JB-Netenyahu Corruption?

Off Topic Politics and World Issues
1

JB:

Netenyahu

Any way you can decipher what’s going on here? (All the noise is deafening and confusing…)

When one considers the rough-and-tumble/no-holds-barred nature of Israeli Politics…is this a Trumpish “Witch-Hunt”…

Or is there something to it all?

Thanks.

2

A corrupt politician? Unthinkable.

3

@Jewbacca and @loppar?

4

I’ll just leave this here because it’s so funny

1 Like
5

Bibi has been in power a long time, second only the Ben-Gurion. All governments get corrupt after the passage of time, so I would not be surprised.

That said – and this relates to Ben-Gurion, or, more aptly, his crew. Ben Gurion was a communist (really, not hyperbole) and member of the International Left that we see in the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Jared Kushner (yes, Trump’s son-in-law), Soros, Obama, Hillary, Abbas, etc.

Ben Gurion’s crew – while out of direct political power – still has legacy control over much of the press, the courts, and the professional government. They are just as rotten and corrupt as any long-term government can be, perhaps worse.

So it is equally possible that they are throwing bullshit at Bibi because that’s all they have.

Looking at the allegations (and there are three distinct allegations, seemingly unrelated), the lawyer in me is left somewhat confused, looking for the crime.

  1. The first one involves a movie producer. The guy who produced “Pretty Woman” and a number of hits. He’s Israeli, but lives in the USA a fair amount. Obama and the US State Department was mad at Bibi for not agreeing to die quietly like a good Jew and so pressured various arms-related suppliers to not sell things to Israel that Israel needed to not get slaughtered. Bibi called the producer who knew some people that made the stuff and so bought it and sold it to Israel. All legal. All above-board. But it circumvented Obama. So the State Department pulled the Producer’s visa (or didn’t renew it, I can’t remember). Bibi apparently made a call to Trump or someone to get the Producer his visa back. Somehow this is bad.

I don’t see a crime here. Nothing wrong with a head of a government watching the back of someone who is helping his country. Anyway, that’s the first one.

  1. The second one was Bibi allegedly provided access to officials in return for good press coverage. The owner of a paper/website is on tape telling his editors to not be anti-Israel. If this is a crime, every reporter and every politician needs to go to prison, as it is how the press-government relationship works.

  2. I really don’t understand the third one, as it has changed a couple of times. I think it is a rich friend of Bibi gave him Cuban cigars and other cool stuff over their 30 years of friendship. I guess that could be a “quid” but I don’t see a “pro quo.”

So anyway, something may be there.

Probably it’s just typical Israeli government bullshit. Just like in the USA, various factions of the government are not shy about using the government to attack various other factions. Think how Hillary used FBI files way back when. Or how Obama used the IRS and apparently the FISA court. (Or J Edgar Hoover targeted people. Or McCarthy used the fear of Communists, etc., if you want the other side.)

1 Like
6

The way the information is being presented in the US makes it look like the Billionaire Arms Dealer/Movie Producer is the guy who gave PM Netenyahu all the cool stuff(#3), in return for the favors(#1).

7

That’s for the insights, JB…

(I really didn’t know that about Ben Gurion…)

8

Yep. Israel was ALMOST a communist country. But because it was an empty wasteland when founded, we promptly figured out that there was no one else’s money to steal and pass out, which is a fundamental requirement for a communist government to function.

3 Likes
9

Yeah, I may not have the facts 100% right (and I don’t think anyone does), but there are three distinct referrals – 1000, 2000, and 3000. I’ll try to find an English link that explains it.

10

I’m not living in Israel, so it wouldn’t be right to rant about these opinions expressed by @Jewbacca who actually lives there, but if I were living in Israel, my opinion would have been almost diametrically opposite of that.

Saying that as a frequent visitor and who has got a lot of family members living in Israel.

11

I love Bibi. He is the most intelligent person of power in the world right now…

It would be funny if it wasn’t true… It was still a little funny.
My support for Israel is unflappable.

12

That’s the “I am smarter than you and we both know it.” look…

13

I’m probably being a little too hard on DBG. He is a legit hero of the Jewish people.

He was, however, very enamored with communist ideals. Note, NOT the Soviet Union. But the idea of communism.

His subsequent followers color my commentary – they are generally not heros, but rather typical socialists.

14

I have mixed feelings about him. He’s really just a center right politician – bit like Mitt Romney (who used to work for Bibi in Boston, really). I grew up in Gush Katif, so I have some serious problems with some of the things he’s permitted.

That said, potential graft or not, squishiness or not, he’s just so much better than the alternatives, I tend to support him.