Netanyahu: I Won't Second-Guess Obama On Iran

WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he isn't going to second-guess President Barack Obama's approach on Iran after the Tehran government's political crackdown.

Obama has been criticized by Republicans and others for not saying more in defense of Iranians protesting the outcome of the presidential election.

Netanyahu says he knows Obama wants the Iranian people to be free. The Israeli leader says free people everywhere are amazed by the willingness of the Iranian people to stand up for their rights.

Netanyahu appeared Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Comments

[who38]

Today's LA Times quotes Benny as saying, "The US and Israel should leave all options on the table" re/ a military strike on Iran. The posters here get so irate when they think that the US is trying to tell Israel what to do; isn't that what the big B is doing?

Why did NBC give Benny time on national TV? Is Ahmadinejad going to get equal time?

[zaz33]

This reminds me of the propaganda driven march to war against Iraq.

There is no doubt that we want to replace Islamic socialism with a capitalist friendly client state.

[DC]

Regardless of what anyone thinks of Nett a yahoo, it was the right thing to say.

[Samlas]

Netinyahoo is really just a smelly, discusting fungus lurking around, threating humanity with his attempts of manipulating the thoughts of the American people.

[BubbaC33]

It is always good to read a well reasoned and reasonable discussion of the facts. This, however, is not reasoned or reasonable.

[who38]

Your reasons?

[arvay]

Why should he say anything when he has our neatly bought-and-packaged Congress to urge actions that would discredit the protestors and keep the hard-liners in power?

No, his paid agents will do the down-low work.

If Iran gets a more reasonable government absent Ahmenidjad's nutty proclamations, which still backs the Palestinians and supplies Hamas and Hizbollah, it's a nightmare -- no more Holocaust denials and other blabberings to paint a hysterical picture.

Mousavi is a nationalist who firmly backs Iran's right to develop nuclear energy, and his nation's interests will still involve holding the Sunni Arabs responsible for abandoning the Palestinians. The Shah quietly encouraged israel to keep the Sunni Arabs in a state of froth, Hamas and Hizbollah do a far more effective job and don't involve betraying fellow Muslims.

[BubbaC33]

The idea that Israel owns the US Congess is a silly and demonstrably false idea. There are a number of actions the US government takes that offer evidence this absurd claim is wrong. The sale of military hardware to Arab nations is primary.
Another interesting aspect of the posting is the attack on Israel. Some folks use, rather misuse, any opportunity to attack Israel disregarding fact and honesty to do so.

[arvay]

The unbalanced dominance of AIPC and other pro-Zionist groups is well-known and well-documented.

A good starting point is "The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy" by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. Lots of strings were pulled to relegate it to obscurity until it was reviewed favorably in the UK. The Kennedy Center withdrew it from its

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Israel_Lobby_and_U.S._Foreign_Policy
A review here gives a lot of good info.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html

[CigarGod]

I don't think arvay said: owned 100%, 100% of the time on 100% of the issues.

It is a system of legalized bribery and all you have to do is look at the money spent and the results and you know the system works.

Not 100% of the time, but enough to make it profitable.

If you bat .250 in the majors, you are a star.
If your casino makes 3%, you are profitable.

[Justtellthetruth]

Likud officials have recently said, in interviews, that it does not matter what Obama wants to do regarding the settlements, because the US congress and Senate will back THEM no matter what. 75% of them (totally bipartisan) tried to undermine Obamas talk with Netanyahu by singing an AIPAC orchestrated letter that took Netanyahus side in the matters under discussion.

They don't "control" house and the senate, but they wield influence over them that will some day cast those politicians in the same light as those who fought to maintain slavery, fought civil rights, and whose who backed the Apartheid regime in south africa.

The settlements are morally indefensible, and those that back them in this country are pathologically self involved cowards whose greed for power or career far outstrips their stewardship of this country (or the long term welfare of Israel, for that matter).

[who38]

Guess you have never heard of a Ca. representative named Jane Harmon?

[mamacat]

Recommended reading: the NYT, June 22, 2009, in the Opinion section, the article by Tony Judt.

Tony is a Jew with first hand experience of life in Israel, and warns that Prime Minister Netanyahu is trying to play Pres. Obama for a fool. He maintains that Israelis know full well that there is no military or economic necessity for the Isreali settlements in the occupied lands, and that without the handouts of billions of dollars per year from the United States, the affordable housing in the settlements would be prohibitively and unsustainably expensive. He warns that if our President falls for P.M. Netanyahu's misrepresentations (aka lies), Pres. Obama will lose his credibility both in Israel and in the Middle East as a whole.

