-- As she readied her run for the presidency in 2015, Hillary Clinton shrewdly balanced her support for the Iran deal by coming out strongly against BDS, boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign targeting Israel. Clinton did so as the result of extensive discussions between top political aides and Benjamin Netanyahu, who had called on the Jewish community to "attack" BDS, as revealed by emails leaked by wikileaks (thanks to the Russians, some say).
Notably, Stu Eizenstat, the Clinton aide who bragged that he visited Israel two or three times a year, met with Netanyahu, and Eizenstat then counseled Clilnton's top foreign policy aide, Jake Sullivan, on the need to strengthen ties to Israel. He said that if Clinton gained the White House, "Bibi should be invited for early talks on how the partnership with Israel can be strengthened..."
Eizenstat also sought to undermine the Obama administration's policy on Israel on Netanyahu's behalf:
"The Obama White House-Bibi relationship is obviously deteriorating to the point of no return. It is more poisonous than US-Israeli relationship in my lifetime...
"The Prime Minister's efforts to back-off his immediate pre-election statements about Israeli Arab voting and opposition to a two-state solution have not only been rebuffed by both the President, and most recently, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, but they have effectively questioned the Prime Minister's candidness. Olive branches have been spurned. Fuel was added to the fire with the allegation of Israeli intelligence intervention in the Iran talks. There is a distinct possibility that the Administration may seek a new UN Security Council Resolution embodying the two-state solution, with 1967 lines and agreed land swaps, and some vague statements about Jerusalem. If and when an Iran framework agreement is announced this week, this combustible situation will explode...
"This obviously places Hillary in an extremely difficult position, caught between the President she served and the organized parts of the Jewish community, I have talked several times recently, including yesterday afternoon, with Malcolm Hoenlein, president of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. They have refrained from directly criticizing the President, but he told me that he and most of his organizations are extraordinarily concerned about the situation, and highly desirous of Hillary making some statement to calm the turbulent waters."
A lot of that leverage on Clinton was financial. Her major donors included many Zionist Jews, notably Haim Saban. She backed away from the Obama administration on Israel, and also came out with a letter to Saban opposing BDS. She also published a promise to meet with Netanyahu "in my first month in office." Whatever Trump was doing for Netanyahu, Clinton was going stride-for-stride. (And today Saban thanked Jared Kushner for trying to stop the UN Security Council resolution against settlements, which the big Democratic donor called a 50-year "tradition" in Israeli society.)
I know there's more, that list is just from cleaning out my pocket. Any reasonable person must ask, Why did the Obama administration endorse a resolution against settlements in 2016 that it had vetoed in 2010? What pressure was exerted in the first case that was no longer meaningful when he was leaving office?
And when will the press ever make this the issue? It's not as if Israel's own strategy in the Middle East, occupation, segregation, and occasional massacre, have worked out well for anyone...
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