Former Israeli Ambassadors Say Netanyahu Should Cancel Speech

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at his Jerusalem office, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014. (AP Photo/Gali Tibbon, Pool)
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Five former Israeli ambassadors said in interviews with Ynet News that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should cancel his upcoming speech to Congress.

The news outlet talked with six former ambassadors about the controversy. Though they declined to criticize their successor, Ron Dermer, who has been at the center of the speech flap, five of the six said that the prime minister shouldn’t go forward with the speech.

Ynet News spoke with former ambassadors Moshe Arens, Moshe Arad, Itamar Rabinovich, Shimon Peres, Danny Ayalon, Sallai Meridor, and Michael Oren, Dermer’s immediate predecessor. Their combined service dates back to the early 1980s.

“If the prime minister is perceived to be meddling in US politics, it has implications for the Jewish community,” Arad said.

“If he were to convince me that his actions were of benefit with regard to Iran, despite the cost of the damage to our relations with the United States, I’d support him,” Meridor said. “But we are paying a double price, and Congress in the end isn’t united against Iran. His appearance before Congress won’t be beneficial and may even hurt the things for which he is going there.”

Or as Rabinovich put it most succinctly: “He made a mistake – period.”

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  1. Avatar for chammy chammy says:

    So there you have it - but will Bibi listen? This will for sure be further testament to what a’hole Bibi is and what a stupid idiot Boehner is

  2. Drip, drip, drip.

    This stunt is stinking more and more, isn’t it?

    And I suspect that that’s why Peter King went ballistic in his comments earlier this week. The boneheads suspect they’re going to either have egg all over them or an unhelpful spectacle.

    They completely underestimated Obama. Again.

  3. Ynet News spoke with former ambassadors Moshe Arens, Moshe Arad, Itamar Rabinovich, Shimon Peres, Danny Ayalon, Sallai Meridor, and Michael
    Oren, Dermer’s immediate predecessor.

    One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong . . .

  4. I confess to not being sure…Danny and Michael seem to stick out as names…Danny (Daniel) is OT and Michael is NT, right? So is it “Michael” that doesn’t belong? Man…it’s been years since I read the thing.

    Obviously I’m working on the assumption that the more “traditional” sounding names the others have are also found in the OT, but I dunno…the whole litany of who begat who made my head hurt.

    Or are you just focusing on Dermer being the only American-born one?

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