[E-MU]

The Israeli electorate is 50/50 on Netanyahu - many hate him and many love him and all are nervous about Iran. Most want some settlement withdrawal while keeping the big, established ones. There's a compromise there - somewhere. Think about it, though. We, the US, get into a frenzy over whether to have a public health insurance option - imagine if our existence depended on getting it right!

[who38]

The compromise is that the settlers in the "big, established ones" can become citizens of Palestine.

[who38]

He will lose his credibility in the US as well.

[S1m0n]

"The Israeli leader says free people everywhere are amazed by the willingness of the Iranian people to stand up for their rights."

I guess an intifada is much cuter when it's not Israel they're rebelling against.

[Samlas]

Exactly right on.

[who38]

Agreed.

[Justtellthetruth]

Until very recently, netanyahu and his thug lieberman
Were going to bomb Iran without our consent and plunge our nation and the world into an oil crisis driven depression which would make this one look like the good old days.
It is the fanatical israeli right who threaten the US the most as they heartlessly and mindlessly grasp onto the last vestigages of thier failed and morally bankrupt settlements program.
Unless pushed by people who are not influenced by radical likud politics, they will hang onto the settlements, even as Israel and the US are hit by new 9/11s.

Forget Iran. God willing, they will throw off their religious oppression.
We need to worry aboutthe settlers and Their Likud backers, groups that truly threaten us and Israeli security.

[BubbaC33]

It is almost unbelievable that anyone would make such a goofy argument. Israel is hardly a security risk for the US. In fact, Israel has been and will continue to be the best ally the US has in the world.

[SonnyBono]

"Israel has been and will continue to be the best ally the US has in the world." - as long as we overlook incidents like the USS Liberty and Jonathan Pollard and boy, keep sending those good old US dollar bills cause Israel needs them to keep building the illegal settlements. Clearly a case of the tail wagging the dog - I think I would look into getting that tail bobbed.

[arvay]

Hilarious!

A billion people hate us because of Israel and they cost us a fortune in military and economic aid.

They are totally dependent on us, minute-by-minute, and yet they manipulate our politics and return arrogance for handouts.

Time to cut off welfare for this gang unless they do exactly as we say.

If they're not happy with that, let them apply for help from Russia or China.

[Justtellthetruth]

I did not say Israel, I said the radical settlers and their ultra far right backers. No one else supports the settlements or engages in pointless war mongering.

[Samlas]

Ally? Really?? They just want free money from the US thats all.

[who38]

Israel, our ally? I think not. Didn't Avi just make a trip to Russia to establish a new "special friendship" with that country?

[mamacat]

Israel has been abusing its neighbors and playing Americans for fools. We have been enabling their behaviour with American taxpayers' money. It is time to practice some tough love, and to stop paying for their settlements. The expense to the U.S. of Israeli expansionist policies goes far beyond the 2 to 3 billion dollars which we have been giving them outright every year.

[Samlas]

The funny thing is when you put Israel in a corner, they start saying look what America did to the Native Indians !!!!!!! Look over there !!!!! Look Iran has Nuclear !!!!!!!!

[Whatashame]

When will you people get it through your thick skulls that he can not do anythiny about Iran. All he can do is voice his support and concern for the people to protest freely. Every time something happens to another country you want the USA to run in and declare war. How quickly we forget about Iraq and the concequences of our irrational actions. Their are people in this country who are being openly discriminated against base on their race, S-E-X, why don't that 70% of people do something about the injustice that is been done those people here in America. Fix your own problems first before trying to fix other countries.

[Ravyn]

Amen to all of this.

[mamacat]

I agree.

[who38]

But is focusing on race and sex problems in the US good for Israel? Has anyone taken on poll in Florida on that issue?

[betty22]

I would not second guess obama too

[Ides]

Any wonder Meet the Press's ratings are down? Conflict breaks out in Iran. CNN stacks itself with Iranian and Iranian-American scholars, reporters, and correspondents who were on the ground when the conflict broke out.

MSNBC spends half an hour on their only news show Sunday with two Republicans and the Right-Wing Prime Minister of Israel.

GMAFB.

[zaz33]

Ides - It's becoming more and more evident that this is a propaganda operation.

Very few Americans are seeing through it.

I'm becoming more convinced that the socialist Ahmadinejad actually won for the same reasons Chavez has been winning in Venezuela.

There just are not enough wealthy, educated, English speaking capitalists in Iran to win an election.

[ForeverXL]

You are making an ugly mistake here. There are so many dissidents in Iran and many of them have fled the country, because otherwise repercussion would follow upon them.

