WSJ: Netanyahu Bribed Republicans Over Iran Deal

[grunion]

The Wall Street Journal is reporting (paysite) that wiretap leaks reveal that the Obama Administration caught Netanyahu offering bribes to certain "on the fence" congressional Republicans to get their support against the Iran nuclear deal.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the story is that Netanyahu thought bribery would be necessary to get Republicans to attempt to embarrass this administration on the world stage.

Perhaps the most uncomfortable aspect of the story is that Obama vowed to curtail eavesdropping on the private conversations of the Heads Of State of our allies after the Merkel scandal, yet apparently kept Israel's very much alive.

Perhaps the saddest aspect of the story is the treason and graft by elected officials which will largely go unnoticed and dismissed as "more election year politics." But I hope not.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Fortunately for those not paying for the WSJ, there are other reports on the story, and other POVs:

Spying on Congress and Israel: NSA Cheerleaders Discover Value of Privacy Only When Their Own Is Violated

Spying on Netanyahu makes sense given he came here trying to interfere in our political process.

Greenwald of course is on the NSA is a bad thing side of the isle which makes for an interesting take on the news revelation:

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the NSA under President Obama targeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top aides for surveillance. In the process, the agency ended up eavesdropping on “the contents of some of their private conversations with U.S. lawmakers and American-Jewish groups” about how to sabotage the Iran Deal. All sorts of people who spent many years cheering for and defending the NSA and its programs of mass surveillance are suddenly indignant now that they know the eavesdropping included them and their American and Israeli friends rather than just ordinary people.

Pete Hoekstra's Twitter comments are priceless.

WSJ report that NSA spied on Congress and Israel communications very disturbing. Actually outrageous. Maybe unprecedented abuse of power.

NSA and Obama officials need to be investigated and prosecuted if any truth to WSJ reports. NSA loses all credibility. Scary.

Guess that depends on if the "bribe" claim is true.

 

[crescent]

Perhaps the most uncomfortable aspect of the story is that Obama vowed to curtail eavesdropping on the private conversations of the Heads Of State of our allies after the Merkel scandal, yet apparently kept Israel's very much alive.

I wonder if the amount of effort we put into spying on one ally or another has something to do with how much effort that ally puts into spying on us. In that regard, Israel has a very poor record.

Israel can, for that matter do things that would very seriously hurt American interests very, very fast. Germany and other allies could hurt our interests as well, but not so quickly as Israel, especially with Bibi at the helm.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

So we have spying on foreign leaders, spying on members of Congress, and possibly uncovering Treason: Leaked Wiretaps Reveals Netanyahu Bribed Republicans To Sabotage Obama’s Iran Peace Deal

A new report from the Wall Street Journal reveals that NSA wiretaps found that the the Israeli Prime Minister and other officials of the Israeli governments attempted to, and most likely succeeded, to bribe American legislators in exchange for their support against the deal.

"Most likely succeeded" leaves a bit of murky in the mix. If the GOP was merely convinced Netanyahu was right, then you have Obama spying on Congress which is pretty serious. But if there was any quid pro quo, you have corrupt Congresspersons which is more serious given they would have been bribed by a foreign country.

This is going to take a bigger box of popcorn.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I wonder if the amount of effort we put into spying on one ally or another has something to do with how much effort that ally puts into spying on us. In that regard, Israel has a very poor record.

Israel can, for that matter do things that would very seriously hurt American interests very, very fast. Germany and other allies could hurt our interests as well, but not so quickly as Israel, especially with Bibi at the helm.

The issue here is much bigger than the spying. Netanyahu made an unprecedented effort to influence/sabotage the US-Iran nuclear deal. We didn't elect Netanyahu. We shouldn't be acting as proxies for Israel.

Regardless of how you feel about the Iran deal, Netanyahu should not have been so blatantly trying to influence Congress.

 

[Giordano]

Off hand I cannot think of a country that did not spy on its friends as well as it enemies throughout history. There is a long history of the USA (in addition to other countries) using various means, including spying, to aid friendly to the USA (or at least friendly to the then current USA government) groups in other countries, even democracies, and to blunt the influence of other groups that the USA government (i.e. those in power at at the time) considers unfriendly. I believe this has also been true for hundreds of years in the UK, Germany, France, etc. It appears to be the way "the game" is played.

But what always strikes me is how the officials of these governments typically are so lacking in empathy that the rules that they gleefully apply to others are not thought of as applying to them. Many feel that the NSA should be allowed to spy on all overseas and internal communications, but of course not on their own! The TSA should be free to make everyone line up and go through degrading and ineffective inspections, except for them (I am certain that USA politicians have to be screened at airports, but I suspect that it is a much more polite, quick, and smooth experience for them than for the general public. They are probably given alcoholic drinks to help fortify them through the process!). Although off topic, I understand that many members of the USA House are disturbed by the quality of the food provided by the new outside contractor, even as they pass law after law that limit the quality of government services provided to others.

