Benjamin Netanyahu Refutes GOP Talking Points On Israel: We Have 'Tremendous Bipartisan Support'

WASHINGTON -- The GOP presidential candidates ramped up discussion about Israel policy in the past week, as Palestinian leaders pushed for a United Nations vote on full statehood. While GOP leaders have criticized President Obama and Democrats for abandoning the Jewish state, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuted those attacks.

"Israel enjoys tremendous bipartisan support," said Netanyahu in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." He added, "I think that bipartisan support is expressed by any person who happens to be the president of the United States, including President Obama."

When host David Gregory asked if Obama was as much a friend of Israel as President George W. Bush was, Netanyahu replied, "They're all friends of Israel, equally representing this friendship of America."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) held a campaign event in New York City on Tuesday and sharply criticized Obama's policies on Israel.

"Simply put, we would not be here today at the precipice of such a dangerous move if the Obama policy in the Middle East wasn't naive, arrogant, misguided and dangerous," Perry said.

"It must be said, first, that Israel is our oldest and strongest democratic ally in the Middle East and has been for more than 60 years. The Obama policy of moral equivalency which gives equal standing to the grievances of Israelis and Palestinians, including the orchestrators of terrorism, is a dangerous insult," he said.

GOP 2012 candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney put out a statement saying Obama had made "repeated efforts over three years to throw Israel under the bus and undermine its negotiating position."

Netanyahu pointedly declined to comment directly on their statements, saying to NBC host David Gregory, "David, you are trying to throw me under the bus of American politics. And guess what? I'm not going to be thrown here."

He did, however, get involved in American politics this week by responding to comments that Bill Clinton made on Thursday, in which the former president blamed Netanyahu for continued failure of the Middle East peace process.

"I respectfully disagree," Netanyahu said in an interview with ABC News. "The Palestinians are basically trying to shortcut this. They're trying to get a state without giving us peace, without giving us security."

"President Clinton knows very well [that] in 2000 at Camp David...who really made the generous offer and the Palestinians refused to come," he said. "I'm sure that President Bush can tell you what happened at Camp David a few years later, when another Israeli prime minister made a generous offer, and the Palestinians refused to come."

Netanyahu also praised Obama on Wednesday, saying the president's attempts to dissuade the Palestinian push for statehood was a "badge of honor."

“I want to thank you, Mr. President, for standing with Israel and supporting peace,” Netanyahu said. “We both agree that Palestinians and Israelis should sit down and negotiate. This is the only way to get a stable and durable peace.”

 

 

Comments

[JerryLevy]

11:01 AM on 09/27/2011

Netanyahu was awesome on Meet the Press. David Gregory desperately tried to get him to disparage our president by bringing up an irrelevant topic from 2003. Gregory is shameful.

[Ferdinand Berkhof]

06:57 AM on 09/27/2011

“I want to thank you, Mr. President, for standing with Israel and supporting peace”. Sickening.

And by the way: now that Nethanyahu is referring to Camp Davis so often - isn't it interesting and revealing in this respect that the country retreat of the President of the USA was called after the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel?

[JerryLevy]

11:02 AM on 09/27/2011

This is why we do not have peace, and yes, it is sickening.

http://townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/2011/09/27/the_palestinians_want_peace_--_just_not_with_a_jewish_state

[discocapper]

05:02 AM on 09/27/2011

Why am I banned from posting in this thread. My posts aren't even showing up in pending comments?

[laterthanyouthink]

05:29 AM on 09/27/2011

OK.

We'll let one thorough.

But, that's it!

[discocapper]

11:33 AM on 09/27/2011

It just sucks when you get into a back and forth with someone, receive an e-mail that they've replied to you again. So you click "Reply,"spend 30 minutes gathering the sources they've demanded you provide, type the post and click "Post Comment." And then your post disappears, and is not even in the cue. WTH???

