mr. Ratney’s
inbox or sent mail.”
Ratney was ultimately forced to tell investigators that “[a]t times I
deleted emails with attachments I didn’t need in order to maintain my
inbox under the storage limit.”
While Ratney had the option to archive emails—as required by the
department—he did not do this. Ratney claimed he was not aware of the
rule, stating he “did not know [he] was required to archive routine
emails.”
The deletion of the email chains appears to be a violation of the
Federal Records Act, which mandates official records be archived for
future disclosure purposes.
Note - this is on John Kerry's watch and not on Hillary Clinton's. Yes, John Kerry is just as corrupt as Hillary Clinton.
One source with intimate knowledge of the situation told the Free Beacon that the deletion of these emails is highly suspicious given the seriousness of the claims about the administration’s behavior.
“The Obama administration had the money, skills, and personnel to
build a gigantic campaign infrastructure that was used to try to defeat
the prime minister of an ally,” the source said. “But apparently they
didn’t have what they needed to store the emails in which they did all
of those things. That’s certainly a lucky break for the State
Department.”
State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday
afternoon that he could not comment on the accusations due to the
department’s inability to thoroughly review the Senate’s report.
“We’ve not had time to go through it closely, so I’m not going to be
able to comment on specifics,” Kirby said. “But I would note that the
report makes clear there’s no evidence that OneVoice spent State
Department grant funds to influence the Israeli election. Again, I just
don’t have additional comment at this time.”
Even McCaskill admitted that OneVoice spent US government funds to influence the Israeli elections. She just claimed it didn't show 'wrongdoing.'
JPost discovers 'exclusively' that only Left-wing NGO's receive money from foreign governments - UPDATED
JPost is shocked, just shocked, to discover that nearly all the NGO's being targeted by the new NGO transparency bill being debated in the Knesset are Leftist.
On Thursday, The Post exclusively obtained the list of NGOs
which show that 23 out of the 25 organizations are left-wing, with only
two being centrist or non-affiliated. There are no right-wing
organizations.
The Justice Ministry bill in question, which
returned to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on
Wednesday after passing a first reading in the plenum, requires any NGO
receiving more than half its funding from a foreign political entity
identify itself as such in any publications and any meetings with public
officials, and has been controversial because most of the organizations
under the bill’s purview were predicted to be left-wing. The list,
obtained on Thursday, confirms that that suspicion.
...
The organizations listed included, B’Tselem, Breaking the Silence, the
Economic Cooperation Foundation, Yesh Din and The Public Committee
Against Torture in Israel. According to the Justice Ministry report,
Yesh Din, for example, receives NIS 4.7 million of its NIS 5.3 million
budget from foreign political entities. B’Tselem gets NIS 6.2 million of
its NIS 9 million budget from foreign sources as well.
On Wednesday, Nonprofits Registrar representative Yafit Shemer
told the Knesset committee that the legislation on transparency for
organizations getting most of their budgets from foreign governments
will affect 27 NGOs.
Committee chairman Nissan Slomiansky (Bayit
Yehudi) prohibited Shemer from presenting the list to the MKs, arguing
that he wants the bill to be “clean” of being drafted in a way that
would target specific NGOs, sparking vocal debate among lawmakers. The
Justice Ministry did not respond to requests for the list.
The reason the Left needs funding from foreign governments is because most Israelis have turned Right after the Oslo debacle, and will not support Leftist NGO's.
But don't worry. This bill will eventually go to the Supreme Court which will undoubtedly find an excuse to strike it down. Maybe then we can have a rational discussion about the balance of powers and the Supreme Court's dictatorship in this country. But probably not.
Funny how no one bothered to interview Professor Gerald Steinberg, the director of NGO Monitor and the country's leading expert on this issue, for this article.
UPDATE 4:31 PM
Professor Steinberg is quoted in an earlier article on this issue.
NGO Monitor President Prof. Gerald Steinberg said donations of more
than NIS 100m. per year from foreign governments “distort Israeli
democracy and dangerously damage its sovereignty.”
But this
should be mitigated by dialogue with lawmakers in Europe, many of whom
oppose their government’s donations to political organizations.
Of course, those European lawmakers seem to be having trouble stopping those contributions....
Oh and here is another interesting tidbit from that earlier article.
Also on Wednesday, the Knesset approved in a preliminary reading the
“V15 bill,” meant to make American- style Super PACs illegal. The
measure proposed by MK Yoav Kisch (Likud) would limit political
organizations’ ability to raise funds in an election year by making the
limitations on NGOs involved in elections similar to those on a
political party.
