http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/07/20/424702931/parrying-doubts-in-two-capitals-leaders-sell-the-iran-nuclear-deal
http://www.npr.org/sections/ombudsman/2015/07/17/423484372/on-cutting-off-an-interview-subject
As expected, Bibi blew a gasket over the deal and is going all-out with his verbal attacks to potentially sway the US Congress and public (Iran is basically the 4th Reich, etc.). He took his tired Chicken Little routine to NPR (also ABC and others), and forgot that it was an interview vs. a stump speech (2nd link). The host was worried about keeping time, so he had to cut off the PM according to the show schedule. Some pro-Israel Americans felt that was disrespectful to the leader of Israel (because of course that person is special, and commands even more respect than our own president).
However, and unexpected consequence occurred in Iran. If Bibi and Israel are staunchly against something, of course that encourages Persians to think that it's a good thing. There are some hardliners and critics of the deal in Iran, but now it makes it a lot harder for them to make credible arguments that happen to align with the views of Tel Aviv. Of course Bibi is naturally focused on the US audience rather than the Iranian reaction, but it's an interesting example of multiparty cause-and-effect in geopolitics.
Views in Israel are apparently mixed, and
some in the security services do not agree that the deal is bad. Also
they want their leaders to remember that the nuclear deal is not the
only item at play here - their relationship with the US is valuable and
is it worth it to strain it further? You can tell that Obama, Kerry, and
some other gov't officials are visibly irritated with Israel's reaction
compared to most of the rest of the world. Instead, why not partner
more with the 5+1 to make sure Iran lives up to its commitments and the
deal succeeds? But like the game theory Iran-Israel-US post, our priorities are not aligned, so it might not work out.http://www.npr.org/sections/
As expected, Bibi blew a gasket over the deal and is going all-out with his verbal attacks to potentially sway the US Congress and public (Iran is basically the 4th Reich, etc.). He took his tired Chicken Little routine to NPR (also ABC and others), and forgot that it was an interview vs. a stump speech (2nd link). The host was worried about keeping time, so he had to cut off the PM according to the show schedule. Some pro-Israel Americans felt that was disrespectful to the leader of Israel (because of course that person is special, and commands even more respect than our own president).
However, and unexpected consequence occurred in Iran. If Bibi and Israel are staunchly against something, of course that encourages Persians to think that it's a good thing. There are some hardliners and critics of the deal in Iran, but now it makes it a lot harder for them to make credible arguments that happen to align with the views of Tel Aviv. Of course Bibi is naturally focused on the US audience rather than the Iranian reaction, but it's an interesting example of multiparty cause-and-effect in geopolitics.
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I listened to the interview and Bibi was ranting. He had talking points that he wanted to get out and the interviewer attempted multiple times to interject with a next question before doing a "rude" cutoff. If Bibi was talking with him instead of at him that would have been easy to notice.
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If Bibi wanted to make an uninterrupted persuasive speech, then he
could have paid for TV/radio commercial time, or gone to FNC. If he
agrees to an interview on NPR, he should expect to be treated like an
interviewee. Listening to it again, I actually didn't think he was
ranting much and there were no moments of disrespect. Green let Bibi
talk a lot in the 1st half of the segment, which was maybe his bad since
it led to the need to cut Bibi off later. Bibi said thank you to Green
at the end, he didn't protest. Some NPR callers were maybe a little
sensitive.
The NPR ombudsman seemed to be OK with Green's conduct too:Greene was respectful to Netanyahu, apologizing for interrupting. The last question was an important one—asking Netanyahu whether he could "at some point get behind this deal"—and Greene would likely have been criticized had he not asked it. The need to cut him off was regrettable, but with the interview already eating into local station time, it was necessary. Those are the perils of live radio and the constrictions of NPR's clock, which values local news.
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