Stephen Lendman

He’s a world-class thug, an Arab-hating racist, an unindicted war criminal, a widely despised fascist heading Israel’s most extremist regime in history - exceeding Sharonian evil.

Obama can’t stand him. Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin won’t talk to him. They haven’t spoken in two months.

Relations between them were strained after Netanyahu publicly challenged Obama’s Iran policy - especially breaking long-established protocol by addressing a joint congressional session in March despite no administration invitation. At the time, Obama refused to see him while in Washington, an unprecedented rebuff.

Interviewed on Israeli Army Radio, Rivlin said “I think we’ve said everything that can be said - not about the Iranian issue but about our relations with the international community.”

“We’ve said everything that can be said on this issue, and until the question is off the agenda we probably don’t have to meet, because each of us is busy with the same issues.”

In July, Rivlin criticized Netanyahu’s Washington agenda, saying “Israel has three things it must ensure - its relationship with the United States, its relationship with the United States, and its relationship with the United States.”

He expressed muted outrage over Netanyahu’s March joint congressional address - a thinly veiled stunt two weeks before Israeli elections and brazen effort to sabotage P5+1 talks.

He did more to damage relations with America than any previous Israeli leader. Rivlin said “(t)here’s no doubt we’d be very angry if the American president had come to the Knesset and argued against the government of Israel.”

Both men haven’t been on good terms for years. In 2013, Netanyahu blocked his reelection as Knesset speaker - after leading him to believe it was a done deal. At the time, he said he was tricked by a longtime friend. “It’s not nice to mislead friends,” he added.

Netanyahu’s crimes outweigh his political chicanery. On Wednesday he arrived in London for two days to meet with Prime Minister David Cameron, British MPs and Jewish community leaders.

A petition to arrest him on arrival for war crimes too grave to ignore so far got over 108,000 signatures, numbers growing daily. On Wednesday, hundreds of angry protesters (at least one report said thousands) rallied outside Cameron’s Number 10 residence.

Palestinian Solidarity Campaign head/protest organizer Hugh Lanning said “(w)e want to know why David Cameron is welcoming a man directly responsible for UN-identified war crimes to the UK. His welcome for Netanyahu sends out a very negative message about the UK government’s attitude towards Israel’s serial human rights abuses and the war crimes it committed in Gaza last year.”

“Mr Cameron should get his priorities straight. Instead of welcoming Netanyahu, he should be imposing immediate sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel until it complies with international law and ends the occupation and the siege on Gaza.”

Protesters want Netanyahu arrested for high crimes. They held signs saying “Free Palestine.” “Gaza: End the Siege.” “Arrest Netanyahu: Child Killer.”

Last January in Paris, he urged French Jews to emigrate to Israel, claiming they’d be safer there, an affront to all French nationals.

Whether he’ll repeat the stunt in London remains to be seen. While away, state-sponsored terror continues.

On Wednesday alone: terrorizing Palestinian communities pre-dawn, kidnapping a dozen Palestinians, and tear-gassing a boy’s school causing young children to suffocate - a typical day in Occupied Palestine.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.