Appearing on Sunday's NBC Meet the Press, The Atlantic's
national correspondent Jeff Goldberg acknowledged poor U.S.-Israel
relations and proceeded to blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu for causing the rift: "I've never seen an Israeli
prime minister mismanage the relationship with the United States or with
the administration the way this prime minister has." [Listen to the audio [1]]
Goldberg admitted: "Obama's not blameless. The first year, the peace
process was a disaster." However, he then continued to lambast
Netanyahu: "...one person here is the senior partner, one is the – the
junior partner, and Netanyahu has turned this into a story about himself
and Obama, rather than the important thing."
New York Republican Congressman Peter King immediately shot down
Goldberg's assertion: "...the fact is the Israeli government does not
trust the American government....The fact is there is not a trust
between the Israeli prime minister and the American president."
Moderator David Gregory then sought to escalate the debate: "Do you
double down on the comment that this President has thrown Israel under
the bus?" King replied: "He has not shown – yes, I will. In the context
of politics, yes, he has, absolutely."
Gregory teed up Goldberg's criticism of Netanyahu by fretting over the
Israeli leader's supposed "interference in our election." In an
interview with Netanyahu aired earlier on the program, Gregory interrogated the Prime Minister [2] about such "interference."
Here is a portion of the September 16 exchange:
11:20AM ET
(...)
DAVID GREGORY: What about this interference in our election [by
Benjamin Netanyahu]? I'm curious about that from both of you, because he
takes on – well, I – I pressed him on that charge.
JEFF
GOLDBERG: Well, there's – there's two issues. One is a legitimate
issue, which is this debate over red lines. This is the debate that
Obama and Netanyahu should have, a discussion, in private. And – and
that's – that's legitimate for – for Netanyahu to raise. What's
illegitimate, and – and let me just put this as – as bluntly as I can.
I've been watching the relationship between the U.S. and Israel for 20
years, more than 20 years, very seriously and I've never seen an Israeli
prime minister mismanage the relationship with the United States or
with the administration the way this prime minister has. Obama's not
blameless. The first year, the peace process was a disaster. But, you
know, one – one person here is the – one person here is the senior
partner, one is the – the junior partner, and Netanyahu has turned this
into a story about himself and Obama, rather than the important thing.
PETER KING: No, I – I disagree. I'm – I'm not here to criticize our
president. The fact is, in 2009 when he went to the Middle East and
suggested a moral equivalency between the Iranians and the Israelis,
when he was harping on – against the Israelis, the fact is the Israeli
government does not trust the American government. And that's really the
issue, not when the red line is going to be or where it's going to be.
The fact is there is not a trust between the Israeli prime minister and
the American president. And this is a President who'd come in saying he
was going to restore harmony among nations, he was going to have better
relationship with our overseas allies...
ANDREA MITCHELL: But-
KING: ...and adversaries.
GREGORY: Do you double down on the comment that this President has thrown Israel under the bus?
KING: He has not shown – yes, I will. In the context of politics, yes, he has, absolutely.
(...)