Newspaper Editor: Israel Should Consider Assassinating Obama

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Andrew Adler, the owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, a weekly newspaper serving Atlanta's Jewish community, devoted his January 13, 2012 column to the thorny problem of the U.S. and Israel's diverging views on the threat posed by Iran. Basically Israel has three options, he wrote: Strike Hezbollah and Hamas, strike Iran, or "order a hit" on Barack Obama. Either way, problem solved!

Here's how Adler laid out "option three" in his list of scenarios facing Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu (the column, which was forwarded to us by a tipster, isn't online, but you can read a copy here):

Three, give the go-ahead for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place, and forcefully dictate that the United States' policy includes its helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies.

Yes, you read "three" correctly. Order a hit on a president in order to preserve Israel's existence. Think about it. If I have thought of this Tom Clancy-type scenario, don't you think that this almost unfathomable idea has been discussed in Israel's most inner circles?

Another way of putting "three" in perspective goes something like this: How far would you go to save a nation comprised of seven million lives...Jews, Christians and Arabs alike?

You have got to believe, like I do, that all options are on the table.

http://gawker.com/5877892/newspaper-editor-israel-should-consider-assassinating-obama

[azurnoir]

1. That's just bizarre and Adler seems embarrassed to say the least

does Israel really think it would do better with Biden as POTUS?

However if one looks at Israeli online publications it seems that there is movement to take Obama out via the election process in the US, which will hopefully be every bit as successful as the one in 2008 to keep him from getting elected in the first place

[Violet_Crumble]

5. Agreed. Isn't it illegal to call for assassinating the President?

If so, I'd be expecting him to be getting a visit from the FBI sooner rather than later....

[Ruby the Liberal]

23. Secret Service is already on it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101432277

Threats against the POTUS/VPOTUS and their families are taken very seriously.

Even past administrations have life long Secret Service detail assigned to them and their families for life.

[Scurrilous]

3. Uproar after Jewish American newspaper publisher suggests Israel assassinate Barack Obama

Op-ed in Atlanta Jewish Times says the slaying of the president may be an effective way to thwart Iran's nuclear program.

<snip>

"The owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, Andrew Adler, has suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu consider ordering a Mossad hit team to assassinate U.S. President Barack Obama so that his successor will defend Israel against Iran.

Adler, who has since apologized for his article, listed three options for Israel to counter Iran’s nuclear weapons in an article published in his newspaper last Friday. The first is to launch a pre-emptive strike against Hamas and Hezbollah, the second is to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and the third is to “give the go-ahead for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place and forcefully dictate that the United States’ policy includes its helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies.”

Adler goes on to write: “Yes, you read “three correctly”. Order a hit on a president in order to preserve Israel’s existence. Think about it. If have thought of this Tom-Clancy-type scenario, don’t you think that this almost unfathomable idea has been discussed in Israel’s most inner circles?”

Adler apologized yesterday for the article, saying “I very much regret it; I wish I hadn’t made reference to it at all,” Adler told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. And in an interview with Gawker.com, Adler denied that he was advocating an assassination of Obama.

The American Jewish Committee in Atlanta last night issued a harsh condemnation of Adler’s article, saying that his proposals are “shocking beyond belief.”

http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/uproar-after-jewish-american-newspaper-publisher-suggests-israel-assassinate-barack-obama-1.408429

[Crunchy Frog]

4. Because this country would continue to be Israel's bestest bud

if they engineered the assassination of our president. Talk about delusional thinking.

[aranthus]

8. Agreed.

It would unite the country against them like almost nothing else.

[LeftishBrit]

14. Indeed - utterly delusional

It is COMPLETELY insane.

Moreover the whole concept is made even more chilling by the knowledge of what happened to Yitzhak Rabin.

This editor is sick; he needs to resign pronto.

[LeftishBrit]

6. Just - yikes

[aranthus]

7. Dear Lord.

This sounds more like this person's masturbatory fantasy than any intelligent analysis of Israel's options. It's totally unacceptable. I suspect that this sort of suggestion does not rise to the level of a criminal threat to the President, but it's close. The Secret Service needs to watch him.

[shaayecanaan]

9. If it was the editor of the Atlanta Muslim Times that penned this piece...

I reckon he'd be halfway to Gitmo by now.

