Once again we count on Israeli journalists to shine a light on American politics.
First, here’s a headline and subhead from Ha’aretz: “Jewish money corrupted the Jewish state: Diaspora Jewish philanthropists, showering money on Israeli politicians, helped ripen the field for corruption; Olmert’s conviction is just a case in point.”
A portion of Anshel Pfeffer’s report:
“early on in his career he [Olmert] came into close contact with too much Jewish money. I apologize to our more faint-hearted readers who may find that combination troublingly reminiscent, but the sad fact that Jewish money has corrupted a generation of leaders of the Jewish state is inescapable.”
Uri Avnery’s latest column is also about Diaspora Jewish money, in the person of Sheldon Adelson, corrupting both the U.S. and Israeli political process.
Flanked by Israeli bodyguards, Adelson grilled the American hopefuls. And what was he demanding from the future president of the United States? First of all and above everything else, blind and unconditional obedience to the government of another state:
Israel.
Wait, I didn’t know that about the bodyguards. Alex Kane and Annie Robbins filled me in. Politico:
He showed up 20 minutes late to a Friday morning RJC board meeting, zipping up to the entrance on his scooter flanked by two Hebrew-speaking bodyguards.
And three black bodyguard applicants sued in 2011 saying that the team is all Israeli:
[Adelson’s] “Executive Protection Team,” which for the past 14 years “has been comprised exclusively of former Israeli citizens who are white males.”
Back to Avnery:
Everything Adelson does is done openly, proudly, shamelessly. I wonder how ordinary Americans react to this spectacle of one billionaire – especially a Jewish one – choosing their next president for them.
We are told that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe and across the globe. In the crazy mental world of the anti-Semites, Jews control the cosmos. And here we have a Jew, straight out of the pages of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, trying to appoint the ruler of the mightiest country on the planet.
Adelson has failed in the past.
Eric Alterman also used the Protocols of the Elders of Zion analogy for Adelson, back in 2012. This is very funny, from Avnery:
But I have no doubt that his right-wing Zionist passions come first. If he succeeds in installing his favorite in the White House, the US will become totally subservient to the extreme right-wing in Israel. He might as well put Netanyahu in the Oval Office.
Now reflect that NPR just did a long story about Adelson’s financial influence, without mentioning the word Israel once.
[Adelson’s] “Executive Protection Team,” which for the past 14 years “has been comprised exclusively of former Israeli citizens who are white males.”
Now why doesn’t that surprise me?
To those disappointed black applicants I would ask: why would you want to spend your days guarding some old fart who has nothing but contempt for you. Trust me, you dodged a bullet there!
hey, credit where credit is due, those were alex’s supporting links. ;)
my comment was the bodyguards were probably hand picked/part of the vetting team, (along w/dermer https://mondoweiss.mystagingwebsite.com/2014/03/democrats-israeli-addressing.html )
i assume they likely double as israeli government agents. when the candidates get formally vetted by netanyahu they fly to israel. this is just the first step.
Uri Avnery wrote:
Scenario: Zionism has the potential to trigger the biggest explosion of antisemitism in world history, worldwide, all at once.
Leading Zionists themselves have been complaining that they see signs of this frightening historical trend all around them.
Where does one begin to untangle this psychological mess?
Eric Alterman wrote:
J.J. Goldberg wrote:
Adelson’s effort to “appoint the ruler of the mightiest country on the planet” is not just about protecting the apartheid state of Israel’s illegal actions but to keep unions down and his money making empire unscathed by collective bargaining etc.
Adelson is a walking talking manifestation of all that is wrong in the U.S., Israel and the world. Greed and power out of control.
Thomas Friedman on Sheldon Adelson yesterday:
[article; Thomas Friedman; Sheldon: Iran’s Best Friend; The New York Times; April 5, 2014 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/opinion/sunday/friedman-sheldon-irans-best-friend.html ]
For once, a nearly solid wall of commenters are in agreement with a New York Times article on Mideast politics and Israel.
Friedman:
and:
Sometimes Friedman hits the nail on the head.