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Netanyahu has carpet bombed Western diplomacy
While the prime minister was taking America by storm with interviews on Iran, there were some Israeli surprises at the J Street Conference in Washington and signs of a potentially explosive alliance being forged back home.
By Yossi Verter Oct. 5, 2013 | 3:07 AM 20
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By Barak Ravid and Haaretz
Sep. 29, 2013 | 4:30 AM
Netanyahu to urge EU leaders not to let up pressure on Iran
By Haaretz | Oct. 4, 2013 | 5:33 PM
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes home today after leaving behind scorched earth in the American media arena. In the past two days, he executed a public diplomacy campaign best likened to carpet bombing. His dozens of interviews, briefings and meetings with public-opinion molders were all in the service of one goal: to tear the mask off the smiling face of Iranian President Hassan Rohani and to broadcast to the American people − and through them to its elected leaders − the message that this man is far more dangerous than he looks.
One can argue that Netanyahu, in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, projected unnecessary aggression, and that his nonstop round of media interviews can be seen as reflecting mild panic in the face of the revised approach of the international community, and especially the United States, to the new Iran. But one cannot take away from him the sense of mission and the deep conviction he feels that, as prime minister of Israel at this time, he must do what he is doing because there is no other way.
And one cannot take away from him the last four and a half years, during which he placed the Iranian issue at the top of the international agenda. Were it not for the combination of the diplomatic offensive waged by Netanyahu in world capitals and Israel’s military preparations for an attack, it’s hard to believe that the sanctions against Iran would have had the same impact.
Early next week, the premier is scheduled to speak at Bar-Ilan University, and the week after that he will open the winter session of the Knesset with a policy statement. Last week, I mentioned the fact that an absolute majority of Likud MKs and ministers do not currently support an agreement with the Palestinians. If Netanyahu should decide to split from his party in the wake of a breakthrough in the talks, he will not have the backing of one-third of the faction, as Ariel Sharon did in November 2005, but two or three MKs at most. On a good day.
On the eve of his departure for the United States this week, Netanyahu ordered the ministers not to give interviews so they would not steal the spotlight from him. After his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama and his speech at the United Nations, a small voice emerged out of the Prime Minister’s Bureau: Guys, go ahead and give interviews freely, and tell the nation that sits in Zion what a great prime minister we have.
Netanyahu has carpet bombed Western diplomacy - Weekend Israel News | Haaretz
While the prime minister was taking America by storm with interviews on Iran, there were some Israeli surprises at the J Street Conference in Washington and signs of a potentially explosive alliance being forged back home.
By Yossi Verter Oct. 5, 2013 | 3:07 AM 20
Tweet
By Barak Ravid and Haaretz
Sep. 29, 2013 | 4:30 AM
Netanyahu to urge EU leaders not to let up pressure on Iran
By Haaretz | Oct. 4, 2013 | 5:33 PM
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes home today after leaving behind scorched earth in the American media arena. In the past two days, he executed a public diplomacy campaign best likened to carpet bombing. His dozens of interviews, briefings and meetings with public-opinion molders were all in the service of one goal: to tear the mask off the smiling face of Iranian President Hassan Rohani and to broadcast to the American people − and through them to its elected leaders − the message that this man is far more dangerous than he looks.
One can argue that Netanyahu, in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, projected unnecessary aggression, and that his nonstop round of media interviews can be seen as reflecting mild panic in the face of the revised approach of the international community, and especially the United States, to the new Iran. But one cannot take away from him the sense of mission and the deep conviction he feels that, as prime minister of Israel at this time, he must do what he is doing because there is no other way.
And one cannot take away from him the last four and a half years, during which he placed the Iranian issue at the top of the international agenda. Were it not for the combination of the diplomatic offensive waged by Netanyahu in world capitals and Israel’s military preparations for an attack, it’s hard to believe that the sanctions against Iran would have had the same impact.
Early next week, the premier is scheduled to speak at Bar-Ilan University, and the week after that he will open the winter session of the Knesset with a policy statement. Last week, I mentioned the fact that an absolute majority of Likud MKs and ministers do not currently support an agreement with the Palestinians. If Netanyahu should decide to split from his party in the wake of a breakthrough in the talks, he will not have the backing of one-third of the faction, as Ariel Sharon did in November 2005, but two or three MKs at most. On a good day.
On the eve of his departure for the United States this week, Netanyahu ordered the ministers not to give interviews so they would not steal the spotlight from him. After his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama and his speech at the United Nations, a small voice emerged out of the Prime Minister’s Bureau: Guys, go ahead and give interviews freely, and tell the nation that sits in Zion what a great prime minister we have.
Netanyahu has carpet bombed Western diplomacy - Weekend Israel News | Haaretz