Obama characterised Netanyahu as a 'Putinism' subscriber, transcript says

[Judi Lynn]

The former US president included Netanyahu in a list of leaders he felt were on the opposing side to the US in 'the war of ideas'

By MEE staff
Published date: 5 October 2022 20:43 UTC | Last update: 3 mins 56 secs ago

US President Barack Obama accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of subscribing to what he called "Putinism" in his final days in office, according to newly declassified documents.

A transcript from the Department of Justice, first published by Bloomberg, details Obama's off-the-record discussion with reporters three days before leaving office.

"But what I worry about most is, there is a war right now of ideas, more than any hot war, and it is between Putinism - which, by the way, is subscribed to, at some level, by [Turkish President Reccep Tayyip] Erdogan or Netanyahu or [then-Philippine President Rodrigo] Duterte and [then-President-elect Donald] Trump," Obama said, according to the transcript.

He described the idea of "Putinism" as an opposing force to "a vision of a liberal market-based democracy" which, even with its flaws, was "responsible for most of the human progress we've seen over the last 50, 75 years".

More:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/obama-marked-netanyahu-supporter-putinism-declassified-transcript-says

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