[forgetdc]

04:15 PM on 09/26/2011

Oh boy what an HP cut and paste job. BB was being pushed into a corner by David Gregory trying to get him to say that Obama is not a supporter of Israel. BB was just doing whatever he could to avoid the question. Now the media is spinning it in BOs favor what a disgrace.

[smcircle]

06:28 PM on 09/26/2011

Obama is in his way a supporter of Israel. I think Obama is doing the diplomatic thing and trying to keep both Israel and the Arabs happy. Good luck wit that...

[jimall3]

03:44 PM on 09/26/2011

RED FLAG alert -- Puerto Ricans are US Citzens but cannot vote in USA elections.

Israelis who pledge allegiance to Israel CAN vote in USA elections! Does that make any sense?!

The USA is being taken over by a foreign power and it aint the Arabs and it aint the Mexicans. Those who do not see are stupid. Yeah I know I know, stating the truth makes me a nazi...yada yada yada.

[smcircle]

05:35 PM on 09/26/2011

It is very much wrong that Puerto Ricans cannot vote, that should change yesterday.

IF it is true that Israeli citizens can vote in an US election, non-American citizens of any kind, then that is more than just senseless, it could be treasonable to allow it. I have to see this to believe it. And to think Israel is taking over the US is like thinking Arnold the Terminator can be beaten in a fair fight by you. Israel is not a King David to our Goliath and to think so is really losing it with reality. If Great Britain was often being slaughtered by terrorists by way of suicide murderings and/or snipers so damn often, or any of our closest allies and friends The US would do as they are doing with Israel. Stop letting your antisemitism cloud your brain functions...

[WrongwayFeldman]

12:10 PM on 09/26/2011

"I think that bipartisan support is expressed by any person who happens to be the president of the United States, including President Obama."

BiBi Code = We are done with Obama. He has served Israels interest....time to get another fool!

[smcircle]

05:36 PM on 09/26/2011

What will you say when Obama doesn't become a lame duck until his second term?

[fapescia]

11:39 AM on 09/26/2011

The love of Israel is a feeling we all share. It was refreshing for me to go back to the walk around the Temple Mount with Chaim Richman. The red heifer is real, and after the Dome of the Rock is dismantled the rebuilding of the Second Temple can proceed.

[smcircle]

05:50 PM on 09/26/2011

Although I would not like to I have to disagree with the sentiment of your first sentence. Unfortunately there are many antisemitic people who do not see Israel as Jews do. Even in this country there are those who think only their religion is all God will smile on and they might see Israel differently than Jews do as well. They want Jews to become as they are and that only proves they haven't either read the Hebrew Bible or they refuse to see what is there.

Also it is the 3rd Temple we are looking forward to. A famous ancient Arab nation destroyed the 1st temple, named after King Solomon, and the Romans, being the slaughters they were if you didn't comply, destroyed the second temple in the year 70AD as prophesied by The Hebrew prophet Daniel many years earlier.

[jimall3]

06:08 PM on 09/26/2011

Jesus would condemn what's going on so if you are Christian you are misguided. If you are Jewish you are biased. If you are an atheist than you should not be supportive of a religious state to begin with

[quillerm]

10:02 AM on 09/26/2011

This OPED is the most armature attempt at spin I have ever read. Having read the transcript for the Netanyahu NBC interview it was obvious that the interviewer was trying to force a response of support for Obama. Israel's leaders are not going to criticize a US President on US soil. But it is obvious that Obama is trying to force Israel into concessions that are dangerous to their security. Netanyahu stated 'there has been a frosty relationship between this (Obama) administration and your administration.' so he is being punished by the leftist media.

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/09/25/netanyahu-tells-nbcs-gregory-youre-trying-throw-me-under-bus-american#ixzz1Z4Dl5QJm

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/09/25/netanyahu-tells-nbcs-gregory-youre-trying-throw-me-under-bus-american#ixzz1Z0Nx1wsz

[smcircle]

06:04 PM on 09/26/2011

I have to agree with you when you say "Israel’s leaders are not going to criticize an US President on US soil". I would think they wouldn't do that publicly so much as well because Israel is way to realistic to not know their existence wouldn't be without US support. All who surround Israel would have extinguished their light decades ago.

