Lieberman ‘on McCain short-list’

By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington

Published: August 9 2008 00:35 | Last updated: August 9 2008 00:35

Joe Lieberman, the former Democratic vice-presidential nominee who has endorsed John McCain, is being vetted as a potential running mate for the Republican presidential hopeful, according to an adviser to Mr McCain’s ­campaign.

Mr Lieberman, who has campaigned for the Arizona senator, has long been ­considered an unconventional but plausible choice for Mr McCain.

“I am very happy that Russians now understand what it is like to be Israeli from the perspective of the international press,” said Solodkin. “You hear them complaining that ‘even the BBC doesn’t understand what is happening in the field.’”

She added that her own attempts at hasbara would be improved by the fact that Russia had now adopted a phrase, “determining peace,” that would be useful to explain Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Itsik Moshe, chairman of the Israel-Georgia Chamber of Business, said however that Israeli politicians should be identifying with the Georgian and not the Russian side of the conflict. “Just as Israel is on the front line of the conflict with fundamentalist Islam, one of the great threats to world stability, Georgia is on the front line of the second threat – Russian assertion of control over the small countries on her borders,” said Moshe from his Tbilisi office.

“Israeli leaders need to show solidarity with Georgia just as the presidents of France and the United States expressed their solidarity with Israel. I don’t know if Israel has a better friend in the world than Georgia,” he continued.

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The Battle for “perception” at the expense of “discernible reality.”

Google: Hasbara and note the Megaphone program.

Thanks for identifying yourself.

Foreign Ministry seeks lower profile for Israel in Georgia-Russia conflict
By Barak Ravid and Amos Harel

Israel is hoping to maintain a low profile with regard to the war in Georgia, government officials told Haaretz. One source noted that currently, neither side of the conflict is pleased with Israel’s position, since Russia has been irked by Israeli-Georgian weapons deals for some time, and Tbilisi is now frustrated by Israel’s decision to halt arms exports.

In a move which drew heavy criticism from defense officials, Israel’s Foreign Ministry over the weekend recommended complete cessation of the sale of weapons and security-related equipment to Georgia in light of the fighting between its troops and the Russian Army.

“The Foreign Ministry’s approach demonstrates a naively simplistic view and a lack of understanding of the complex world of the security deals which Israel is conducting with foreign partners,” a defense official told Haaretz on condition of anonymity.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1010226.html

Oil intrigue and US Realpolitik heighten tensions in the Caucasus
Georgia’s “rose revolution”: a made-in-America coup

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