The legislation is nicknamed “V15” after an
organization that campaigned against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
in the last election using advanced data methods to target voters
door-to-door.
Obama tried even harder than you thought to beat Netanyahu: Expedited visas for Israeli Arabs for 'get out the vote' drive
President Hussein Obama tried even harder than was previously reported (in the US) to defeat Prime Minister Netanyahu (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
"What was not well reported in the American media is that President
Obama and his allies were playing in the election to defeat Prime
Minister Netanyahu," John McLaughlin, a Republican strategist, said in
an interview on John Catsimatidis's "The Cats Roundtable" radio show
broadcast Sunday on AM 970 in New York.
"There was money moving
that included taxpayer U.S. dollars, through non-profit organizations.
And there were various liberal groups in the United States that were
raising millions to fund a campaign called V15 against Prime Minister
Netanyahu," McLaughlin said.
He noted an effort to oust Netanyahu
was guided by former Obama political operative Jeremy Bird and that V15,
or Victory 15, ads hurt Netanyahu in the polls. McLaughlin said the
Israeli leader rebounded after delivering a speech to Congress early
this month, prompting more critical ads.
V15 was viewed as part of a broader campaign to oust Netanyahu. The group was linked
to Washington-based nonprofit OneVoice Movement, which reportedly
received $350,000 in State Department grants. Money to OneVoice stopped
flowing in November, officials said, before the Israeli elections.
After
Netanyahu's win, V15 co-founder Nimrod Dweck said in an interview with
Ronan Farrow aired on MSNBC's "Jose Diaz-Balart" that "not a single
cent" of State Department or taxpayer money had gone to their campaign.
"These are false allegations and they have nothing to do with reality," Dweck said.
McLaughlin also cited an effort "to organize the [Israeli] Arabs into one party and teach them about voter turnout."
"The
State Department people in the end of January, early February,
expedited visas for [Israeli] Arab leaders to come to the United States
to learn how to vote," McLaughlin said.
"There were people in the
United States that were organizing them to vote in one party so they
would help the left-of-center candidate, Herzog, that the Obama
administration favored," he added.
All except the expedited visas havebeenreportedherebefore. But as usual, the US mainstream media largely ignored it.
When I was in the US the last couple of weeks, I was asked a lot why the Israeli Arabs and the Left were able to unify while the Right was not. Now, we have a clue as to why.
If only Obama expended as much effort on regime change in Iran and Syria as he did in Israel, the world would be a better place.
American President Hussein Obama is trying to counter Prime Minister Netanyahu's upcoming visit to Washington in any way possible.
In what is becoming an increasingly nasty grudge match, the White
House is mulling ways to undercut Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's upcoming trip to Washington and blunt his message that a
potential nuclear deal with Iran is bad for Israel and the world.
There
are limits. Administration officials have discarded the idea of
President Barack Obama himself giving an Iran-related address to rebut
the two speeches Netanyahu is to deliver during his early March visit.
But other options remain on the table.
Among them: a presidential
interview with a prominent journalist known for coverage of the rift
between Obama and Netanyahu, multiple Sunday show television appearances
by senior national security aides and a pointed snub of America's
leading pro-Israel lobby, which is holding its annual meeting while
Netanyahu is in Washington, according to the officials.
The
administration has already ruled out meetings between Netanyahu and
Obama, saying it would be inappropriate for the two to meet so close to
Israel's March 17 elections. But the White House is now doubling down on
a cold-shoulder strategy, including dispatching Cabinet members out of
the country and sending a lower-ranking official than normal to
represent the administration at the annual policy conference of the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the officials said.
And Obama's allies in the media are trying to help him. Here's an example from CNN.
A
large majority of Americans believe that Republican congressional
leaders should not have invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to
speak to Congress without consulting the White House, according to a new
CNN/ORC survey.
The nationwide poll,
released Tuesday, shows 63% of Americans say it was a bad move for
congressional leadership to extend the invitation without giving
President Barack Obama a heads up that it was coming. Only 33% say it
was the right thing to do.
But what's missing here is the key point. While many Americans feel uncomfortable with the seeming end-run around the White House to invite Netanyahu, most Americans would like to hear what Netanyahu has to say about Iran. This is from Josh Rogin at Bloomberg.
While it may be true that most Americans don't like Boehner's
tactics, it's not the case that they don't want Netanyahu to go through
with it. According to the TIP data, 25 percent of 1,563 respondents to
the new poll said they agreed more with the statement:
Some people say Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is in the middle of
an election at home, and it is inappropriate for the U.S. to host him
for a speech only two weeks before the election is being held. They say
this is a Republican attempt to make Netanyahu look stronger before his
election.
