Contrary to what NBC's David Gregory said Friday, U.S. News & World Report editor Mort Zuckerman believes that in the wake of President Obama's Mideast speech, "The Israelis do not feel they have the Americans at their back for the first time since the founding of the state of Israel."
Such was said during a heated debate about the subject on PBS's "McLaughlin Group" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
MORT ZUCKERMAN, U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT: Wait a minute. John, I have to interrupt here. I have to get involved. Hold on, hold on. They sent, the American government sent a representative to the Israeli government and said to them, “Don't worry, there's going to be nothing serious that you’re going to have to worry about in the President's speech.” This was, this whole issue of the 1967 borders and boundaries was added at the very end. They, in effect, they trapped…
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, HOST: Netanyahu.
MCLAUGHLIN: You know what that's called? That's called betrayal.
ZUCKERMAN: Yes, that’s exactly what they feel. The Israelis do not feel they have the Americans at their back for the first time since the founding of the state of Israel. This is from their point of view.
MCLAUGHLIN: It goes beyond that. That’s betrayal.
ZUCKERMAN: That’s right.
Earlier in the day, Gregory told MSNBC's Joe Scarborough:
DAVID GREGORY, "MEET THE PRESS" MODERATOR: This is not just the view of the White House in terms of what they think Israel ought to accept. This also reflects prominent views within Israel that this speech was actually good news for the Israeli government for some of the points that have already been laid out here.
When Scarborough asked Gregory, "What major Israeli public figures have come out supporting the President's speech," the "Meet the Press" host couldn't name any.
Likely that's because Zuckerman's right and the Obama-loving Gregory's dead wrong.
