New Clinton emails reveals advice from Israel-bashing Max Blumenthal.

[Dan193]

http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-clinton-emails-reveal-advisors-critique-of-netanyahu/
New Clinton emails reveal critiques from Israel-bashing son of adviser Sidney Blumenthal’s input to secretary included materials by his son Max, a self-described anti-Zionist who wrote a volume seen as the ‘I hate Israel’ handbook
BY REBECCA SHIMONI STOIL
January 1, 2016

The State Department’s New Year’s Eve release of over 5,000 pages of former secretary of state and current Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton’s emails from her private server reveals correspondence with one-time adviser Sidney Blumenthal regarding Israel, with Blumenthal citing the work of his son, writer Max Blumenthal.

The younger Blumenthal, author of the book Goliath, is a fervent critic of Israeli policies and a self-described anti-Zionist. The senior Blumenthal referred his son’s work to the secretary of state, sending her transcripts and links to articles. On at least one occasion, Clinton appears to have asked that one of the younger Blumenthal’s articles be printed out in multiple copies for distribution.

The Times of Israel has previously reported on correspondence between Sidney Blumenthal and Clinton regarding Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The latest emails provide further insight into the opinions of the secretary’s confidant.

In March 2010, Blumenthal plugged his son’s work — this time, playing up links between evangelical Pastor John Hagee and Netanyahu — in the context of an article (written by a different writer) discussing a controversial Pentagon briefing on US relations with Israel and the Arab world.

The briefing had dealt with the lack of progress in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and American concerns over a growing perception among Arab leaders that the US was incapable of standing up to Israel.

“I’ve included an article by Max Blumenthal, who spends his time on this issue and plans to move to Israel for about 6-8 months to write a book,” Blumenthal wrote to Clinton. “He tracks a lot of things that do not appear in the mainstream press.”

Clinton instructed a staffer to print out five copies of the articles, though “without the heading from Sid.” It was not clear from the email which articles from the email were supposed to be printed — the original article, which was featured in Foreign Policy; the Blumenthal piece; or both.

Blumenthal also sent Clinton a piece by leftist Israeli Uri Avnery, who also analyzed the Pentagon briefing by leveling a damning critique against Netanyahu. Clinton asked Blumenthal, in response, how she should use this material in an upcoming talk she was supposed to have with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Blumenthal promised to give Clinton suggestions, but the response either never came or was not included in the declassified correspondence, even though Clinton wrote to Blumenthal later in the day, asking if his recommendations were forthcoming.

The book by Max Blumenthal to which Sid Blumenthal referred would turn out to be Goliath, a work released in 2013 that excoriated Israeli policies and that was itself widely critiqued. The Forward’s J.J. Goldberg described it as “an unpleasant book” and the Nation called it “the I Hate Israel handbook.”

According to The Nation’s media editor Eric Alterman, the younger Blumenthal’s “case against the Jewish state is so carelessly constructed, it will likely alienate anyone but the most fanatical anti-Zionist extremists, and hence do nothing to advance the interests of the occupation’s victims.”

While Max Blumenthal worked on Goliath, his father continued to send his articles to Clinton. The elder Blumenthal emailed the secretary of state on a number of topics, but was not employed by the State Department. Clinton was allegedly blocked from hiring the longtime adviser and Clinton Foundation employee due to bad blood remaining between Blumenthal and President Barack Obama’s confidant, Rahm Emanuel, over Blumenthal’s tactics in support of Clinton during the 2008 presidential primaries.

The emails indicate that he remained in close correspondence with the secretary of state throughout her tenure in Foggy Bottom.

In 2012, Blumenthal sent his son’s article in al-Akhbar, “The Bibi Connection,” to Clinton, who then relayed it onward. The article emphasized Netanyahu’s intent to campaign against Obama’s reelection in 2012, arguing that “Netanyahu’s shadow campaign is intended to be a factor in defeating Obama and electing a Republican in his place.”

The article reflected upon Netanyahu’s ties to prominent Republicans such as Newt Gingrich, as well as the prime minister’s right-wing pedigree. It noted that when his father, Benzion Netanyahu, “returned to Israel to launch a political career, the elder Netanyahu was rejected by Menachem Begin, the (then-)Likud Party leader, who, as right wing as he was, considered him dangerously extreme.”