While 43 percent of respondents said they agreed more with the following statement:
Other people say Iran is getting closer to building a nuclear weapon.
As one of the world's most knowledgeable leaders on the Middle East and
the Iranian nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu should
address Congress before the March 31st deadline for a political
framework with Iran.
Those are detailed questions for a news survey, which was conducted
by Paragon Insights, and one can debate whether the reference to
Netanyahu's credentials was relevant. (The full methodology and text of
all questions can be found here.)
Nonetheless, the responses make clear that more Americans than not now
believe it’s a good idea to let Netanyahu make his case.
And a plurality of Americans are unhappy with the way the Obama administration has reacted to the speech.
Also, more respondents than not (47 percent to 32 percent) disapprove of
the way the administration has reacted to the coming speech. Obama,
Vice President Joseph Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry have all
said they won't meet with Netanyahu while he is in Washington, citing
a desire not to interfere in the Israeli elections coming March 17.
The poll — conducted by McLaughlin & Associates, a pollster that
worked for former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) — found that
59 percent of Americans support Netanyahu’s speech to Congress and only
23 percent oppose, according to results obtained by POLITICO. McLaughlin & Associates CEO John McLaughlin has also advised Netanyahu during his current reelection campaign.
...
[T]he poll concluded that 36 percent of people strongly support the March 3 address, while just 11 percent strongly oppose it.
The
survey also found that 79 percent want to require both Obama and
Congress to vet a deal that would ratchet down Iran’s nuclear program in
exchange for further loosening of some sanctions. Congressional
Republicans are increasingly shifting their stance on the Iran toward
requiring congressional approval for a deal, as opposed to imposing new
sanctions. The White House opposes both options.
The Samaria Revenants Committee has put out a video attacking Israel's Left as collaborators with European (neo) Nazis.
Let's go to the videotape.
Does it go too far? Let's just say that one of the reasons it has caused such an uproar here is that there is a lot of truth to the accusations.... Note that the coin being flipped to each collaborator is a Euro and the Europeans heavily fund Israel's Leftist NGO's.
But I have to say that the Left has gone way out of line in response, accusing the Prime Minister of being behind the video. The revenants are nearly as critical of Netanyahu as they are of the Left.
Epic fail: Israelis believe Obama trying to influence elections, ignoring him anyway
Here's how little influence Barack Hussein Obama has in Israel today: Most Israelis believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu should go to Washington and a plurality believes that he should speak to Congress. Most Israelis believe Netanyahu is justified in wanting to present his position to Congress. And most Israelis believe that Obama is interfering in Israel's elections.
Internet based polling of Panels Politics of 589 respondents (including
Israeli Arabs) on 11 February 2015 for Maariv - published in Maariv on 13
February 2015.
Is Netanyahu justified in wanting to present his position on the Iranian
nukes before the American Congress?
Yes 56% No 36% Don't know 8%
Is the American Government interfering in the Israeli elections?
Yes 61% No 31% Don't know 8%
What should Netanyahu do in the wake of criticism regarding his planned
address to Congress?
41% Go and speak regardless
17% Go but speak at AIPAC
36% Don't go at all
06% Don't know
As US embassy staff meets with group trying to influence Israeli elections, Obama speaks about avoiding partisanship
POTUS: "The way to preserve [US-#Israel relations] is to make sure it doesn't get clouded in what could be perceived as partisan politics."
— Michael Wilner (@mawilner) February 9, 2015
Yes, Obama really said that. Unfortunately, the actions of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv (not Jerusalem - another sore point) don't reflect it.
Top officials at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv met in late January
with one of the main progressive groups working to tip the upcoming
Israeli elections against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and helped
facilitate the organization’s visit to the United States this week to
learn political organizing techniques.
The State Department helped the nonprofit group Givat Haviva secure
last-minute visas for a delegation of Arab-Israeli mayors, which is in
the United States this week meeting with civic leaders and attending
discussions on voter outreach and community organizing. The delegation
arrived on Feb. 4 and is in Washington, D.C., through Wednesday.
Givat Haviva is part of a coalition of U.S.-funded progressive groups working to influence the Israeli elections, the Washington Free Beacon
reported last week. The organization, which has chapters in both the
United States and Israel, is leading an effort to increase voter turnout
among Arab Israelis, who traditionally oppose right-leaning parties
such as Netanyahu’s Likud.
