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Emanuel Slams Netanyahu for Supporting Romney

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According to a televised report on Channel 2 news in Israel, Chicago Mayor and former White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel has lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for what he perceives to be “his public support for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney” over President Obama in the recent election.

Although Netanyahu did not endorse Romney, nor did he engage in subliminal campaigning for him, the personality clash that developed between Netanyahu and Obama as a result of intense disagreement on policy issues during the president’s first term in office, gave the media an opening to present the Israeli Prime Minister as favoring Romney, thereby damaging his image as a responsible leader who can get along with leaders of the free world.

According to the report, Emanuel, said during a closed session at the Saban Forum in Washington that, “Netanyahu supported the wrong candidate in the US elections and lost.”

As has been reported by Israel National News, sources in the pro-Netanyahu camp have said that the timing of Emanuel’s remarks, which come during Israel’s election period are not coincidental. Saying that President Obama was not willing to accept “degrading treatment” from Netanyahu, Emanuel added, “It is inconceivable that the Prime Minister of Israel would behave the way Netanyahu is behaving,” according to Channel 2 News.

On December 2, the New York Times reported that President Obama was outraged to learn of the decision of the Israeli government to approve the construction of 3000 Jewish homes near the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim near Jerusalem as a response to the Palestinian Authority’s recent unilateral move for “non-member” statehood at the United Nations. The report claimed that Obama caught wind of the construction approval only hours before it was reported in the media.

Releasing a statement on the move, Netanyahu’s office said, “By going to the UN, the Palestinians have violated the agreements with Israel and Israel will act accordingly.”

Shortly after the announcement of the construction approval, the White House condemned Israel’s decision as “counterproductive” and said it would make the resumption of peace talks even more difficult.

The animosity between the US president and the Israeli Prime Minister was spotlighted in November of 2011, when journalists attending the G-20 summit heard President Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy complaining about Netanyahu. The French media watch website “Arret sur Images” was the first to report the conversation caught on a “hot mic”.

“Obama began by reproaching Sarkozy for not warning him in advance that France would vote in favor of Palestinian membership in UNESCO,” the website reported. “The conversation turned to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, with Sarkozy saying,’I don’t want to see him anymore, he’s a liar.’ President Obama concurred with Sarkozy’s take on Netanyahu and replied, “You’ve had enough of him, but I have to deal with him every day.”

The genesis of the rift between the two leaders can be traced back to early 2010, when Israeli officials approved 1,600 new settler homes in East Jerusalem during a visit by the US vice-president, Joe Biden. At a meeting between Netanyahu and Obama at the White House in March of 2010, the President projected an icy indifference towards his Israeli colleague that reportedly occurred after Israel refused to extend the settlement freeze that had begun 10 months earlier. It was reported that Obama abruptly walked out of a meeting with Netanyahu, refused to have dinner with him, and the customary concluding handshake and photograph between the President and an international leader was omitted.

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