Israel Furious with White House for Leaking Syria Strike, Calling it "Scandalous" Behavior for an Ally

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Israeli officials are apoplectic after the Obama administration confirmed that the IDF struck a Syrian military base this week.
Israel, which had refused to comment on the strike, is fuming behind the scenes and accusing the U.S. – which gives Israel $3 billion in funding annually – of not behaving like a proper ally:

Israel’s Channel 10 TV on Friday night quoted Israeli officials branding the American leak as “scandalous.” For Israel’s ally to be acting in this way was “unthinkable,” the officials were quoted as saying.

This ‘leaked’ anger from officials within Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government is quite rich. After all, the Netanyahu government – which receives more U.S. aid than any other government in the world – routinely embarrasses the United States, despite all the financial and military support it receives from their American allies.

It was Netanyahu, after all, who had the chutzpah to criticize and lecture President Obama during a speech he delivered to Congress in 2011.
And it is Israel which, in defiance of repeated U.S. entreaties, continues to expand its settlement enterprise in the Occupied Territories, despite U.S. efforts to reignite peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
In fact, just this week, Israel announced further settlement expansions just as the U.S. announced Secretary of State John Kerry would arrive for further peace talks.
It’s behavior Israel has engaged in repeatedly. Netanyahu officials recently embarrassed Vice President Joe Biden by officially announcing a large settlement expansion just as Biden stepped foot in Israel for talks on the peace process.
So much for behaving like an ally.
Scandalous, indeed.

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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoirWhat Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, now out from Oneworld Publications.
Follow him on Twitter@David_EHG.

0 thoughts on “Israel Furious with White House for Leaking Syria Strike, Calling it "Scandalous" Behavior for an Ally

  1. This is a silly attempt to slam Israel and divert attention from the real issue: whether Israel’s strike was warranted. Yet another attempt to pander to those who hate Israel, and want it restrained from acting to prevent the shipment of arms to terrorist organizations (for use against Israeli citizens). Really shameful.

    • Agree 100%. Was there ANY good reason to leak this information? Over at Daily Kos, this same diary has brought forth Jew haters. They pose as anti-Israel, but it is easy to see what they are about. And the diarist enables the hatred, without a word against.

      • Hi Oldschool, may I humbly suggest that you stop providing page hits to Daily Kos?
        That site’s revenue comes from selling ads, and the amount for each ad is determined by the number of page hits they get. Every time you point your web browser there you are essentially putting money into the pocket of Markos “dudebro” Moutlitszas, Joan “Obama is a time traveling space alien and I love Mohathir Mohammad” McCarter, and all the rest of those objectionable people.
        At this point, the readership there has dwindled to the point that page hits from those critical of the site have probably become an appreciable fraction of the total. But in doing so those people are contributing to the perpetuation of its very existence.

        • A time-traveling *CIA agent* space alien, actually, fizziks. I mean, after all, a time-traveling space alien in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Particularly if one is anti-American.
          But if one is a time-traveling *CIA agent* space alien, however, then all bets are off.
          You make a good point. That site is a disgrace, and provides nothing much more these days than a shameful platform for those like this poster, who repeatedly spew hatred against Israel and toward Israelis for personal gain.

    • Those “terrorist” organisations in Lebanon rose up as a result of Israeli invasions in 1948, 1977 and 1982 that left thousands of civilians dead. It’s called self-defence.

          • someone needs to hit the history books…
            I’ll give you a hint though: there was an invasion in 1948, but it wasn’t Israel doing the invading.

          • Deborah’s problem is not complete ignorance of history. It’s blatant Helen Thomas-ism (helenthomasism?).
            These are the kinds of people David happily enables. I do hope he is proud.

          • It’s a symbiotic relationship. He enables them as an AsAJew, as they enable him. They provide the base of support which he then uses to attempt to colonize the mainstream. However, the contradictions are getting to be too much to handle – cozying up to such blatant history deniers while at the same time trying to appeal to mainstream liberals.
            Also it appears that Deborah’s problem is BOTH (willful?) ignorance of history and helenthomasism.

          • You should look into the military actions of those who created Israel in Palestine: haganah, palmach, Stern, etc. Look into weapons smuggling, including B-17 bombers. Look into the military movements BEFORE any Arab response to help the Palestinians. Look into the Israeli broadcasts that encouraged/ threatened the Palestinian civilian population to flee their homes, and the pattern of massacres and forced evacuations that backed up those threats.
            Our parents worked hard to establish our Jewish national home and of course it took military action and was an invasion and occupation. So what? Your denial of these facts as if they were shameful is a betrayal of their dedication, success and memory. You should have the courage of your convictions and not deny noble facts that seem to cause you embarrassment.
            My home is Israel. Around the world people see us as a rogue state. You don’t think it will take courage and a will to fight to save us? And you would deny us the honor and historical recognition of the necessary method of our creation in 1948? You young pups should be ashamed.

          • As I told a rabbi arguing with a member of the JNF, as the Bible says, “Blessed be the peacemakers,” I say, “Blessed be the truth tellers.”

  2. Does the Israeli Government really think they can keep their unilateral bombing of another country secret? Shouldn’t the world know when war crimes such as this action is committed? Should that Government’s Officials be charged with war crimes and prosecuted in the International Criminal Court?

  3. Scandalous behavior from an ally? Israel behaved in a scandalous manner in regard to Pollard. When he offered to spy against Israel’s chief ally, the USA, Israel should have alerted the USA that the USA was employing an untrustworthy person. Israel would have behaved like an ally, and Pollard would have been sacked but out of prison. One expects an enemy to spy on one, but it is a betrayal to be spied on by an ally. Israel is still trying to get US Jews to support the release of that no good bum who is where he belongs.

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