Top American diplomats met with Givat Haviva and the Arab-Israeli
mayors at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv on Jan. 29, where they discussed
the plans for this week’s visit. U.S. officials at the meeting included
the deputy mission chief, the CIA station chief, and the cultural
attaché, according to an attendee.
The Givat Haviva Institute’s co-executive director Mohammad Darawshe, the main organizer of the delegation, told the Free Beacon that the meeting was just a “farewell greeting from the embassy staff after they helped with getting the visas.”
The State Department said it would provide a summary of the meeting to the Free Beacon last Wednesday, but as of Monday afternoon had not provided one.
I guess in Obama's book, the only partisanship that exists is partisanship that opposes the interests of Barack Hussein Obama. Sorry Mr. President. Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
Tonight on i24news:Daniel Abrahams one of the main backers of v15 is donating to Isaac Herzog,despite denies of both labor party and v15
— lucy aharish (@lucyaharish) February 9, 2015
But of course, V-2015 has nothing to do with the Labor party.... Right....
Livni-Herzog-Obama One Voice Movement keffiyeh says 'the land is ours'
This is the true intent of those who would unseat Prime Minister Netanyahu. And apparently, no one else in Israel is getting it (Hat Tip: Ronn Torossian).
One of the main logos currently being used by “One Voice” is of a man in
keffiah scarf, with his hand outstretched to form the map of the whole
of Israel. Underneath is written “The land is ours."
The source is here but it may be taken down soon. The picture above is a screen cap.
One Voice is part of the V-2015 movement that is promoting the candidacy of Tzipi Livni and Buji Herzog's 'Zionist' movement. They are backed by President Hussein Obama of the United States.
This is the philosophy of Tzipi Livni and Buji Herzog.
This is the ad campaign planned by President Hussein Obama's campaigners.
Israelis to Obama: 'The hell you'll tell us whom to vote for'
President Hussein Obama's efforts to influence Israel's upcoming election may be backfiring. This is Anshel Pfeffer, one of Haaretz's more Leftist writers.
Tonight's @haaretzcom poll is the worst for Labor in a long while: Leaves Herzog with no option for a coalition. Ensures Netanyahu 4th term.
— Anshel Pfeffer (@AnshelPfeffer) February 2, 2015
Haaretz - for those who have forgotten - is Israel's Hebrew 'Palestinian' daily, probably the most Leftist rag among Israel's better known Leftist rags. (By the way, only about 5% of Israelis read Haaretz - they have a much wider audience among the elites in the US and Europe).
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud would win 25 seats and the Labor Camp would secure only 23 if elections were held today, a new poll conducted by Haaretz-Dialog found on Monday.
The poll, which was conducted under the supervision
of Professor Camil Fuchs with a representative sample of 514
respondents, showed Netanyahu gaining three more seats than what his
party was predicted to win in the last poll conducted in January. The
margin of error in the poll was 4.2 percent.
Naftali Bennett's Habayit Hayehudi weakened in this poll to receive 14 seats, compared to 16 in the last survey.
The Joint List (Hadash and Arab parties) strengthened, predicted to win
12 seats, while Yesh Atid weakened from 12 to nine seats.
Kulanu and United Torah Judaism were both slated
for eight seats, while Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas were predicted to
receive six seats. Respondents gave Meretz five seats and Yachad was
predicted to get four.
That would put the Right at 25+14+8+6+6+4 = 63, the Left at 23+9+5 = 37, the Arabs (who have never been in any coalition at 12 and Kulanu (which really could go either way) at 8.
In its efforts to avoid running afoul of Israel's strict campaign finance laws, V-15 has argued that they are 'non-partisan' and that their sole message is that the 'Left and Center' should form the next government. Really? Then why was a Knesset candidate from Tzipi (Livni) and Buzi (Herzog)'s party listed as an officer on the organization's web site until Saturday?
Former MK Yoel Hasson,
formerly of Kadima and now number 16 on the joint Labor-Hatnuah (Zionist
camp) list, claims that he holds no post in the umbrella organization
called OneVoice, whose activities are linked with V15. But until this
weekend, Hasson's name and picture appeared on the organization's Web
page as a member of the board. On Saturday, the picture was removed.
According to Hasson, "I never held any
position in OneVoice. I have no involvement with V15 -- I didn't know it
existed until I read the media reports. What matters is not what it
says on a website, but what is written in the Registrar of Associations'
records, and there I obviously don't appear, and never have appeared,
as holding any kind of position."
For the record, according to current polls, number 16 is a very realistic position for the 'Zionist camp' list - Hasson could well be in the next Knesset.