I also agree Israel is being force to give into treaty arrangements that would totally threaten their nation's security. Before the 1967 war, which Israel did not start, and before Israels occupations of Palestinian territories suicide murderings and snipings were so frequent because those Palestinian territories are terrorists dreams to do their nasty evil deeds from. Netanyahu, and those who really care about a lasting peace, are rightfully and very fearfully concerned that those terrorists attack frequencies will return if no guarantees of security by the new Palestinian government and the surrendering nations. IT is called survival.

[lowrodiay65]

09:22 AM on 09/26/2011

Congress has learned if they want to keep their jobs they have to do what Israel wants them to. Sad but true.

[JoGo3338]

09:39 AM on 09/26/2011

That is simply stupid. Israel is a democracy, has given the world endless advances in technology, medicine, agriculture and to be honest, Israel is better to it's Arab citizens than any Arab nation..so stop listening to propaganda and learn the facts. Without Israel, we have no ally in the Middle East..and let me tell you, the same hatred they have for Israel, they have for the US..friends are important.

[MrWhiskers]

11:53 AM on 09/26/2011

All right, but how does that refute the above point?

[Calamity Jack]

12:53 PM on 09/26/2011

Move to strike as nonresponsive.

[smcircle]

06:05 PM on 09/26/2011

LMAO

[invmartyc]

09:15 AM on 09/26/2011

When your "friend" steals from you, lies to you, spies on you, and does things that are contrary to agreements that you helped create with that friend's enemies when does it come time to say enough is enough? All the GOP wants to do is throw another monkey wrench into the works to try to make Obama and the Dems look bad.

[Carl Holod]

08:52 AM on 09/26/2011

let,s see congress has an 83% dissapproval rate.obama 53%.the pacs ,corps ,banks and lobbiests run the govt..who,s to say who rules america it's certainly not the americans.

[itacurubi]

08:46 AM on 09/26/2011

Why don't we just be done with it and admit that Israel is our 51st state?

[lordgamble]

08:56 AM on 09/26/2011

I'll sign on to that.

[mjmjupiter]

09:07 AM on 09/26/2011

Wht not just be done with it and let them fend for themselves. They are the nuclear power in the Mideast and God knows they have no interest in peace and never have.

[discocapper]

11:44 AM on 09/26/2011

Where do you come up with this? Actually Israel has repeatedly sought peace from its Arab neighbors, most of whom have been trying to destroy Israel since its rebirth.
Learn something before you spout rhetoric:
http://www.mythsandfacts.org/

[oldmole1861]

08:08 AM on 09/26/2011

The paid enough for it, of course they "enjoy" it. Too bad Americans cannot "enjoy" politicians untainted by a foreign power's influence.

[flaconoire]

08:08 AM on 09/26/2011

Does he mean, the US and the US?

[lloydc123]

07:20 AM on 09/26/2011

While I wish all the best for the Jewish people, I have never believed in the myth of the "chosen people."

[BartRoberts]

05:01 PM on 09/26/2011

The historical record proves none of the Bible's many fantastic assertions. That so much harm should have come to so many for so long over fairy tales is simultaneously tragic and burlesque.

[smcircle]

06:15 PM on 09/26/2011

Maybe you haven't read the Hebrew Bible as many Christians haven’t or at least not understood what it really means. For example, in the Golden Calf story, when God turned so furiously angry with the Israelites He wanted to kill all of them for their mortal sins. There were a few mortal sins they committed then but that is for another time and not for here and now. God told Moses He would begin again looking for a people who were worthy and who would choose and accept all of his Commandants, His Law. So maybe we Jews aren't the “chosen people” but instead the people who first chose God and his law. Something to think about.