Foreign Policy
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Dude, Where’s Your Prime Minister?
September 10, 2009 - 9:36 AM | by: Michael Tobin
If there is one saying that proves itself to be true in politics the world over it is this one: ‘It’s the cover-up that gets you busted.’
Today the Netanyahu government is scrambling to recover from a secret meeting the Prime Minister probably had. But only a select few had any knowledge of it and the prime Minister’s Military Secretary probably lied about it to the press.
You see on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went missing. This is not that uncommon. Prime Ministers before him have held secret meetings and said they were in the interest of Israel’s national security. But in this case reporters who called his bureau were told he was on a “Military trip.” Then as hours passed and the Prime Minister didn’t return reporters who pressed harder ultimately reached Netanyahu’s media advisor Nir Hefetz who was forced to admit publicly that he just didn’t know where his boss was.
Later that night, a statement was issued, not from the Prime Minister’s spokespeople but from his Military Secretary, Major General Meir Kalifi. That statement said Netanyahu was on a visit to a secure military facility inside Israel. It should be noted that as a matter of procedure, all such statements are approved by the Prime Minister himself before publication.
24 hours later the Hebrew publication, Yedioth Ahranoth, reported that Netanyahu had actually taken a private jet to Russia for secret talks about weapons sales to Iran. Soon, all the Hebrew papers ran quotes from sources inside the Prime Minister’s bureau that indeed the Premier had gone to Russia. Maj Gen Khalifi was then quoted by Haaretz saying, “For state security, one may sometimes not tell the whole truth.” And just to keep the waters murky, possibly to avoid admission of being caught in a bold faced lie, today the Prime Minister’s Spokesman Mark Regev told me the quotes admitting the Russia trip are “incorrect.” The Prime Minister’s office is being “intentionally vague on this story,” and he won’t be much help.
All of this reporting comes in a tense period between Israel and Russia and it all relates the Russia’s potential sale of the S-300 surface to air defense systems to Iran. To briefly explain the significance of the S-300: Iran does not have much in the way of weaponry that can defend a border against a modernized military. The S-300 is a sophisticated system that could prove very effective at knocking Israeli fighter jets out of the sky if they attempt to strike Iran’s blossoming nuclear facilities. Therefore, Israel wants to stop the sale.
Recent reporting says a Russian crewed cargo ship, which disappeared and was later said to have been hijacked by pirates in the Arctic sea, had in reality been hijacked by Israeli commandoes and the reason they commandeered the ship was because it was hauling S-300’s to Iran. However, the evidence is all quotes from 3rd party or anonymous sources and for every source that says Israelis stormed the ship, there is another who says they didn’t.
Israeli President, Shimon Perez, recently met with Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev at the black sea. In tense language, Perez urged Medvedev to stop the sale and follow up meetings were promised. In fact, Medvedev called for secret meetings. Then Israel’s Prime Minister went missing.
At best, the whole affair reveals sloppy communication between officials in the highest levels of the Prime Minister’s office. More cynical scenarios play out turf wars between Netanyahu’s National Security Advisor Uzi Arad, who appears to have been in the loop through the whole disappearance, and the Prime Minister’s media staff. It also reveals a mind set in which dishonesty is a reasonable option for Netanyahu’s top people. And that’s the one that always gets them. Take me for instance, I’d have never written a word about this story if on Monday a statement had been issued saying, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unavailable due to private meetings dealing with National Security.”
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