Sarkozy claims his overheard comment to Obama on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (“I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar.”) was “taken out of context.”
So what did he really mean? Well, it’s a secret. Via Haaretz:
“The President reaffirmed his friendship and support for the state of Israel from the very beginning of our conversation,” Francis Kalifat, one of the Jewish community leaders, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Kalifat added that Sarkozy also stressed his “strong, long relationship and friendship with Netanyahu and his family,” and “expressed his firm desire to move beyond the misunderstanding.”
Kalifat told JTA that Sarkozy provided a number of explanations for his remarks about Netanyahu, but asked the Jewish leaders not to publicize them.
How about projection?
“Kalifat told JTA that Sarkozy provided a number of explanations for his remarks about Netanyahu, but asked the Jewish leaders not to publicize them.”
Or:
“As badly as I suck in support of Israel, the next guy is gonna be worse. You wouldn’t want to hurt my chances of staying in office, right? It could be worse, right?”
Kalifat told JTA that Sarkozy provided a number of explanations for his remarks about Netanyahu…
Here they are:
1) By “liar” I meant someone who “lies down a lot.”
2) He told me he likes brie but never wants to touch the runny part.
3) There was an Arab within earshot so I just said that to make him feel good.
4) You misheard me, I actually said “I can’t hear Netanyahu, he needs to talk higher.”
5) I thought it was Netanyahu who didn’t flush in the men’s room but later I found out it was Merkel.
6) You’re right, it’s projection.
Marc,
You must be very fluent in French. That’s the best translation of Sarko’s request not to publicize his explanations that I can imagine.
Netanyahu does in fact lie–even his name is a PR fiction–and he comes across a used car salesman
But only his ex wives could state that he is a ” liar” as a character trait
These recent statements about Netanyahu reflect the fact that nobody trusts the Netanyahu regime
eg UK, Australia, NZ, Ireland, Canada, Germany, France, US etc
–because of stolen passports and the American traitor
–Jonathan Pollard— those are the reasons for lack of trust
Jonathan Pollard is responsible for the deaths of many American assets and much more
–why does Netanyahu still beg and grovel for Jonathan Pollards release?
All politicians lie–some more than others
Yeah, i’ll go with projection.Nice call Roger.
Transferrance.
Pot. Kettle. Black.
I suspect the real answer might be:
“I was agreeing with the most powerful man in the world, because there are Iranian nuke suicide bombers pointed at my country. We’re gonna need the US to help again.”
“If you’re gonna mass murder, it’s gotta be soon. His replacement isn’t going to pay Iran to go away.”
I don’t think it is merely projection, and that all politicians lie (though it is common enough). When you call a Jew a liar, it has a particular historical resonance, namely that Jews are devils and the devils are the greatest liars. I wrote about it at length here: http://clarespark.com/2011/06/19/index-to-links-on-hitler-and-the-big-lie/. Hitler viewed himself as the protective father and named the Jews and Social Democrats (German) as the big liars. Few have noticed and it is a shocking lapse in our education.
Indeed, but as we all know, Sarkozy is part Jewish.
Ah, yes, France — the nation where 105% of the population belonged to La Résistance!
Reason #7) I had to say it or else the “yoots” in Clichy-Sous-Bois would set cars alight by the hundreds again.
I think the best explanation was given by Barry Rubin, right here at pjmedia.
“Regarding Sarkozy, French-Israel relations have been good and there have not been major problems with Sarkozy. On one hand, Sarkozy has been far friendlier to Israel than his Gaullist and Socialist predecessors. True, he is surrounded by some hostile advisors, including the career staff at the Foreign Ministry, but on the other hand there is a defense and counterterrorism establishment that admires Israel.
“Indeed, Sarkozy helped kill the Palestinian unilateral independence effort in the UN Security Council, a major service to Israel. Yet France voted in favor of the Palestinian entry into the UNESCO organization. Incidentally, Sarkozy has also not been a fan of Obama in the past.
“Why suddenly has Sarkozy turned against Netanyahu? I can’t prove it but I think there is evidence for the following scenario. Sarkozy decided that he was going to broker a major deal at the UN, showing that France was a leading great power in the world. (A theme I think you have heard before is a major French goal.) So he went to Netanyahu with a proposal: Israel would accept unilateral independence for Palestine and Sarkozy would get Israel something from the Palestinians (perhaps recognition of a Jewish state?).
“Netanyahu played along a bit but, of course, knew that Sarkozy wouldn’t get anything from the Palestinian Authority. Sarkozy’s idea — like that of virtually all the well-intentioned or bad-intentioned, naive or cynical, friendly or hostile to Israel busybodies who think they are going to make peace — just didn’t make real sense. At any rate, Sarkozy thought he had something from Israel that he didn’t. His UN speech implying he wanted to support unilateral independence was certainly bad from Israel’s standpoint.
“The deal fell through — it was doomed from the start since the Palestinian Authority wouldn’t compromise — and, of course, he blamed Israel and not the Palestinians. Hence his fury that Netanyahu was a “liar.”
http://pjmedia.com/barryrubin/2011/11/11/why-did-sarkozy-and-obama-dis-disrespect-bibi/