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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel to launch smear attack on Saudi: report |
| 2010-05-16 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Israel is threatening to launch a global campaign against Saudi Arabia, in keeping with a decision that was made by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and which has been kept secret until now, Israel's daily Maariv reported. The campaign, if launched, would target audiences in the United States, Europe and other places around the world. It would draw attention to Saudi Arabia's human rights issues, the status of women and alleged terrorism financing, in the U.S. Congress, the European Parliament and other venues. The campaign would go so far as to lodge complaints with international courts. Lieberman's decision was made after foreign minister officials concluded that Saudi Arabia was the principal force behind a global campaign to delegitimize Israel. Senior political officials said this week in closed conversations that Saudis had mostly financed the international court lawsuits, public debates and conferences that have been hounding Israel's reputation. Israel will also demand that Americans press Saudi Arabia to relinquish its campaign against Israel. "They're playing a double game," said one political official. "The Saudis act as if they are part of the moderate camp and are trying to exploit the West for their own needs, when at the same time they have been financing an orchestrated campaign against Israel's legitimacy, against Israel's economy and more. That needs to be ended." Many Israeli political officials, both in the Foreign Ministry and in other departments, however disagree with Lieberman's decision saying it will not yield positive results. The Saudis may have their faults, say the opponents, but they are clearly situated in the moderate camp, they support political negotiations, they stand behind the Arab peace initiative and they are equally threatened by Iran and radical Islam just like Israel is. Israeli political officials opposed to Lieberman's initiative argue that Israel should be looking to find a common ground with Saudi Arabia. That criticism, however, seems unlikely to change Lieberman's decision, according to the newspaper. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Thank you, Paul D and Anonymoose. Yours are the kind of comments that I really come to Rantburg for. :-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-05-16 16:14 |
| #4 TW They have been funding Hamas,PLO,MB for years.All the extremist in Egypt,Jordan,Pakistan,Sudan(Turabi)etc have found they are safe/amongst friends in Saudi. Saudi have funded an A-Z of Islamist parties from AlQ to the Taliban! Wahabbism=Intolerant Islam/Terrorism and who are the founders of the Wahabs? |
| Posted by: Paul D 2010-05-16 09:35 |
| #3 The Saudis have been involved with mischief making, not just against Israel, but against the US. The problem is that the Saud family, and thus the government, does not speak with one voice, nor do they have a single direction to their foreign policy. They try to play all sides of the game at once. In this regard, the Saudis are much like the Iranians, with one of them smiling and shaking your hand, while another is trying to stab you in the back, another is fixing your car, and another is trying to steal it. In real terms, Saudi leaders are funding terrorism, fighting terrorism, apologizing for terrorism, executing terrorists, reeducating terrorists, and recruiting for terrorism, all at the same time. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-05-16 09:22 |
| #2 Saudi have being funding anti Israeli parties for decades! Could you expand on that, Paul D? Thank you. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-05-16 08:01 |
| #1 He has a point.Saudi have being funding anti Israeli parties for decades! |
| Posted by: Paul D 2010-05-16 04:28 |