No holds barred: Torrent of anti-Israel advice found in Hillary’s emails

Clandestinely stirring up potentially violent protests in an attempt to try and force Israel to go against its best interests? Advice like this was par for the course with Clinton’s advisers.

By SHMULEY BOTEACH
Updated: FEBRUARY 1, 2016 21:06
US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at the National Bar Association's 60th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Montgomery (photo credit: REUTERS)
US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at the National Bar Association's 60th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Montgomery
(photo credit: REUTERS)
It’s already been established that one of Hillary Clinton’s most trusted advisers, Sid Blumenthal, sent her anti-Israel articles, ideas and advice during her time as secretary of state. But the stream of anti-Israel advice received by Clinton was much more comprehensive.
In the entire forced dump of Clinton’s emails, you will be hard pressed to find a single one sympathetic toward the Jewish state from any of the people she relied on. The negative, poisonous approach to Israel throughout this email expose shows the atmosphere that she had established around herself. These emails seem to demonstrate that a huge segment of her close advisers and confidantes were attacking Israel, condemning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and strategizing how to force Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria at all costs.
This was occurring against the backdrop of Israel’s recent Gaza withdrawal, which led to the takeover of Gaza by Hamas. There is almost zero mention of the huge risks to Israel’s security in withdrawing as Clinton and the Obama administration did everything they could to pressure Israel to capitulate to their demands.
Take a look at a sampling of the advice being sent to Clinton from her many advisers that we have now become privy to.
Sandy Berger was Clinton’s foreign policy adviser during her 2008 presidential campaign. In September of 2010 he sent her ideas on how to pressure Israel to make concessions for peace. Berger acknowledged “how fragile is Abbas’s political position,” and how “Palestinians are in disarray,” and that “failure is a real possibility.” Berger was well aware of, and informed Hillary of, the very real possibility that Israel would be placing its national security at grave risk in a deal that would very likely fail and lead to a Hamas takeover.
But Berger felt the risks to Israeli lives were worth it.
He advised the need to make Netanyahu feel “uneasy about incurring our displeasure....”
Berger emphasizes the need “to convince the prime minister – through various forms of overt persuasion and implicit pressure – to make the necessary compromises” and talks of the “possibility – to turn his position against him.”
Astoundingly, Berger seems to accuse the Jews in America of racism toward Obama. He writes, “At a political level, the past year has clearly demonstrated the degree to which the U.S. has been hamstrung by its low ratings in Israel and among important segments of the domestic Jewish constituency....” He then adds, “Domestically, he faces a reservoir of skepticism on this issue which reflects many factors, including inexcusable prejudice.”
Anne Marie Slaughter was Clinton’s director of policy planning from 2009-2011. She wrote to Clinton in September of 2010 and devised a scheme to encourage wealthy philanthropists to pledge millions to the Palestinians (which no doubt would have been embezzled by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his cronies as were other funds).
She wrote: “This may be a crazy idea.... Suppose we launched a “Pledge for Palestine” campaign... Such a campaign among billionaires/multi-millionaires around the world would reflect a strong vote of confidence in the building of a Palestinian state....”
She adds: “There would also be a certain shaming effect re Israelis who, would be building settlements in the face of a pledge for peace.”
Clinton’s response to this email: “I am very interested- pls flesh out. Thx.”
Robert Russo, one of Clinton’s aides and currently her campaign’s “director of correspondence and briefings” sent an email in April of 2012 informing her of Netanyahu’s father’s death and advising her to give him a condolence call. Included with Russo’s email is an extremely biased article attacking both Netanyahu and his father, describing them as virulently racist warmongers and calling the elder Netanyahu “a behindthe- scenes adviser to his son, the most powerful person in Israel.”
The article noted that “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly denied that his father was a one-dimensional ideologue. He further emphasized that he himself was a different person from his father.”
But then it goes on to say, without providing any proof whatsoever, “Israelis seemed in the dark about the extent of paternal influence on their leader,” and “To understand Bibi, you have to understand the father.”
One might be forgiven for questioning Clinton’s sympathy and sincerity when she later placed the call and gave Netanyahu her condolences.
Thomas Pickering, former US ambassador to Israel, wrote to Clinton on December 18, 2011, and suggested a secret plan to stir up major Palestinian protests in an attempt to force the Israeli government into peace negotiations.
He stated that the protests “must be all and only women. Why? On the Palestinian side the male culture is to use force.”
Pickering’s goal was to ignite protests that would engulf the West Bank, “just like Tahrir square.” He adds that the Palestinian “leadership has shied away from this idea because they can’t control it,” and they are “afraid of being replaced.”
This idiotic reasoning that somehow only women would participate and things would stay peaceful is obviously absurd. As Pickering himself notes, “Palestinian men will not for long patiently demonstrate – they will be inclined over time and much too soon to be frustrated and use force. Their male culture comes close to requiring it.”
Regardless, Pickering writes that the protests could be used against Israel “to influence the political leadership.”
The idea was as dangerous for the Palestinians as it was for Israel. As Pickering himself admits, widespread protests could overthrow Abbas’ government, and if Palestinian men joined in, widespread violence would inevitably break out. It would obviously be impossible to prevent men from participating in these demonstrations.
Yet Pickering felt this extreme risk was worth taking, even if it meant the replacement of Abbas with another Hamas-led government. And even if meant violence breaking out across the West Bank leading to a third intifada and the murder of countless Jews. He also emphasizes the need to hide all US involvement in this plot. Clinton forwarded this email to Monica Hanley and asked her to “pls print.”
Clandestinely stirring up potentially violent protests in an attempt to try and force Israel to go against its best interests? Advice like this was par for the course when it came to Clinton’s advisers.
In a follow-up column we’ll illuminate even more anti-Israel advice that was given the then-secretary of state. Sadly, there was just so much of it.
The author, “America’s Rabbi,” is the international bestselling author of 30 books including his upcoming The Israel Warrior’s Handbook. Follow him on Twitter @ RabbiShmuley.