Government ministers react sharply to Clinton's criticism of Israeli democracy

[Scurrilous]

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday lamented Knesset attempts to restrict left-wing groups and expressed concern over the status of Israeli women.

<snip>

"Several Israeli government ministers on Sunday sharply responded to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her critical comments on the status of women in Israel and Knesset bills that would restrict left-wing organizations.

Speaking to a closed forum in Washington on Saturday, Clinton criticized recent legislative attempts in Israel to restrict left-wing organizations and expressed shock over growing discrimination against Israeli women. She mentioned cases of IDF soldiers leaving during performances of female singers and the fact that females sit in the back of buses in certain places in Israel. Clinton said that some of these phenomena reminded her of Iran.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said Clinton's comments were "completely exaggerated".

"Israeli democracy is alive, liberal and breathing," Steinitz said at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday. "I don’t know many better democracies in the world. It is of course necessary to fix things sometimes. The matter of excluding and segregating women is completely unacceptable and needs to be put to a stop, but there is a great distance between this and the argument that there is a threat to Israeli democracy."

Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan said that elected officials should concentrate on what is happening in their own countries. He added, however, that he shared the concern over the dignity of women. He said that the government should take steps to demonstrate its commitment to equality between men and women."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/government-ministers-react-sharply-to-clinton-s-criticism-of-israeli-democracy-1.399450

[Lionessa]

1. Good on Clinton for speaking truth instead of sucking up to 'em.

[Jefferson23]

2. Uh oh..she said some of these phenomena reminded her of Iran? Oh my, such talk.

Hang in there Clinton.

Steinz claims he doesn't know many better democracies in the world; I believe him...poor guy.

[oberliner]

3. I guess he hasn't been to Scandinavia

Apparently they have the market on better democracies cornered.

Certainly not easy to find too many good ones in Israel's own neighborhood.

[bemildred]

4. Can this marriage be saved?

So what's that? Panetta, Gutman, and CLINTON offering criticism. Then there is the Obama-Sarkozy thing. I don't think that is a coincidence.

[Jefferson23]

5. It is noticeable too, isn't it? My thoughts are the US is concerned about what

Israel wants to do with Iran, the Panetta story surprised me, he is not going to put it out there for nothing imo. It was
considered first, very carefully I imagine.

[bemildred]

6. This is the first time I have felt fairly sure there must be some coordination

of these outbursts of candor. FWIW, I don't think this is about Iran, it's about the "growing isolation" problem. Iran is a red-herring that is dragged in to avoid this sort of discussion. This indicates that approach is not working any more.

Panetta and Clinton are the ones that stand out in my mind, no word goes unscrutinized in anything they say.

[Jefferson23]

7. Honestly, I don't know. Normally yea, the Iran beat the drum of attack meme will never

happen without US consent. I guess I see Panetta's response as a collective concern of ours, meaning Israel has been behaving crazier
than is typical of their government. The isolation they seem hell bent on fast tracking AND their drum beat to go after Iran..where
will it end if the US says nothing at all, thus the criticism of late.

[bemildred]

8. Well, it's not that they are not serious about Iran.

Just because it's politically handy, that doesn't mean it's fake. I suppose I should make that clear.

Otherwise, yes, something along that line, discomfort, worry about costs, offshoring blame, payback, who can say? Ordinarily this sort of thing is not considered politically safe to do, and yet they are doing it. That's what strikes me.