Friday, November 29, 2013

Haim Saban Throwing Israel Under Bus for Access to Obama



Haim Saban Throwing Israel Under Bus for Access to Obama
by William Bigelow 27 Nov 2013
Haim Saban, the Israeli whose capital group owns Univision, often boasts of his support for Israel. Yet Saban held a fundraiser for President Barack Obama Monday only two days after Obama announced a deal with Iran that puts Israel in mortal danger as it enables the Iranians to escape sanctions and continue with their nuclear plans. Saban actually had the chutzpah to say Obama’s “commitment to Israel’s security has never been stronger.”

At his palatial Beverly Hills home, Saban introduced Obama like this:

We’re out of Iraq, we’re out of Afghanistan and the military and intelligence cooperation with Israel — our staunchest ally in the Middle East, arguably in the world, has never been deeper and the president’s commitment to Israel’s security has never been strongerAnd if the Iranians are at the negotiating table today, make no mistake about it, it is only as a result of President Obama’s resolve in striking down the most strict sanctions ever.” The event was the second fundraiser of the night for Obama and the first Saban has hosted for the President directly.

Just last month, Southern Californias Public Radio reported that Saban used to be distant from Obama:

But it took him a long time to start writing checks to Barack Obama, whom he viewed as soft on Israel. “Saban was very hesitant and very suspicious that Obama was, at the worst, anti-Israel and the best, neutral on Israel,” said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, senior fellow at USC’s Price School of Public Policy. “And that didn’t cut it.

Saban used to be tough on the Iranians. What happened? He told Haaretz in 2006,

When I see Ahmadinejad, I see Hitler. They speak the same language. His motivation is also clear: the return of the Mahdi is a supreme goal. And for a religious person of deep self-persuasion, that supreme goal is worth the liquidation of five and a half million Jews. We cannot allow ourselves that. Nuclear weapons in the hands of a religious leadership that is convinced that the annihilation of Israel will bring about the emergence of a new Muslim caliphate? Israel cannot allow that. This is no game. It's truly an existential danger.

Contacted by TruthRevolt.org, Saban would not comment on why he still supported Obama despite the new Iranian deal. But when one examines statements he’s made in the past, it’s all too clear that his statement to the New York Times in 2004, "I'm a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel,” is not where his heart truly lies. To understand that it’s proximity to power, not Israel, that matters to Saban, check out this bit from a 2004 interview with Haaretz:

But I do not belittle the fact that I can go to Angela Merkel in the Chancellory and say, 'Hi, Angela, how are you?' And she replies, 'Haim, nice to see you.' I don't minimize that. That's a great pleasure. And that I sit with Clinton in the White House and he goes to the refrigerator and asks me if I want regular water or fizzy? Sometimes I tell myself that there's something a bit nutty here. He's the president of the United States. I sell cartoons. So he is going to serve me and ask if I want regular or fizzy water?

When he was asked if a President Hillary Clinton would be capable of making tough decisions on Iran, he replied:

Her policy will be different. She believes, and I agree, that it's a mistake to conduct negotiations through the European envoys. As I told you about Hamas, we have to talk with everyone, including Ahmadinejad. Hillary Clinton intends to engage with Iran in order to try to find a political solution that will ensure a non-nuclear Iran.

As long as Obama is president of the United States, Saban will suck up to him. Even if the “one issue” that matters to him has its very existence threatened.

Israel
Sidley Austin LLP is the lobby firm for Israel.

Note: Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory
Please note: This link for the members of the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.
Valerie B. Jarrett is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Teresa Heinz Kerry is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to U.S. Department of State secretary John F. Kerry.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George Soros is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Saban Center for Middle East Policy was a policy center at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Martin S. Indyk is a founding director for the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, a director at the New Israel Fund, the Middle East peace envoy for the U.S. Department of State, was the assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of State, the VP & director of the Foreign Policy Program for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a U.S. ambassador for Israel.
Haim Saban is a benefactor for the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a friend of Shimon Peres.
Shimon Peres is a friend of Haim Saban, and the president of Israel.
Sidley Austin LLP is the lobby firm for Israel.
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, a chairman for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, and a director at the Woods Fund of Chicago.
Bernadine Dohrn was a litigator for Sidley Austin LLP, a member of the Weather Underground, and married to William C. Ayers.
William C. Ayers was a chairman for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a director at the Woods Fund of Chicago, a member of the Weather Underground, is married to Bernadine Dohrn, and Richard M. Daley’s adviser.
Richard M. Daley was the Chicago (IL) mayor, Michelle Obama was his staffer, Valerie B. Jarrett was his deputy chief of staff, William C. Ayers is his adviser, and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Kathleen Brown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, Jerry Brown’s sister, and was the California state government treasurer.
Mighty Morphin' Meg Whitman Counts Cash from Democratic Donor
By Jackson West
Friday, Jan 29, 2010
Saban has given generously to Democrats in the past, including $18,000 to Jerry Brown last year. Brown is the presumptive Democratic nominee, though he hasn't officially declared his candidacy.
Jerry Brown is Kathleen Brown’s brother, and the California state government governor.
R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Sidley Austin LLP is the lobby firm for Israel.

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