Have They No Shame #3: The Supposed Dinner Snub

David Streeter — March 29, 2010 – 12:07 pm | Barack Obama | GOP Hypocrisies | Have They No Shame? | Israel | Stop the Smears Comments (0) Add a comment

Last week, an NJDC member from Florida forwarded us an email from a “Republican friend” containing a Times article that claimed President Barack Obama snubbed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting last week. The rumor has also gained traction in the blogosphere.

 

Reportedly, Obama left Netanyahu to have dinner with First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters. But, as Administration officials said this weekend, there was no snub intended and it does not appear that Netanyahu and his staff viewed it as such, as Politico objectively reported.

 

There are many shameful characters in this overblown saga:

 

1. Activists from the party of “family values” who have the gall to bash Obama for allegedly having dinner with his family following a meeting that was, reportedly, on hiatus specifically for that purpose.
2. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach who chose to wade into this incident by perpetuating the un-sourced stories that Obama used his children as an excuse to snub Netanyahu.  
3. The Telegraph and The Times, which have no business sensationalizing the Obamas’ domestic life. That sort of muckraking may be acceptable in the British press, but in America, with rare exception, family members are left out of political attacks, especially when there are children involved.
4. Fox News also picked up the story, which is unsurprising given its political slant and the fact that it is owned by the same parent company as The Times.

 

The fact is, this is just another example of right-wingers throwing whatever they can at Obama with the hope of scaring away Jewish supporters.  

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself has condemned such irresponsible speculation:

 

“I have recently heard anonymous, unworthy remarks in the media regarding the American administration and the American president. I would like to make it clear: I find these remarks to be unacceptable. They are from nobody acting on my behalf. Relations between Israel and the U.S. are those between allies and friends and reflect longstanding tradition. Even when there are differences of opinion, they are differences of opinion among friends and will remain so.”

 

In sum, Obama supposedly took time out from his schedule to have dinner with his family and put his children to bed. How exactly does this amount to the international incident that the right-wing, through foreign press reports, is trying to drum up?

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