A FAA warning kept most airlines away from Israel and ruined thousands of travel plans. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg arrived in Tel Aviv yesterday on El Al airlines. Some made jokes that he did not use his private jet and flew with the public, but his arriving in Tel Aviv made him popular with most Israelis.

This response to questions by Wolf Blitzer in this CNN interview has made my day, and is a must see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no0UERV5R8A

Notice how Jerusalem, Israel, Mayor Nir Barkat just stands quietly smiling.

 

 

14 thoughts on “Bloomberg Fires Back on CNN”

  1. The first question: Yes, I agree with him and am delighted he said it.
    The second question: Well hell, a lot of us are deeply suspicious of the true reason for the FAA ruling. I’m still agnostic on the topic, but I know which way I’m leaning.

    1. The effect will be to finally snuff out the “two-state solution” so if it was a politically motivated decision, then well played Obama, maybe you are not as naive as people think.

      1. You really think that’s what Obama was trying to do? I think he was trying to twist Israel’s arm to accept a “ceasefire” (that’s shorthand for “we cease, they fire”).

      2. I don’t think Obama is so much naive as incompetent. He is truly out of his depth on just about every aspect of leadership and decisionmaking, primarily because he’s never had to do things like that in his entire “career” of voting present.

        1. Incompetent, yes, but there is also a willingness to accept, if not actively promote evil (tyrannical) forces.

            1. ahad_ha_amoratsim

              Or more to the point, they think the problem is people who are willing to rock the boat by resisting evil.

  2. The audio wouldn’t work for some reason,but I saw it when it aired yesterday on CNN. Great that Bloomberg did what he did. Hope it boosted morale for Israelis. The FAA is not the State Department and doesn’t get it’s marching orders from the White House. I feel they made the wrong call suspending flights to Israel because it hurts Israelis and gives Hamas a PR victory, albeit a temporary one. But to think this was politically-motivated to stick it to Israel betrays the worst kind of conspiratorial thinking. Sen. Ted Cruz’s statement on this subject only proves my point.

    1. What ever the “thinking” at FAA, the ban gave Hamas a win which was not good for anyone. Bloomberg’s strong support for Israel is certainly appreciated.

    2. ahad_ha_amoratsim

      The IRS is not supposed to take orders from the White House either. Or from Democratic party activists. Can you rule out pressure on the FAA?

  3. I have small use for Bloomberg at the best of times, but this was refreshing. But I agree with Blitzer that there was likely some political motivation for the flight suspension–almost everything this administration does is tainted that way.
    But, to give the benefit of the doubt, DOS is also renowned for its incompetence, so it’s very possible it was just an overreaction.
    We live in interesting times!

  4. Hard Little Machine

    It was an attempt at an economic boycott outsourced to the private sector. Obama painted a big Magen David on Israel and told Americans not to shop there. The sooner Israel ends military aid from the US the better. Cancel participation in the F-35 should be step one.

  5. I agree with you yarden. It does seem like a legitimate question. Maybe Bloomberg was angry at Blitzer for some questions he asked in a different interview about ‘proportional’ response. He pounced on Blitzer in a kind of knee jerrk way.

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