Netanyahu’s new media adviser said Obama’s Iran policy is modern anti-Semitism – Now apologizes like a coward
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement later Wednesday night that it had not been aware of Baratz’s comments and that Netanyahu viewed them as unbecoming. Asked for clarifications, Baratz told the PMO the comments had been made as a private citizen and that his new state position demanded more restraint. Baratz also said in a late night interview with Channel 2 that he was sorry if Rivlin was offended.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s choice to serve as the next chief media adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office posted “controversial statuses” on his Facebook page, including one in which he refers to US President Barack Obama’s response to the premier’s Iran speech in Congress as modern anti-Semitism.
Ran Baratz, who was tapped by Netanyahu as Israel’s next “media czar,” once criticized Obama for the president’s response to the prime minister’s planned speech before Congress against the Iran nuclear deal.
“Allow me to be a bit blunt, which is a break from my usual moderation,” Baratz wrote. “This is what modern anti-Semitism in a liberal Western country looks like. And, of course, it comes with a great deal of tolerance and understanding for Islamic anti-Semitism. The tolerance and understanding is so great that [Obama] is willing to give it a nuclear bomb.”
The Obama administration was unhappy over Netanyahu’s appearance before a joint session of Congress, which was arranged with the Republican leadership and without the knowledge of the White House or the State Department.
The premier used the speech to lobby American lawmakers and warn of the dangers of striking an agreement with Iran.
Baratz, a former university professor with right-wing views, founded the online Hebrew-language journal MIDA. After Obama’s re-election in 2012, he wrote: “For the next four years, a pro-Arab, anti-Israel president will continue to rule. His upcoming term will be even more extreme, and he has nothing more to lose or to hide. The Jews have once again voted for Obama by a wide majority, and this just shows how wide the gap has become between the Jews of Israel and the Jews of the US.”
“The Jews in America who see Obama as pro-Israeli are the most extreme in their criticism of Israel,” he wrote. “The irresponsible Israeli policy which they seek raises the question of how exactly they can define themselves as pro-Israel.”
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Baratz also referred to US Secretary of State John Kerry as someone “whose mental age doesn’t exceed 12.”
In a column that he wrote for an online media magazine last year, Baratz offered a scathing critique of Kerry’s suggestion that the emergence of Islamic [terrorism] in the Middle East could be traced to the lingering [so-called] Israel-Palestine conflict.
It’s typical of the Israeli.