Report: Sarkozy told Obama he 'can't bear' Netanyahu the 'liar'

[azurnoir]

French President Nicolas Sarkozy told U.S. President Barack Obama last week he was fed up with dealing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and considered him a liar.

Sarkozy made the comment during a private conversation with Obama during a G20 summit in the French riviera town of Cannes last week and the remarks were overheard by a small number of journalists but not initially reported.

"I cannot bear Netanyahu, he's a liar," Sarkozy told Obama during a frank exchange where the U.S. president took him to task for backing a Palestinian request for membership of the UN cultural heritage agency UNESCO.

A Reuters reporter was among the journalists present and can confirm the veracity of the comments, which were relayed by a French internet outlet on Tuesday.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-sarkozy-told-obama-he-can-t-bear-netanyahu-the-liar-1.394338

[bemildred]

1. Netanyahu backs laws to limit donations to Israeli human rights organizations

Two bills restricting human rights organizations in Israel that were put on hold are now back on the legislative table. The proposed laws which would significantly curtail the ability of organizations to seek donations overseas will be brought to a vote next Sunday by the ministerial legislative committee.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced this week that he supports legislation of these bills, and will back their handling and approval by the ministerial committee. These are legislative initiatives that were discussed by the ministerial committee last June. Their handling was frozen at the request of Minister Benny Begin (Likud ), so as to avoid international criticism of Israel ahead of the Palestinian attempt to gain statehood recognition at the United Nations in September.

The proposed bills seek to cause economic harm to human rights groups which relayed information to the special UN committee headed by Judge Goldstone following the IDF's Operation Cast Lead on the Gaza Strip. According to a proposal forwarded by MK Ofir Akunis (Likud ), and backed by Netanyahu, political NPOs in Israel would not be allowed to receive donations exceeding NIS 20,000 provided by foreign governments and international organizations such as the UN and the European Union. According to the bill, "inciting activity undertaken by many organizations, under the cover of human rights work, has the goal of influencing political debates, and the character and the policies of the state of Israel."

Sources close to the Knesset relay that this is a problematic proposal, and is unlikely to be endorsed by the High Court as it is now formulated. The main problem is the difficulty of fixing a legal definition of an NPO's "political" activity. Nonetheless, Netanyahu's backing of Akunis' proposal is expected to be a decisive factor impinging on the ministerial committee's deliberations. The coalition is likely to mobilize in favor of the bill, prior to its being brought to a vote in the Knesset.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-backs-laws-to-limit-donations-to-israeli-human-rights-organizations-1.394256

[bemildred]

2. Jerusalem offices of Peace Now evacuated after bomb threat

Anonymous attackers spray-painted “price tag” and threatened to plant a bomb in the Jerusalem offices of “Peace Now” on Sunday.

Hagit Ofran, director of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch project, said that at around 8 P.M., the office intercom buzzed and a man’s voice said, “The building will explode in five minutes."

The police were called to the scene, and the two-storey building was evacuated.
Jerusalem police are now scanning the scene, and have begun searching for the perpetrators. Last weekend, a red star of David was also spray-painted onto the building.

Peace Now Director Yariv Oppenheimer said in response on Sunday that “we fear that the next stage is that the residents of the building next to our offices will be harmed. We submitted a complaint over the graffiti on Friday that has not been dealt with. I hope that the police will see the writing on the wall and will deal with it accordingly.”

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/jerusalem-offices-of-peace-now-evacuated-after-bomb-threat-1.394063

[bemildred]

3. Fighting to make Israel into a military theocracy

Is there a connection between the warning of the outgoing Judea and Samaria Division commander, Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon - who said a "radical minority, marginal in quantity but not in influence, is liable to bring about extensive escalation through what are called 'price tag' acts but reach the level of terrorism" - and the separation of women at the army's Simhat Torah celebrations?

At first glance, these seem to be two separate incidents, but they have a common denominator: the struggle for control of the Israel Defense Forces. These incidents represent the loss of the army's freedom of action, as an arm of the state, when it comes to religious groups.

The 2005 Talia Sasson report on illegal outposts presented a clear picture of military forces renouncing their duty to impose law and order on West Bank settlers, not just Palestinians, which led to the growth of illegal outposts.

The report describes how soldiers turned a blind eye to illegal activity and even secretly cooperated with settlers and leaked them information; some officers lived in the outposts.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/fighting-to-make-israel-into-a-military-theocracy-1.394278

[azurnoir]

7. It reminds me of how Christian Fundies in the US strategically placed

themselves on school boards during the fight to Darwin and his theory scrubbed from the public schools here, but this has far more serious and far reaching consequences for not just Israel but the entire ME

[bemildred]

11. It does not bode well.

Consider the piece shaayecanaan put up too:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x371310

[azurnoir]

12. yep all it takes is one generation alright n/t

[bemildred]

4. The comments to the OP are very cynical. nt

[LeftishBrit]

5. I can't bear either Sarkozy OR Netanyahu!

And I can usually tell when either of them is telling a lie, because their lips are moving. (Not original - first heard it about Blair; but it applies here.)

