Bill O’Reilly tells Fox News Network viewers, “I want to hear what P.M. Netanyahu has to say on Iran”
• Chris Stirewalt Fox News’ political correspondent, said White House comments on Netanyahu’s invitation was just “too cute.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is very knowledgeable about Iran, and therefore it is appropriate for him to address Congress about Iran, Fox News political commentator Bill O’Reilly said on Tuesday.
As part of a segment on his show “The O’Reilly Factor,” the host expressed his disagreement with fellow Fox News senior correspondent Chris Wallace, who said last week that he was “shocked” by the way Netanyahu was invited to speak before Congress in March — by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner without going through the White House, which by protocol is the body that invites foreign speakers to Congress. Critics of the decision also both the Republicans and Netanyahu are using the address for political reasons.
Netanyahu is scheduled to address Congress on March 3, two weeks before the upcoming Israeli elections. U.S. President Barack Obama has announced that he will not meet with him during his visit.
Fox News anchor Shepard Smith also criticized Netanyahu’s scheduled visit. While most commentators on the network express support for Netanyahu’s visit, Israeli media has predominantly focused on the criticism from Fox News and cite Smith and Wallace.
“Chris Wallace believes that the Netanyahu invitation is designed to embarrass the president and many others feel the same way,” O’Reilly said, and used the segment to express his dissent. “I want to hear what Netanyahu has to say. And I hope President Obama rebuts his claims publicly if they are false or misleading. The Israeli intelligence, the Mossad, is one of the best in the world, so Mr. Netanyahu has information on Iran. He and his nation are directly threatened by terrorism and Iran, thus the Israelis have to be deeply involved in what’s going on, thus, it’s important for all Americans to know what Benjamin Netanyahu knows,” O’Reilly said.
Netanyahu is scheduled to address Congress on March 3, two weeks before the upcoming Israeli elections. U.S. President Barack Obama has announced that he will not meet with him during his visit.
Fox News anchor Shepard Smith also criticized Netanyahu’s scheduled visit. While most commentators on the network express support for Netanyahu’s visit, Israeli media has predominantly focused on the criticism from Fox News and cite Smith and Wallace.
“Chris Wallace believes that the Netanyahu invitation is designed to embarrass the president and many others feel the same way,” O’Reilly said, and used the segment to express his dissent. “I want to hear what Netanyahu has to say. And I hope President Obama rebuts his claims publicly if they are false or misleading. The Israeli intelligence, the Mossad, is one of the best in the world, so Mr. Netanyahu has information on Iran. He and his nation are directly threatened by terrorism and Iran, thus the Israelis have to be deeply involved in what’s going on, thus, it’s important for all Americans to know what Benjamin Netanyahu knows,” O’Reilly said.
O’Reilly cited a CBS Interview with Boehner, in which the speaker said that during the State of the Union Address “the president didn’t spend but a few seconds talking about the threat, the terrorist threat that we as Americans face. This problem is growing all over the world. And you know, the president is trying to act like it’s not there. But it is there. And it’s going to be a threat to our homeland if we don’t address it in a bigger way.”
“His [Boehner’s] invitation to Netanyahu is not out of line,” O’Reilly asserted. “President Obama should be able to counter whatever Netanyahu says, with an effective strategy, note the words ‘should be able,’ so let Netanyahu speak his mind, let him spell out the danger he sees to the world, that will be instructive, and maybe, maybe, some Americans will pay attention. Probably not.”
On “America’s News Headquarters,” Fox News political correspondent Chris Stirewalt said the White House’s reaction to Netanyahu’s invitation to speak at Congress was “cute, maybe a little too cute. The administration is talking about the outcome of Israel’s elections because they’ve tried to unseat, or, those intimates of the president, have tried to defeat Benjamin Netanyahu and have done everything over time to undermine his and the Likud party’s status. That has been something, not to get in the weeds, but this is something they have wanted because they believe they have a better chance to get the desired outcome for this administration if Benjamin Netanyahu is not the prime minister. John Boehner’s answer to the White House is ‘we will give him as big a platform as possible.'”
According to Stirewalt, Netanyahu’s visit will also play into the hands of democrats in Congress who disagree with Obama’s stance on Iran. “There are plenty of democrats who are closer to Netanyahu’s side than they are to the president’s,” Stirewalt said.
Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly joined the contentious discussion over Netanyahu’s visit. Kelly interviewed U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki and asked her about a recent Washington Post report citing a close associate of Secretary of State John Kerry saying Kerry was angry with Netanyahu and that the latter’s behavior could wear down Kerry’s motivation to be Israel’s main defender. Psaki said that the procedure of getting Netanyahu to speak at Congress was done in an “unusual” way.
View original Israel Hayom publication at: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=23125