"During those years, he became acquainted with Eli Groner, who has served since 2015 as a top aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. An Israeli Embassy official in Washington told The Post in April 2017 that the two had met while Groner served as the embassy's economic attache between 2011 and 2015. The two stayed in touch over the years and discussed energy issues, the official said."
How does a fellow go from the Hudson Institute to the Trump campaign? Trump once said that Marco Rubio would become Sheldon Adelson's "perfect little puppet" if he took Adelson's money. Of course in the end, Trump got more from Adelson and his wife than any other donors, and he has always looked out for Israel's interest.
You'd think all this could become a scandal. But it hasn't yet.
Amos Harel worries that it could all blow up. He writes in Haaretz that Trump is deferring to Israeli interests in the Mohammed bin Salman murder case he's told everyone to forget about. "Trump's Decision to Stand by Saudi Prince Has Netanyahu's Fingerprints on It," Harel writes; and that could hurt Israel.
"Israel, like the Americans, also fears that an attempt to remove the crown prince could topple his government. ...
"Trump is repeating the argument that his efforts in the region stem from his desire to benefit Israel. Within a week he made the claim twice -- to justify his forgiving attitude toward Saudi Arabia and the doubling of the number of U.S. troops in Syria to 4,000.
"This line of thinking may convince good Jews (at the moment there are fewer and fewer) to vote for the Republicans in 2020. But it's also a very damaging statement for Israel because it confirms the anti-Semitic fantasies about Jewish control of U.S. foreign policy. Such declarations will eventually boomerang on Israel."
Thanks to Donald Johnson and James North.
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