Kadima, Likud Trot Out Dennis Ross

[Purveyor]

Dennis Ross has yet to receive his expected appointment as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's point man on Iran, but he has already become embroiled in a conflict in the Middle East - not between Iran and Israel, and not between Israel and the Palestinians for old times' sake, but between Kadima and the Likud.

Both parties intend to feature quotes from Ross in their campaigns to paint a picture of how Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu would get along with new US President Barack Obama should Netanyahu return to the Prime Minister's Office.

The campaigns will also include quotes from other Obama administration officials such as Clinton, incoming national security adviser James Jones and new Mideast mediator George Mitchell. But the differences in quotes from Ross are the most stark.

"Bibi rarely seemed to know how to act on his ideas - how to present them, to whom, and even when to do so," Ross wrote about Netanyahu in a quote from his book, The Missing Peace, that was distributed by Kadima. "Translating an idea into action seemed beyond his grasp. It was not lack of intelligence... it was the lack of judgment... but there was something more: Often he would come up with ideas simply to get himself out of a jam."

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