For me the main question is how long does it take for a politician to begin to think this way, and at what point in one's career does it happen? I presume that those elected to the local Board of Education don't convert, whereas those elected to the US Senate do (and fairly quickly). Just when does one begin to assume subconsciously that they personally are of course different from those who they govern?

 

[The Big Dog]

Headline here deliberately misleading?

I have the Wall Street Journal article open in another tab and it says:

"The prime minister was focused on building opposition among DEMOCRATIC lawmakers."

It seems that the headline here is deliberately misleading.

 

[tyr_13]

I can't remember, which democratic lawmakers ended up opposing the deal? Did any lawmakers actually change support or opposition after the yahoo began lobbying (and possibly bribing)?

 

[grunion]

I can't remember, which democratic lawmakers ended up opposing the deal? Did any lawmakers actually change support or opposition after the yahoo began lobbying (and possibly bribing)?

Democrat Senators Chuck Schumer (NY) Ben Cardin (MD), Joe Manchin (WV) and Robert Menendez (NJ) all voted with the Republican majority to oppose the deal, along with 19 Democrats in the House.

 

[Ziggurat]

Perhaps the saddest aspect of the story is the treason and graft by elected officials which will largely go unnoticed and dismissed as "more election year politics." But I hope not.

Is it your considered opinion that Israel is legally considered an enemy of the United States? Because if not, then nobody here can possibly be guilty of treason.

 

[The Big Dog]

The Wall Street Journal is reporting (paysite) that wiretap leaks reveal that the Obama Administration caught Netanyahu offering bribes to certain "on the fence" congressional Republicans to get their support against the Iran nuclear deal.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the story is that Netanyahu thought bribery would be necessary to get Republicans to attempt to embarrass this administration on the world stage.

Perhaps you could explain why you are making these claims despite the fact that the WSJ article refers to "Congressional Democrats."

Perhaps I should not have expected better, but it is a bit mystifying that the article was so blatantly misrepresented....

 

[grunion]

Perhaps you could explain why you are making these claims despite the fact that the WSJ article refers to "Congressional Democrats."

Perhaps I should not have expected better, but it is a bit mystifying that the article was so blatantly misrepresented....

My mistake, I was relying on second-hand reporting when I posted the OP. I don't know which legislators he actually tried to influence. Either Democrats or Republicans who responded to this influence are equally culpable of corruption.

 

[The Big Dog]

My mistake, I was relying on second-hand reporting when I posted the OP. I don't know which legislators he actually tried to influence. Either Democrats or Republicans who responded to this influence are equally culpable of corruption.

Thank you.

Occupy democrats is an excellent example of the lack of integrity of so many partisan propaganda sites. That website is clearly deliberate misinformation.

 

[tyr_13]

Democrat Senators Chuck Schumer (NY) Ben Cardin (MD), Joe Manchin (WV) and Robert Menendez (NJ) all voted with the Republican majority to oppose the deal, along with 19 Democrats in the House.

Thanks.

 

[marplots]

Da Jews!

 

[plague311]

Thank you.

Occupy democrats is an excellent example of the lack of integrity of so many partisan propaganda sites. That website is clearly deliberate misinformation.

They aren't the only ones, a search for "Netanyahy Bribe" brings up articles saying Republicans were bribed from almost every source. That includes Drudge, AboveTopSecret, and a few other known right-wing sources. Seems to be a common mistake.

 

[BobTheCoward]

Except there is no evidence that a single bribe was offered. "How can we get your vote what is it going to take" is a legitimate discussion completely within the separated powers of the legislature.

 

[twinstead]

Except there is no evidence that a single bribe was offered. "How can we get your vote what is it going to take" is a legitimate discussion completely within the separated powers of the legislature.

maybe I'm just naive, but even if there was not a single bribe offered (and if they know what they're doing there wouldn't be evidence regardless), something in the back of my mind has always a little wary about the whole foreign lobbyists thing.

I have enough problem with domestic lobbyists; a country like Israel doing 'whatever it can do' to steer American foreign policy is even worse.

 

[Cain]

Obama buys into the anti-Semitic premise that U.S. interests do not wholly overlap with Israeli interests.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Obama buys into the anti-Semitic premise that U.S. interests do not wholly overlap with Israeli interests.

Interesting that standing up to Netanyahu isn't recognized by the right wing as a positive. They'd prefer Obama play lapdog. I suppose they also don't recognize their own begging for Sheldon Adelson to toss them a bone.