Rice snubs Bibi after he calls for east Jerusalem building

Israel Insider ^ | March 26, 2008 | Israel Insider staff

[Anti-Hillary]

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has not been invited to meet with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her upcoming trip to Israel, sources close to Netanyahu said Tuesday, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Rice is set to with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and her dear confidante, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, but she apparently will not find time to meet with the head of the opposition, typically part of the standard protocol when diplomats visit Israel.

Netanyahu's associates said they were not surprised or upset by the snub, "because her visit was intended to promote the Annapolis process that Rice initiated and Netanyahu opposes. They emphasized that he had better relations with other American leaders such as Vice President Dick Cheney, with whom he met on Sunday," the Post reported.

"She apparently doesn't want to hear what he has to say," a source close to Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu had to actively lobby to get ear-time with US President George W. Bush when he came to Israel in January. The Likud leader was originally not on Bush's agenda but he was added after the snub made headlines. In the end, the two men met for twice the time allocated in the schedule.

Netanyahu, trying to shift the public agenda away from his overseas travel expenses, visited the controversial E-1 area between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim. He called on Olmert to start building there immediately despite fierce American opposition. Building plans for the area were approved during Netanyahu's term as prime minister but have been since frozen due to intense pressure from the US.

"All of Israel has been built, not because of the approval of the Arabs and the international community, but despite their opposition," Netanyahu told reporters atop a dusty hilltop. "We need the kind of leadership that would insist on this."

Netanyahu said it was unjust that Ma'aleh Adumim's expansion was being prevented while illegal Arab building went unchecked. He called again for the Shas party to leave the government after Livni admitted on Channel 2 Friday night that Jerusalem's fate was in fact being negotiated, despite Olmert's claims to the contrary.

"If the government continues, not only will Jerusalem be encircled by a ring of adversarial Arabs and eventually Hamas, Jerusalem itself will be divided," Netanyahu said. "My friends in Shas who say they want to save Jerusalem must leave the government immediately."

A Shas spokesman said in response that they received reassurances from Livni that Jerusalem was not being negotiated and that if the opposite were true, the party would leave the government, the Post reported. Shas has been saying that for months, despite evidence to the contrary.

Ma'aleh Adumim mayor Benny Kashriel said he would start a campaign after Pessah to pressure the government to build in E-1. He said he would move his office to the area as part of the campaign.

[Vaquero]

Bibi for PM.

[Cinnamon Girl]

"All of Israel has been built, not because of the approval of the Arabs and the international community, but despite their opposition," Netanyahu told reporters atop a dusty hilltop. "We need the kind of leadership that would insist on this." Netanyahu said it was unjust that Ma'aleh Adumim's expansion was being prevented while illegal Arab building went unchecked. He called again for the Shas party to leave the government after Livni admitted on Channel 2 Friday night that Jerusalem's fate was in fact being negotiated, despite Olmert's claims to the contrary. "If the government continues, not only will Jerusalem be encircled by a ring of adversarial Arabs and eventually Hamas, Jerusalem itself will be divided," Netanyahu said. "My friends in Shas who say they want to save Jerusalem must leave the government immediately." A Shas spokesman said in response that they received reassurances from Livni that Jerusalem was not being negotiated and that if the opposite were true, the party would leave the government, the Post reported. Shas has been saying that for months, despite evidence to the contrary.

That's my Bibi. If only we could count on Bibi to follow through on his own rhetoric. He's right for calling out Shas. What is their deal?

[DoughtyOne]

Evidently Rumsfeld refered to Rice as a ‘glorified Russian studies graduate’ around the start of the WOT. I think the guy may have been on to something.

I watched a few minutes of the PBS special on the fifth anniversary of the war start, “Bush’s War”. (B.S. Title BTW). This tid-bit was mentioned in that short clip I viewed.

They seemed to be making the case that Iraq would have been ever so much easier if the State Department had run things instead of the Pentagon. The State Department is the political version of a bottomless swamp. No way!

If I am asked to choose who has Israel’s best interests at heart, Bibi or Condoleza, she’s in for a big letdown. I see Bibi in the front of the classroom with front row Condoleza stuffed into a little first graders desk.

Listen to the master Condoleza. He’s knows what he is talking about.

[DoughtyOne]

And while you’re at it, Bibi for A.M. too. ;-)

I agree with you.

ElMort is death to Israel IMO.

[Hoffer Rand]

I’ll second that.

[Alouette]

FReepMail to be added or removed from this pro-Israel/Judaic/Russian Jewry ping list.

Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.

