Clinton emails reveal complicated relations with Netanyahu
by Daily Sabah with Wires
ISTANBULSep 03, 2015 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah with Wires
Sep 03, 2015 12:00 am
A new batch of emails from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private account that were released by the State Department reveals an unflattering 2010 assessment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Washington Post reported on Monday. A former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, wrote an email to Clinton that said, "Netanyahu was missing a historic opportunity to close a deal with the Palestinians because he was obsessed with preserving his ruling coalition," according to the Washington Post. The 7,000 pages of emails dated from 2009 to 2010 included the Israeli prime minister's name, including nicknames like "Bibi," around 178 times. Indyk also wrote that Netanyahu "seems to lack a generosity of spirit" in the email titled "dealing with Netanyahu." In the emails, Indyk reminded Clinton, "Bibi needs President Obama to deal with the threat from Iran and to avoid punishment by the voters for mishandling relations with the U.S." Besides, an unofficial adviser, Sid Blumenthal, wrote to Clinton that Netanyahu is motivated in his actions by a desperate attempt to meet his father's expectations, the Times of Israel reported, suggesting that Clinton appears to agree with this analysis. The email was sent immediately after the Mavi Marmara raid in which Israeli commanders killed nine Turkish citizens in May 2010. Blumenthal likened the raid on the ship to Gaza to the raid on Entebbe, adding, "except that there are no hostages, no guns (on the Turkish ship), it's not in Africa, and it's a fiasco; otherwise, it's Entebbe." He also noted that the raid would likely be "the death of the peace process," the Times of Israel reported. Although Israel is considered by some as one of the closest allies of the U.S., the private emails reveal Netanyahu was seen as really problematic.
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