Yes, the call from the White House definitely went out. There are a whole slew of op-eds out in the usual Obama Media outlets, including one from Journolista Jonathan Martin at Politico, the WAPO, and of course Tom Friedman in Pravda-on-the-Hudson.
Friedman, of course has no problem with Hagel's long record of anti-Israel positions:
The disgusting is the fact that because Hagel once described the Israel lobby as the “Jewish lobby” (it also contains some Christians). And because he has rather bluntly stated that his job as a U.S. senator was not to take orders from the Israel lobby but to advance U.S. interests, he is smeared as an Israel-hater at best and an anti-Semite at worst. If ever Israel needed a U.S. defense secretary who was committed to Israel’s survival, as Hagel has repeatedly stated — but who was convinced that ensuring that survival didn’t mean having America go along with Israel’s self-destructive drift into settling the West Bank and obviating a two-state solution — it is now.
Actually, it's been more than once, and of course Friedman doesn't even mention Hagel's long record on voting against Israel in congress and advocating for the appeasement of genocidal terrorist organizations and Iranian proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah.
You might remember that it wasn't too long ago that Friedman himself was shilling for the Saudi 'peace' ultimatum' and bragging about President Obama listening to him about forcing Israel back to the pre-'67 lines. Talk about something self-destructive for Israel! If they listened to Tom Friedman,it would be downright suicidal. You could justifiably call Friedman a member of the far better funded and more pervasive Arab Lobby.
He also skirts over Hagel's position on Iran, something so pervasive that Hagel could almost be considered an unregistered lobbyist for the Ayatollahs.The Washington Post made that very argument just a couple of days ago. So did I:
Just a coincidence, But Senator Hagel is apparently quite enamored of Iran. In edition to what I mentioned above, he's long been an advocate of taking Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah off the State Department's list of terrorist groups,
In fact, while he was in the Senate, not only did he refuse to call on the EU to name Hezbollah a terrorist group, Hagel voted against designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. He also consistently voted against sanctions on Iran for their illicit pursuit of nuclear weapons.
One might almost suspect one of those cladestine lobbying contracts so well known in DC Land.
In fact..just another coincidence of course...The Washington Free Beacon reported on Thursday that Hagel is also on the board of directors of Deutsche Bank, which is now being investigated by U.S. authorities for violations of the same Iran sanctions Hagel voted against when he was in Congress.
Friedman's real motives are revealed pretty plainly:
Israel’s friends need to understand that the center-left in Israel is dying. The Israeli election in January will bring to power Israeli rightists who never spoke at your local Israel Bonds dinner. These are people who want to annex the West Bank. Bibi Netanyahu is a dove in this crowd.
*Gasp!*
For one thing, it isn't the 'center left'. What's dying is the pro-Oslo crowd in Israel, especially since those Arabs who identify themselves as Palestinians just unilaterally abrogated the agreements they signed, the Oslo Accords and the Road Map, at the UN. Unlike Friedman, most Israelis now understand that Oslo was just a swindle foisted on a people desperate for peace by some highly culpable politicians, with more than a little arm twisting by President Clinton. And a lot of cheer leading by the Tom Friedmans.
None of it led to peace, and as Arafat said more than once, in Arabic, it was never intended to. The only thing it did was give some of the most murderous of Israel's enemies a base on Israel's borders, and hundreds of Israelis paid the price for that obscene folly.
Very few people in Israel are willing to buy that used car again from the likes of Tom Friedman any more, although I'm sure it plays well in certain circles here, since they don't have to live with the consequences.
Now, the Israeli public is going to punish those politicians and those who think like them in a democratic election, and put an end to the charade. Only clueless idiots like Tom Friedman have their lips clamped on the dead corpse of the Two State Solution, trying to breathe life into it. It's D-E-A-D. And Hamas, Arafat and his loyal henchman Abbas killed it, if it ever was alive in the first place.
Interesting how someone like Friedman takes major exception to the idea that Israelis might make a choice to vote for politicians who understand that reality, but has no problems with the Arab Spring and quasi-fascist Muslim Brotherhood governments being voted into office because of it.
What he really wants is for Israel to die more or less peacefully so that it ceases to embarrass him in front of his leftist friends. Because, you see, he cares about Israel!
Harnessing the Obama Media to shill for him tells me that the president might very well decide to take the plunge on Hagel. If he's confirmed and actually becomes Secretary of Defense because enough Senate Democrats vote for him, it will be yet another signal like this one to America's Jews on which way the wind's blowing.
Because no matter what idiots like Friedman say, the whole controversy over Israel is very much about Jews. If it wasn't trust me, you'd hear far less of the old anti-Semitic canard about the insidious 'Jewish Lobby'.
"...the far better funded and more pervasive arab lobby." The analysis is spot on. The notion of an all powerful or even somewhat powerful Jewish lobby is a myth and always has been a myth. The myth appears to primarily serve three purposes. 1.) Very powerful enemies of America need a diversion. It works much better for them if they divert the attention of American officals towards a phantom rather than have tnem focus on the real enemy. 2.)Enemies of the Jewish people and Israel wish to demonize an enemy. One of the easiest ways to do this is to make an enemy appear much more powerful than they are which serves to promote attacks on the group being targeted. 3.)Israel is and always has been a stalwart ally of America and its interests. Furthermore the Jewish people living in Ameirca have made a tremendous contribution to this nation and to its success. By making this group appear to be more influential than it actually is over US policies, they can act to drive a wedge between the US and its most important ally. This fits in reason number 2.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, American leaders appear to begin their careers pro-Israel. Unfortunately over time pressures from important stakeholders in the international systems tend to lead American officals away from pro-Israel positions and toward anti-Israel positions. The notion that the US government is somehow pro-Israel is yet another myth.