FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Report: Obama to appoint anti-Israel adviser
Possible Mideast envoy seen as one of Jewish state's biggest foes in Washington
Posted: December 02, 2008
2:29 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
 Daniel Kurtzer |
Kurtzer, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, long has been seen in Jerusalem as one of the Jewish state's greatest foes in Washington. He has been identified by Jewish and Israeli leaders, including prime ministers, as biased against Israel and is notorious for urging extreme concessions from the Jewish state.
The Haaretz report follows WND articles quoting officials in Jerusalem who stated Kurtzer was likely to become Obama's envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Kurtzer came under fire last summer when he traveled to Damascus where he reportedly urged Syrian officials to fast-track negotiations with Israel aiming at an Israeli withdrawal from the strategic Golan Heights. Kurtzer at the time stressed he was not in Damascus as part of Obama's campaign but instead visiting as a private expert attending an international lawyers conference.
Obama's transition team did not immediately return a WND e-mail and phone message seeking comment on Kurtzer's possible appointment. Haaretz noted Obama's purported decision to appoint a special envoy to the Mideast reporting to him directly, rather than to the secretary of state, indicates the president-elect attaches special importance to the region.
Kurtzer long has been identified by Israeli leaders speaking on the record as one of Israel's greatest foes in Washington, and his appointment as a primary Mideast adviser to Obama first raised some eyebrows in the pro-Israel Jewish community.
"We oppose the appointment of Kurtzer, because of his long, documented record of hostility to and severe pressure upon Israel," said Zionist Organization of America National Chairman Morton Klein.
Kurtzer has been blasted by mainstream Jewish organizations, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
He has angered Israeli leaders many times for pushing Israel into what they described as extreme concessions to the Palestinians.
"With Jews like Kurtzer, it is impossible to build a healthy relationship between Israel and the United States," Benjamin Nentanyahu was quoted saying in 2001 by Haaretz.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said Kurtzer "frequently pressured Israel to make one-sided concessions to the Arabs; he constantly blamed Israel for the absence of Mideast peace, and paid little or no attention to the fact that the Palestinians were carrying out terrorist attacks and openly calling for the destruction of Israel."
Morris Amitay, former executive director of the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2001: "Kurtzer ... will use his Jewishness as a protective cover for his anti-Israel views."
The ZOA points out Israel's leading daily, Yediot Ahronot, editorialized on Kurtzer's negative influence against Israel: "Possibly more than any other U.S. State Department official, Kurtzer has been instrumental in promoting the goals of the Palestinians and in raising their afflictions to the center of the U.S. policymakers' agenda."
Kurtzer first rose to prominence in 1988 when, as a State Department adviser, he counseled the Reagan administration to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat. The PLO had carried out scores of anti-Western attacks, but in the late '80s Arafat claimed to have renounced violence.
In 1988, Kurtzer was noted as the principal author of a major policy speech by then-Secretary of State George Shultz in which the U.S. government first recognized the "legitimate rights" of the Palestinians.
Haaretz reported in 2001 that Kurtzer had a "vocal conflict" with an Israeli government official in Philadelphia in the summer of 1990 after Kurtzer "attacked the Israeli government for refusing to include the PLO in the peace process [and] said that this constituted the main obstacle to peace."
To interview Aaron Klein, contact M. Sliwa Public Relations by e-mail, or call 973-272-2861 or 212-202-4453.
Related offers:
"NObama" magnetic bumper sticker
Whistleblower magazine's "THE SECRET LIFE OF BARACK OBAMA"
Previous stories:
Obama adviser travels to Syria
'Obama will immediately birth Palestinian state'
Israeli leader: Next U.S. president 'may not be as friendly'
Aaron Klein, WorldNetDaily's Jerusalem bureau chief, is known for his regular interviews with Mideast terror leaders and his popular segments on America's top radio programs. His newly released book is "Schmoozing with Terrorists: From Hollywood to the Holy Land, Jihadists Reveal their Global Plans – to a Jew!"
December 2, 2008
Obama to Appoint James Baker’s Anti-Israel “Jewboy” as Mid-East Envoy’
Ha’aretz Is reporting that President-elect Obama is about to appoint Daniel Kurtzer as his special envoy reporting directly to him.
- Obama’s decision to appoint a special envoy reporting to him directly, rather than to the secretary of state, indicates that the president-elect attaches special importance to the regional peace process. Reportedly, several of Obama’s advisers recommended the appointment. The special envoy job could infringe on the prestige of Hillary Clinton, who was appointed secretary of state yesterday. On the other hand, it could ease any apparent conflict because of Bill Clinton’s close ties with the Gulf States.
Kurtzer is another gift given to Israel from that 78% of Jews who voted for BOH. When Daniel Kurtzer was part of the George HW Bush’s administration he was known as one of Secretary of State James Baker’s team of “Jew Boys.”— Kurtzer, Dennis Ross, and Aaron Miller. They were Baker’s closest advisers and the designers of the Bush’s policy to reach out to the PLO, appease terrorism and blame Israel for everything.
You remember Jim Baker he was the Secretary of State said, “F**K the Jews, they didn’t vote for us anyway” Baker was also the one who during the first Gulf war told Israel to simply suck it up for the greater good and take Iraq’s Scud attacks without responding.
When Baker ran the state department under the first President Bush, he was famous for his disdain of Israel and tilting American Foreign Policy toward the Palestinians.
- Baker repeatedly blamed the government of Yitzhak Shamir, rather than intransigence of the Arab world, for the absence of a negotiated settlement. Appearing before the House Foreign Affairs committee in June 1990, Baker listed the phone number of the White House’s switchboard and angrily retorted, in reference to Israel, “When you are serious about peace, call us!” Baker also denounced Israel’s refusal to deal with alleged Palestinian “moderates,” stating, “with such an approach there would never be a dialogue on peace.” Heedless of the political realities, Baker organized a conference on the Arab-Israeli conflict in July of 1991, citing the participation of Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia as evidence that the Arab world truly desired peace – this even as the Palestinians, with the vocal approval of neighboring Arab states, escalated their intifada to unprecedented levels of violence.
(FrontPage October 11, 06)
That was the policy orchestrated by the latest member of Barack Obama’s anti-Jew crew. But just so you don’t think that Kurtzer is being bashed because he is working for Obama, I invite you to read the article below, written by conservative Joseph Farah when Kurtzer was appointed to be appointed ambassador to Israel in 2001 by President Bush:
Posts