The same is for Chavez. Many people who speak up against Chavez, for genuine reasons, will be slammed down, intimidated and harassed. A very good friend of mine has to flee Venezuela with her whole family for that reason, and guess what: they are very very liberal in their views and not capitalists.

The liberals in the US have a distorted view of Chavez and Amehdinejad. Not to mention the mentally ill views of the Republicans. Bottom-line: where are the Americans who stand up for rationale, freedom and equality over populism (chavez and amehdinajad).

[who38]

Zinger!

[NPA]

Everyone needs to allow the Iranians handle their own situation. Any attacks or tough talk would unite the country, don't do it!

[davidwayneosedach]

Earth to Netanyahu: no one asked you to second guess Obama. Israel is running the world.

[dillydawg]

Unfortunately you right.

[We-Are-The-Ones]

Israel only think it is running the world. No new settlements.

[Naville]

"The Israeli leader says free people everywhere are amazed by the willingness of the Iranian people to stand up for their rights."

Yeah; including the Palestinians that Israel systematically oppresses for half a century.

But, they can not have those rights because they do not half , FOX NEWS, CBS, ABC, CNN, NBC, and the rest of self-censoring U.S media regarding Palestinian rights.

Their context always is, Israel retaliates something Palestinian groups have done. no talk of occupation, 10,00 prisoners, suffocating 1.5 million people of basic human needs like medicine and food.

If Palestinian cause had been presented fairly, Americans would have a different view about Palestinians.

Now, Israeli PM is talking about Iranians standing up for their rights. What a joke , but he's gotten the U.S media on his back. Nobody is questioning his nonsense comments.

[forpeacealways]

Well at least the Palestinians got you so thats a plus

[whoa20]

sorry, but the Palestinians tried to give the world another Holocaust, rejected the partition, embraced jihad and martyrdumb, and are now paying the price.

[jonjon66]

theres "new growth" settlements waiting for you. in the occupied areas.

[marcyhdg]

I dont know how old you are but israel didnt occupy the west bank, gaza or the golan heights from 1948-1967 and peace did not exist. There was an international boycott and the arabs told any international company that if they sold goods or did business in israel they would lose their business. There were 3 wars and constant shelling into israel.
And during this time, the Jordanians threw the Palestinians out of their country, Eygpt wouldnt let them in and Lebanon rounded them up in 1948 and locked them into refugee camps- where many of them live.
The hypocrisy of it all; when Israel builds a wall to protect it from suicide bombers, they are condemned; ; when Egypt builds a wall around Gaza to prevent any Palestinian from leaving or goods to go in- even from humanitarian reasons, you are silent.
When Jordan, who shares a border with the 'West Bank' closes the border and passes laws forbidding Palestinians from passing through or working in Jordan, you are silent. When Israel, the only bordering country that offers work permits and access to FREE medical care to the west bank arabs, restricts (not prevents_ passages for their own safety, you condemn them.
Study the facts

[E-MU]

I appreciate all you say but its wasted on this site. To most HP members israel is a rancid patch whose people waste good air by breathing. I give you points for trying, though.

[whoa20]

Excellent post. It saddens how me the bloggers, tomorrow's voters, have been convinced that the Jewish State is evil, and Islamic terrorism is benign, or OK. I like the idea of blogs, tho, and I think we need more pro-Israel posters on Huffington Post and Dkos. I don't know how the radical left, many of whom are young, are indoctrinated in such hate.

[mamacat]

So, would you be OK with the U.S. no longer paying for the Israeli settlements in Arab lands?

Would you agree that peace is a worthy goal, or is it better to keep a constant state of undeclared warfare, as a means to justify expansion and occupation?

Do the wars in 1948, 1956, and 1967 justify Israeli policy in 2009? What about the United Nations resolutions, stating that taking and then keeping land through military action is illegal? Should this apply only when it is convenient, or should it apply to ourselves and our friends as well?

There is indeed hypocrisy at stake in this discussion, and much more than hypocrisy. Speaking as someone who is entitled to live in Israel, I say to you that I and many others living in this country are very disappointed in the behavior of the Israeli government, and have no intention of being a part of it through silence. I would love to go to visit the ancient Holy Lands, but not until Israel starts treating its Arab neighbors with justice.

[JimReed]

If he didn't want to second guess Obama, then he shouldn't have said he wasn't going to second guess Obama, because saying he won't second guess him is actually telling the world he does second guess Obama, he just doesn't want to discuss it.

[E-MU]

That's probably true.

[beckpod1]

I'm sure he probably told Obama what to say anyway....

[dwright]

good luck with that one

[ECB]

Really ??????????

[who38]

Really.