But as a matter of law, he's wrong, at least if the Registrar of Associations works like the Companies Registrar (a bureaucracy with which I deal fairly regularly). The registrar's records don't control. While it's required to notify the registrar, what's controlling is actually the entity's books.
In the meantime, one cannot escape the feeling that V-15 expects to be barred. Otherwise, why would they be behaving like the elections are next week when they're six weeks away.
V15's website reveals the
scope of its activities: On Friday, dozens of volunteers around the
country went door to door in efforts to convince Israeli citizens not to
vote for Netanyahu face to face. The activity was overseen by fully
paid field coordinators. According to assessments, the group's payroll
includes dozens of paid staff. The total cost is estimated at 10 million shekels.
The group's objective is to reach more than 150,000 homes before election day.
It shouldn't take six weeks for 'dozens' of volunteers to reach 150,000 people.
Aaron Klein reports that there are also some wealthy American Jews who are behind the campaign to unseat Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Uri Wollman, V15′s spokesman, told WND his organization’s ballooning
infrastructure is funded primarily by three private philanthropists:
S. Daniel Abraham, the billionaire founder of the Slim Fast food
line. Abraham is a major donor to the Democratic Party and the Clinton
Foundation.
Daniel Lubetzky, a social entrepreneur whose OneVoice Movement is partnered with V15.
Alon Kastiel, a Tel Aviv-based businessman and owner of multiple local venues, including bars, clubs and hotels.
The admission confirms charges by Netanyahu’s Likud Party, which earlier called on Israel’s Central Elections Committee to outlaw V15′s activities to “ensure the integrity of the election.”
...
Lubetzky is the CEO and Founder of KIND Healthy Snacks and the KIND
Movement. He is also founder of PeaceWorks Inc. and the PeaceWorks
Foundation’s OneVoice Movement.
Lubetzky was born in Mexico City, the son of a Holocaust survivor and
a Mexican Jew. As a teenager, he moved with his family to the U.S.,
where he attended college and earned a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1993.
Lubetzky’s involvement in financing V15 is unsurprising since his
OneVoice movement is openly partnered with V15, while V15 is utilizing
OneVoice’s Tel Aviv office space as its headquarters, as WND reported.
Abraham’s financing of V15 was until now unconfirmed. The Palm Beach
billionaire is a known contributor to leftist political parties in
Israel. He is also a backer of the so-called Two State solution through
the Washington-based Center for Middle East Peace and Economic
Cooperation, which he co-founded.
During a press conference Sunday, the Likud Party officially accused
V15 and other related nonprofits of being supported “through millions of
dollars funneled from Europe, the U.S. and the New Israel Fund and
international factors interested in bringing down Prime Minister
Netanyahu” who think “that all means are appropriate.”
Reacting to the developments, Wollman, V15′s spokesman, told WND his
organization will not stop its campaign to ensure a center-left
coalition forms the next government in Israel.
Wollman accused Netanyahu and the Likud of “fabricating” a relationship between V15 and the Obama administration.
...
V15′s headquarters is actually the offices of Lubetzky’s “OneVoice.”
OneVoice bills itself as an “international grassroots movement that
amplifies the voice of mainstream Israelis and Palestinians.” It has a
clearly leftist tone.
OneVoice is reportedly sponsored by scores of nonprofits and received
two grants in the past year from the U.S. State Department.
The State Department is also listed as a partner of OneVoice on the group’s website.
OneVoice development and grants officer Christina Taler told the
Washington Free Beacon that “no government funding” has gone toward the
V15 voter mobilization effort.
The entire senior staff of V-15 consists of people who ran the Obama campaign. And Obama claims he doesn't want to interfere in Israel's campaign (and that these people each decided independently to go on their own to Israel out of Zionist motivations?). What a hypocrite!
Livni-Herzog campaign being financed by 'Palestinian-Americans'
This should tell you all you need to know about the ideology and financing behind the effort to unseat Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Yes, it's being run by Barack Hussein Obama's Presidential campaign. But it's being paid for by 'Palestinian-Americans.' This came by email from Ronn Torossian.
Do prospective
voters in Israel of “The Zionist Camp” identify with ideological
backing from Hamadeh? One thinks that his ideology is most likely not in
line with the mainstream voters that
Issac
Herzog and Tzipi
Livni are chasing.
Well, maybe. But Sumka and Hamdeh definitely appear to be in line with Livni's and Herzog's ideology. And those 'mainstream voters' aren't sophisticated enough to know the difference, because they likely get their news from the likes of Haaretz and Yediot (YNet's Hebrew side).
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
