copy for the Witt program because it was useful to paint Bibi as RMoney's "good buddy." The clip on Witt was from "Press the Meat" and it was way too short. The whole interview needs to be seen to get the "full flavor." Bibi was being Bibi--and that should be no surprise to anyone. This whole "association" with RMoney is overblown. Bibi acknowledged to Gregory in that interview that Obama has met with him "more than any other leader in the world."
Here's the truth--if it were "good for Israel" to barbecue RMoney and Queen Ann at high noon and feed them to wild jackels on live TV, Bibi would do it. Bibi lives and breathes Israel--he has acquaintances and occasional allies, but everyone and everything is expendable with regard to his sole focus, and that is Israel. Anyone who suggests otherwise is just blowing smoke.
The whole "throw Israel under the bus" thing was vociferously denied by Bibi. He specifically said there IS NO BUS. The only bus, per him, is the "Iranian nuclear bus" that must be derailed. He resented Gregory's attempts to goad him into weighing in on a domestic election and he wasn't going to play.
He said the US and Israel have a "powerful bond" and that there is no leader more appreciative than Bibi of that "cherished" bond.
I wouldn't take the short clip as gospel or proof of anything. There is more nuance in the Press The Meat interview.
As I have said elsewhere, Bibi has his hardline views, but he knows how to do a stiff-arm when someone is trying to bully him into "taking a position." He did just that in this interview.
This article is also instructive (edited to add): http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/09/16/netanyahu-keeps-his-distance-from-u-s-presidential-election-wont-echo-romneys-criticism-of-obama/
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to endorse Mitt Romney’s criticism of President Obama’s policy toward Israel in an interview Sunday, and wouldn’t wade into the U.S. presidential race, saying that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon “is really not a partisan issue.”
n an interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” host David Gregory asked Netanyahu about Romney’s claim that the Obama administration has thrown Israel “under the bus.”
“There is no bus, and we are not going to get in to that discussion,” Netanyahu said, before adding: “The only bus that is really important is the Iranian nuclear bus. That’s the one that we have to derail.”
Netanyahu underscored the urgency of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon...Netanyahu added that he has no doubt that both Romney and Obama are committed to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
As I also said elsewhere, Bibi has seen his breakfast, noted who's the toast, and knows what side his bread is buttered on.
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