[shira]

6. More from YNet...

The conversation then drifted to Netanyahu, at which time Sarkozy declared: "I cannot stand him. He is a liar." According to the report, Obama replied: "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!"

The remark was naturally meant to be said in confidence, but the two leaders' microphones were accidently left on, making the would-be private comment embarrassingly public.

The communication faux pas went unnoticed for several minutes, during which the conversation between the two heads of state – which quickly reverted to other matters – was all but open to members the press, who were still in possession of headsets provided by the Elysée for the sake of simultaneous translation during the G20 press conference.

"By the time the (media) services at the Elysée realize it, it was on for at least three minutes," one journalist told the website. Still, he said that reporters "did not have a chance to take advantage of this fluke."

The surprising lack of coverage may be explained by a report alleging that journalists present at the event were requested to sign an agreement to keep mum on the embarrassing comments. A Reuters reporter was among the journalists present and can confirm the veracity of the comments.

A member of the media confirmed Monday that "there were discussions between journalists and they agreed not to publish the comments due to the sensitivity of the issue."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4145266,00.html

[azurnoir]

8. what I found interesting was Obama's reply to Sarkozy

from Ynet

The conversation then drifted to Netanyahu, at which time Sarkozy declared: "I cannot stand him. He is a liar." According to the report, Obama replied: "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!"

I could not add that in the OP because of the 4 paragraph limit, thanks for providing an additional link

[Donald Ian Rankin]

9. Did Obama say "but"?

The other sources I've seen quote him as saying not

"You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!"

but

"You're fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day!"

A small difference, but the latter strikes me as less ambiguously exasperated.

[aranthus]

10. Peres' worst mistake, or . . .

a case of "you get the government that you deserve?" I'm glad that these reports are getting out. Israelis need to know the hole that Netanyahu is digging for them. It's also telling that we're hearing this from both the Left and the Right in terms of heads of state.

[shaayecanaan]

13. The British apparently refer to him as a "gold-plated bullshit artist"

or some variation thereof:-


http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/ex-blair-aide-u-k-believed-netanyahu-was-untrustworthy-1.338223

[Alamuti Lotus]

14. well then get loaded for bear, and do something about it..

but Sarkozy is probably still too busy meddling in Libya for any other imperialist adventurism at the moment.

[Alamuti Lotus]

15. the unfortunate irony is, I would take Netanyahoo over any Kadima or Labor PM from the last 25 years

This is not necessarily a comment on Netanyahoo, but rather a strong statement against the militarist jackoffs their "centre/centre-left" consistantly produces - Rabin, Barak, Peres, Livni, Olmert, etc.. for all of Netanyahoo's odiferous bluster (and few sling the bullshit and bluster more than this guy--especially since the BOMB IRAN train has been gaining momentum in the homeland), the jets and tanks rarely burn too much fuel under his otherwise unremarkable watch.

[Scurrilous]

16. Heh.

:P

[Scurrilous]

17. What Obama really thinks of Netanyahu

<snip>

"he open mike I-wish-I-hadn't-said-that moment when French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "liar" and Barack Obama didn't disagree is a tale as old as the hills for American presidents and secretaries of state.

For decades, American presidents and diplomats have been locked in uneasy relationships with Israeli prime ministers from the Likud Party. One example: "Who's the f---- superpower here," a frustrated Bill Clinton exploded to his aides after his first meeting with Netanyahu in 1996.

It's a good thing for Obama that the open mike caught Sarkozy with the ad hominem attack on Netanyahu rather than the president.

"I can't stand him. He's a liar," Sarkozy said. Obama was heard to say, "You're tired of him -- what about me? I have to deal with him every day," according to a French website.

I'm sure many people would have loved to have heard more of what Obama thinks. There's no doubt that Obama is frustrated and angry in the extreme with what he perceives to be Netanyahu's recalcitrance when it comes to Arab-Israeli peacemaking.

Indeed if there was a cartoon bubble over the president's head, I guarantee you his sentiments would have matched or even exceeded, Sarkozy's. When it comes to "Bibi" Netanyahu, our somewhat detached and cool president is hot and very combustible. When Netanyahu was dismissively lecturing the president during their press conference last June in Washington, the look on Obama's face was somewhere between mortification and raw anger. If looks could kill, we would have had a new Israeli Prime Minister by now."

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/10/opinion/miller-obama-netanyahu-open-mike/