Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Why is Israeli Prime Minister trying to influence American Presidential Elections?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed up in U.S. a few weeks ago apparently to attend the U.N. General Assembly meeting, but his agenda seemed  more to influence U.S. presidential elections in Mitt Romney's favor.

He expected to be invited to the White House or have a meeting with President Obama for higher media visibility, but the President did not fall in hia trap and quite rightly refused to entertain his request.

It seems the man pulling Netnyahu's strings is Sheldon Adelson, the American casino billionaire who initially supported the extremist candidate Newt Gingrich, but after his defeat in the primaries switched support to Romney. Adelson once said, he is ready to spend $100 million to defeat President Obama.

It is interesting that Netenyahu himself won the elections in Israel with Adelson's backing. Adelson launched a free newspaper 'Yisrael Hyom' in Israel, which loses around $30 million a year just to support Neteyahu for Prime Ministership. It is doubtful that Netenyahu would have won the elections without this support.

The bigger question however is, why is a foreign Head of Government allowed to interefe in U.S. elections? What does this say about American sovereignty, have they surrendered it completely to a foreign country, whose leader is blatantly behaving like a colonial master. Why are the Republicans so shameless that to win, they are prepared to surrender dignity, honor and sovereignty? What if the Saudi King decides to interfere in the U.S. elections, will the Republicans keep their collective mouths shut or will they scream blue murder? 

This interference from Netenyahu may even have backfired for him in Israel. In an article written by Mathew Kalman published in today's Toronto Globe & Mail, it says "Critics (in Israel) say Mr. Netenyahu has effectively become part of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign at Mr. Adelson's behest, creating a rift with Mr. Obama and damaging Israel's ability to work with the United Sates to stop Iran's nuclear ambition".

The same article also says that the former Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz, in a rebuke to the Prime Minister from the Knesset podium in August, asked Mr. Netanyah “How low are you prepared to drag relations with our closest ally?” “It seems that the Prime Minister is trying to intervene in a rude, blunt, unprecedented, wanton and dangerous manner in the United States election.”

Will the American public stand up to this blatant interference by a foreign leader or will they take it lying down because the foreign leader is the Prime Minister of Israel?

It is time for refelction by the average American.

No comments: