Israeli politics has now openly inserted itself into American public discourse and no longer needs to hide in the shadows as it did previously, a new article in the Press TV news service has said.
“Using the baseless pretext of an Iranian threat to create nuclear weapons, Israeli politicians are blatantly and publicly inserting themselves in America’s presidential elections, demanding that President Obama do their bidding by articulating so-called ‘red lines. to further threaten Tehran,” the article said.
“Until now Israel has been content to mobilize its powerful lobby and media assets to apply pressure from the shadows, using political contributions and diplomacy of a covert type so that Tel Aviv’s involvement could be deniable. That is no longer the case.
“The New York Times reports, ‘Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel inserted himself into the most contentious foreign policy issue of the American presidential campaign on Tuesday, criticizing the Obama administration for refusing to set clear red lines on Iran’s nuclear progress that would prompt the United States to undertake a military strike. As a result, he said, the administration had no “moral right” to restrain Israel from taking military action of its own.
“Mr. Netanyahu’s unusually harsh public comments about Israel’s most important ally, which closely track what he has reportedly said in vivid terms to American officials visiting Jerusalem, laid bare the tension between him and President Obama over how to handle Iran. They also suggested that Mr. Netanyahu is willing to use the pressure of the presidential election to try to force Mr. Obama to commit to attack Iran under certain conditions.”
This is interference of a direct kind, virtually dictating to Washington to do what Israel wants it to do, and in the process try to tilt the election to the Republicans, who have rubberstamped Israeli demands and operate like an echo chamber of a lobby that has always presented itself publicly as non-partisan. That pretense seems to be slipping.
Meanwhile, financial backers of the right-wing setters in Israel have become among the most visible donors to Republican politicians.
Example: Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has pledged a whopping $100 million dollars to defeat President Obama. Support for Israel policy toward Iran is one of his major issues.
Just this week, the Center of American Progress issued a report showing that Adelson is hardly just being ideological or idealistic in pumping money into the Romney campaign.
They say that he is likely to personally benefit if Romney is elected and follows through on his promise to cut taxes.
Here’s the conclusions of their latest Progress Report: “Sheldon Adelson Stands To Get $2 Billion Tax Cut If Mitt Romney Is Elected:
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson’s backing of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney may not just make political sense for the billionaire — it may also be in his best interest financially.
Adelson has vowed to spend as much as $100 million to help sway the 2012 election.
According to a new report by Seth Hanlon, the director of fiscal reform at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Adelson could turn that investment into a $2 billion tax cut if Romney is elected.”
From Hanlon’s report on how Romney’s tax plan could benefit Adelson:
“Cut top tax rates, saving Adelson approximately $1.5 million on his annual compensation as chief executive of his casino company.
Maintain the special low rates on dividends, potentially saving Adelson nearly $120 million on a single year’s worth of dividends, more than enough to recoup his political donations.
Maintain the special low rates on capital gains, allowing Adelson to make back his political donations in capital gains tax cuts just by selling a fraction of his stock.
Provide a tax windfall of an estimated $1.2 billion to Adelson’s company, Las Vegas Sands Corp., on untaxed profits from its Asian casinos, as well as a tax exemption for future overseas profits. Adelson’s casinos already enjoy a special foreign tax exemption from the Chinese administrative region of Macau, and Gov. Romney would make those foreign profits exempt from US taxes as well.”
This shows just how sleazy US politics have become and how calculated big donors are in looking for outcomes that will benefit and enrich them.
All of these machinations are taking place within the elite.
