A degree of murk attaches to the Israeli election
results, to the surprise of none. It is a rule of politics in the
Holy Land that if there is an easy way to do a thing and a hard
way, the solution is to invent a third, more difficult way.
Still, after the dust settles, the smoke clears and the fog
lifts, it appears the next Prime Minister will be everyone’s
favorite MIT diplomate and well-met diplomat, Benjamin Netanyahu.
And anyone who has kept up with his Hebrew lessons knows what
Benjamin means: “Man of the right.”
The freshly minted American administration is
none too happy being left at the altar. They had hoped to
“remake” Israel along with remaking the United States. Any movie
buff can tell you the remakes are rarely as good as the
original.
The tactic being employed by the administration and its
surrogates is fascinating, though founded in falsity. They are
planting stories everywhere about how prickly Netanyahu is, so
curmudgeonly that even a nice even-keeled guy like Bill Clinton
was subjected to a rough ride. Poor Hillary, these commentators
cluck, now she is in for it. Unless of course Benjamin has
matured.
This sort of setup is a classic pincer strategy elevated by
leftists to an art form. If there is disagreement between Obama
and Netanyahu, as there will inevitably be, Netanyahu is tarred
(you should excuse the expression) as the bad guy. In a word much
beloved of negotiators, he will be labeled intransigent. Reuters
in a
Feb. 9 piece has already dusted off a real nasty word:
“truculence.” If Netanyahu sells out his principles and betrays
his voters, that will be heralded as a sign of statesmanship.
It’s a thing of beauty, this Machiavellian strategy, even if it
is pernicious, obnoxious, fulsome and abhorrent.
Listen to this quote in a few recent articles, attributed
to Dennis Ross: “Bill Clinton complained Netanyahu acted as if
Israel were the real superpower.”
The real truth, well known to both Washington
and Jerusalem insiders, is that Clinton hated Netanyahu for no
reason other than liberal hating conservative. The late Ralph de
Toledano (1916-2007) wrote a phenomenal essay in the
Conservative Chronicle during the
impeachment trial of President Clinton. He pointed out how
relaxed Bill’s body language was around Yasser Arafat, a murderer
of Israelis and Americans, soldiers and civilians, adults and
children, not to mention a corrupt, dissipated lowlife. On the
other hand, when Bill stood next to Benjamin Netanyahu, a fellow
Ivy Leaguer with heroic achievements, he was distinctly ill at
ease.
Toledano’s point was brilliant and true: Clinton’s problems
with Netanyahu reflect on Bill’s character flaws much more than
on Benjamin’s.
This story is public knowledge, repeated extensively in
political circles: Clinton tricked Netanyahu by suddenly offering
a pardon for
Jonathan Pollard as a sweetener for a deal in the Wye
Plantation negotiations. When Netanyahu showed interest in the
proposal, Clinton had George Tenet leak the deal in such a way
that a flurry of negative publicity ensued. The upshot was that
not only was Pollard not released, Netanyahu was criticized for
even suggesting such a thing.
On top of all this, the Clintons went out of their way to
personally interfere in the Israeli election, helping Barak
defeat Netanyahu. They snubbed Netanyahu, canceling scheduled
meetings, while encouraging James Carville to go off to Israel
and work on the Barak campaign. This was an unprecedented act of
interference in another country’s political process, and displays
the classic Clinton vengefulness.
Hillary Clinton is not looking forward to dealing with him
for the obvious reason that she stabbed him in the back. The
likelihood of him being terribly forthcoming with her is small,
although he has hitherto been careful to avoid taking direct
shots at her. But every bit of scorn she gets from him in private
or public is thoroughly well deserved and could not happen to a
nicer person, ahem.
Hopefully Netanyahu’s communication skills will enable him
to bypass these weasels and win the hearts of the American
public. He maintains a close friendship with Rush Limbaugh, and
the two often get together to trade views while smoking stogies.
If he has indeed matured, perhaps he can show the American right
once and for all how to beat these mean-spirited lefties at their
own game.
