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Israel/ Palestine

Netanyahu a “Liar”: Sarkozy

Juan Cole 11/08/2011

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy was recently overheard talking to President Obama and complaining that he couldn’t stand Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, whom he called a “liar.”

President Obama didn’t seem in a hurry to defend Bibi, who has in fact had a long history of prevaricating. His biggest lie? That he wants a “peace process” with the Palestinians. That is sort of like saying that shearers want a “peace process” with the sheep that they fleece.

Here is Netanyahu admitting that he deceived the United States by pretending to support the Oslo Peace Process but behind the scenes destroying it.

So, a liar.

In the conversation, Obama also pressured Sarkozy to stop the Palestinians from joining more United Nations organizations, since by a law passed by our crazy Congress at the behest of the Israel lobbies, the US has to withdraw from all organizations that recognize the Palestinian state.

Although Reuters seems to think that the Palestine Authority succumbed to this arm twisting, the reporting I’ve seen suggests that they will pursue membership in more agencies, which has the effect of isolating the US and Israel from key world bodies.

What is embarrassing is that Sarkozy clearly feels able to defy Netanyahu, but because of too much Big Money in US politics and because of the US lobby system (which gives undue power also to Cuban Americans to make US Cuba policy), Obama has “to work with him.”

And how shameful that Obama is working behind the scenes against the Palestinian bid for UNO recognition, which is one of their few legal and political options, given that negotiations with a known liar would be like sheep submitting to the shearer.

Filed Under: Israel/ Palestine

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

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