[Anti-Hillary]

You have said it well. Dr. Rice has lost so much respect from me over the years. She seems to want to hold hands with Islamic nuts at every turn. Why Bush can not see her for what she is, is beyond me. Did you read the part of the article in which Bibi finds more common ground with the likes of Cheney. Oh how I wish that man were President!

[fish hawk]

Of course! Condi will kiss the lefties ass and ignore the good guy hero. And to think, I was one of the idiots wanting for her to run for president. Well, I've grown up now.

[Retired Greyhound]

Of course I support BiBi...but if a foreign diplomat comes to the U.S. and meets with the minority party, that would be silly.

[Diplomat]

Bibi doesn’t know his arse from a hole in the ground. The last time he was Prime Minister he gave away Hebron for nothing. Next time he’s elected, it’ll be Jerusalem.

Please do not give me this bogus, he learned from his mistake garbage. If he was too stupid to realize that the Hebron deal would turn out exactly like every other prior deal Isreal has made with the pali’s, then he’s to stupid to be believed for anything. You can’t fix stupid, Isreal is apparently stuck on that.

Rice should snub this loser, Isreal needs a real conservative leader, not another go around of this pandering con-man.

[Joe Boucher]

Bush has been pressuring the Israelis to give up land for a chance at peace.
The Jews keep giving andthe Palis and arabs keep pushing and killing and shooting more rockets and still Bush wants the Jews to give more.

[Cinnamon Girl]

Johnny didn't snub Bibi:

[Cicero]

Not much to be gained by meeting with her. Rice is a lame duck, and Bibi is an outsider until the people of Israel decide they’ve had enough of Olmert and his band of idiots.

[DoughtyOne]

I don’t agree with Cheney on several issues, but the guy has more gravitas than any other political figure I can name. His corporate experience is glaringly evident. He knows what to say, when to say it and how to say it. He doesn’t waste words and when he gives you that eagle look, you know he’s measured you and knows just where to sink those talons.

John McCain isn’t one fifth the man Cheney is.

My only caviot with Cheney is where he stands on globalism. If he’s simply another globalist, one that is much more effective than any other, I would have to say I want no part of him.

We live in tough times. I cannot countenance surrending sovereignty on any level. I will say that I also think it’s time we reign in our corporations as it relates to the globalist mind-meld that has taken place since 1992.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

She’s going to feel very foolish if and when Bibi becomes PM again.

[DoughtyOne]

Bibi doesn’t know his arse from a hole in the ground. The last time he was Prime Minister he gave away Hebron for nothing. Next time he’s elected, it’ll be Jerusalem.

If you'll look at when he was Prime Minister of Israel, 1996 to 1999, you'll note that he served during the last years of the Bill Clinton cobal.  Clinton did his best to shake down Netanyahu and Barak in the interest of his own legacy, Israel be damned.  Barak nearly gave away the store in 2000, but luckily Arafat was too stupid to take advantage of what was offered.  He could have done so and still demanded more later on, but he blew it.

As for Bibi, I don't think we have any idea how much pressure was being exherted against him, both to force him into certain moves and to undermine him due to the respect he held.

If you want me to agree with you regarding Hebron, you've got it.  I have not always agreed with Netanyahu.  I do however think he is a good military leader and has the best grasp on Isreal's best course of all the leaders I've seen in Israel.  I'll be the first to admit I am not an expert on Israel's internal leadership, but I have paid attention to Netanyahu and others over the years, have seen countless interviews of his and have tried to pay attention to other leaders as well.

IMO he is ten times the leader that ElMort is, but then that's not saying much.  ElMort is a disgusting excuse for a leader.

Please do not give me this bogus, he learned from his mistake garbage. If he was too stupid to realize that the Hebron deal would turn out exactly like every other prior deal Isreal has made with the pali’s, then he’s to stupid to be believed for anything. You can’t fix stupid, Isreal is apparently stuck on that.

Hebron is not the full extent of Netanyahus career.  He goes a long way back.  I believe he along his brother were involved in the Entebe mission, and his brother died on it.  There isn't a chance that Bibi would have conducted the recent war in the north the way ElMort did.

As for him giving away Jerusalem, his recent call for new settlements there should make it evident he's not intent on doing that.

Rice should snub this loser, Isreal needs a real conservative leader, not another go around of this pandering con-man.

I appreciate your view of Netanyahu, but I have followed him for a very long time, on the order of 20 to 25 years.  I don't see him as a con-man.  I've seen too much of him to buy into that.  As for Condi, she can ignore him all she wants.  I'd prefer she did.  Let her spend her time lowering my respect for her even further by acting as if ElMort was worthy of her respect.

[montag813]

Condi Reich is such a creep. I can’t wait until Jan 20, 2009 for her departure.