Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Haim Saban, "The Truth About Obama and Israel": Like the Power Rangers, the "Truth" Comes in Many Different Colors

Haim Saban, who resides in Beverly Hills, California, and whose estimated net worth of some $2.9 billion makes him, according to Forbes, the 128th richest person in America (http://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/#p_1_s_arank_All%20industries_All%20states_All%20categories_Haim), has written a New York Times guest op-ed entitled "The Truth About Obama and Israel" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/opinion/the-truth-about-obama-and-israel.html), in which he tells us that he will vote for Obama in November:

"When I enter the voting booth, I’m going to ask myself, what do I prefer for Israel and its relationship with the United States: meaningful action or empty rhetoric? To me the answer is clear: I’ll take another four years of Mr. Obama’s steadfast support over Mr. Romney’s sweet nothings."

Well, whereas Mr. Saban left Israel and made a fortune in the US in the media and entertainment business, I left the US in order to volunteer for the Israeli army, and until today, at the age of 58, I serve as an officer in two reserve units.

Let me put this delicately: Mr. Saban's "truth" is not my truth. Unfortunately, however, given where I serve, I am severely limited in terms of what I can say. Nevertheless, allow me to make several observations.

As acknowledged by Aaron David Miller of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, who has served as an advisor to six US Secretaries of State, "Barack Obama is no Israel-lover," and "if the president wins a second term, expect a major clash with Benjamin Netanyahu" (see: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/25/warning_turbulence_ahead). So whose "truth" do you believe, that of Mr. Miller or that of Mr. Saban?

Israeli Vice Premier Moshe Ya'alon, a former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, stated less than a week ago that "Iran did not believe it faced a real military threat from the outside world because of mixed messages from foreign powers, including the United States" (http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=283363). Ya'alon's remarks came one day after Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that he did not want to be "complicit" if Israel attacked Iran's nuclear development facilities. Whose "truth" is correct, that of Mr. Ya'alon or that of Mr. Saban?

Israelis, by a 2:1 ratio, believe that Romney cares more than Obama about Israel (see: http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=281579). Israelis are not stupid, and their lives could well depend upon which presidential candidate Americans choose in November. Is the "truth" of this overwhelming majority of Israelis less valid than that of Mr. Saban?

More very recent evidence of the Obama administration's "true" friendship for Israel in the face of persistent Iranian threats to annihilate the Jewish homeland? As reported by The Times of Israel (http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-scales-down-annual-military-drill-with-israel/):

"Washington says that it will scale down its participation in what was planned to be the largest ever joint Israeli-American military exercise, Time Magazine reported Friday.

The Austere Challenge 12 exercise, to be held in October, was to feature thousands of soldiers and advanced anti-missile defense systems and simulate simultaneous fire from Iran and Syria.

The report quoted sources in Washington as saying 1,500 US troops — perhaps even 1,200 — would be sent to participate in the exercise instead of the original 5,000. In addition, sources in both Jerusalem and Washington told Time that it was probable that only one Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense warship — instead of two — would be sent to Israel.

The Patriot anti-missile systems set to be dispatched to Israel would reportedly arrive as planned, but not the crews to operate them."


Finally, one cannot help but notice the timing of Saban's guest op-ed in The New York Times, immediately after it became known that the Democratic Party plank no longer recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital and no longer acknowledges that Israel is America's staunchest ally in the Middle East, as in years past. According to the Democratic National Committee, the plank is in keeping with Obama adminstration policy (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.co.il/2012/09/new-york-times-editorial-words-not.html). Is this yet another "truthful" act of friendship from Obama and friends?

Mr. Saban, there are obviously many different shades of "truth." I can't afford to fly out to Los Angeles to engage in a philosophical discussion with you, but the next time you are in Israel, you are cordially invited to come to our home for coffee and to exchange views.

10 comments:

  1. Well ... the problem.
    Another illiterate, arrogant and indecent bozo. In the past, I occasionally had a beginning of a conversation with this or that musician or scientist, who didn't have a day of history in their lives, but after a couple of sentences it was obvious that a sensible conversation wasn't possible.
    Ugly. Sad.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very well said, Jeffrey, I fully agree. I will be voting this November for the Republican party candidates and against Mr. Obama and his liberal socialist Democratic party.


    Signed a friend of Israel.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jeff,
    Don't expect Saban to be dropping by for coffee and cookies anytime soon unless you come around and start blogging about how wonderful Obama is for Israel.
    Based on his NYT op-ed and the amount of money he's donated to the cause so far, Saban and his wife will most likely be spending more nights in the White House if the president is re-elected in November.
    From Wikipedia:
    Saban has been a generous and consistent donor to the United States Democratic Party according to his mandatory Federal Election Commission filings. Mother Jones, in an analysis of the major donors to the campaigns of 1998 election cycle, ranked Saban 155th among individual donors. Amy Paris noted that Saban's Clinton-era "generosity did not go unrewarded. During the Clinton administration, the entertainment executive served on the President's Export Council, advising the White House on trade issues." The New York Times reported that Haim and his wife "slept in the White House several times during President Clinton's two terms." Saban remains close friends to the former President. Clinton described Saban as a "very good friend and supporter."Saban contributed between $5 million to $10 million to the William J. Clinton Foundation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sadly, Obama's party isn't socialist Democratic party. I can assure you that this country would be in much better shape had his party been Social Democratic.
    The problem is somewhere else - Obama is a CHARLATAN and the story is typical of charlatanry. It isn't normal to vote for "Hope, unity, change," but this exactly what happened.
    Ignorant, trained to value superficiality, population has been duped by a master manipulator and his team.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, I think I was right.
    Below is a definition of charlatan:
    "charlatan - a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes"

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Democrats and their true believers at the NYT are frantic that they will loose the Jewish vote - especially in Florida.
    Fun watching Debbie Wasserman Schultz getting caught lying about lying regarding comments she made about Michael Oren and the GOP.

    Nope, it wasn't me. It was a conservative newspaper who said that...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-672ZDeMh4&feature=player_embedded

    Oops...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpHLa6Eg2Uk&feature=player_embedded#!


    ReplyDelete
  7. The more the Democrats dwell on the subject of Israel, the more embarrassing it gets.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISvoPQ5jtzk

    I can just imagine, David Axelrod watching this,
    shaking his head and murmuring to the president "Oy Vey, this does not look good".

    ReplyDelete
  8. Obama's official policy on Jerusalem - DADT (don't ask, don't tell).
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obI1jiUBRnQ&feature=player_embedded

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So who is the bigger liar, Chuck Schumer or Debbie Wasserman Schultz?

      Delete
  9. OK, it's done. I am out. I am nowhere, but I am out.
    I am no longer a member of the "Democratic" party.
    It just occurred to me that the Republicans have a better name. Clearly, we don't have democracy, but we have some Republic.

    ReplyDelete