[Jefferson23]

11. You can bet your bottom dollar on that one. n/t

[bemildred]

12. It's amazing how often your "friends" will get you in more trouble than your "enemies". nt

[bemildred]

10. Jewish publisher is an idiot - but his hatred is shared by many

Like most of you, I have never met Andrew B. Adler, owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, but I think we can all agree that the man is spectacularly stupid. In his contorted apologies he has described himself, after all, as “an idiot.”

The three or four infantile paragraphs of vile text that Adler published in his obscure Atlanta newspaper last week, in which he suggested that Israel consider assassinating President Obama, almost slipped under the radar, but was picked up yesterday by Gawker.com, and is now going viral. “A fool may throw a stone into a well which even a hundred wise men cannot pull out”, the saying goes, and it will indeed take a long time and a great effort to undo the damage that Adler has wrought, in one fell swoop, in defaming Israel by implying that it might, in anyone’s wildest dreams, consider such a kooky conspiracy; in staining American Jews by appearing to supposedly represent their twisted way of thinking; and even by undermining the institution of Jewish journalism by exposing that it harbors such birdbrained bozos in its midst.

It is ironic that Adler’s despicable diatribe comes against the backdrop of a fierce blogosphere debate that flared up yesterday about the term “Israel-firsters” and whether it is a legitimate critique or an anti-Semitic slur. Adler, for his part, has provided an example of a sub-specie of “Israel-firsters” that have not only lost track of where their loyalties lie, they have gone off the tracks altogether. He has pleased anti-Zionists and delighted anti-Semites by giving them the kind of “proof” they relish for accusing American supporters of Israel not of “double loyalty” but of one-sided treachery, plain and simple.

Under Israeli law, Adler could be prosecuted for inciting to violence and could be sentenced to five years in jail. I do not purport to know much about the Georgian penal code, but I note that it contains the offense of “criminal solicitation” which occurs “when, with intent that another person engage in conduct constituting a felony, he solicits, requests, commands, importunes, or otherwise attempts to cause the other person to engage in such conduct.” Adler’s column of January 13 might arguably fit the bill.

http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/west-of-eden/jewish-publisher-is-an-idiot-but-his-hatred-is-shared-by-many-1.408466

[shaayecanaan]

13. Perhaps manliness issues are to blame...

One thing I have noticed in my own country is the tendency for Kings College-attending preppy sons of neurosurgeons to wear IDF t-shirts when they get let out of school, and on weekends and such. Because deep down, underneath that blazer and old school tie there is a raging Samson screaming to be let out.

Someone mentioned "masturbatory fantasy" above. Thats probably accurate.

[bemildred]

15. You need to put that in quotes: "manliness".

As an Amurkin, I am used to this sort of sentiment, more or less openly aired in public political discussion. The only thing "over the line" about it is the proposed target, the method and attitude are quite acceptable for "enemies". Given our current President's "unusual appearance", it is easy to see why this "Southern gentleman" got confused about the proper dog whistles to use in order to be discreet.


In fairness, I must point out that this sort of rubbish is ubiquitous.

[shaayecanaan]

19. Is it?

In fairness, I must point out that this sort of rubbish is ubiquitous.

Really? I wouldnt think that that many people would suggest this sort of thing in earnest in a magazine, although no doubt there are plenty of big talkers on the internet.

[bemildred]

20. I've been living here all my life.

"Violence is as American as cherry pie." -- H. Rap brown

I have seen one President assassinated, another survive the attempt, several candidates killed Edit: or shot, at least tens of other politicians etc. dead in "unusual" circumstances, so I stand by that, whether one construes it as violence or the threat of violence.

What is unusual here is that you have some guy that runs a newspaper and is yet so naive about how these things are done.

[King_David]

16. At my school just about every guyand girl on occassion wears an IDF shirt

I have a favorite gym workout t-shirt...ZAHAL .. all the way

Nothing to do with manliness.

Everything to do with pride and coolness.

[shaayecanaan]

18. Indeed, and they are probably the biggest badasses to ever attend day school...

Nothing to do with manliness.

Of course not. If they ever have a war without blood or gore, you'd be the first to go, right?

[Jefferson23]

17. Jewish paper's column catches Secret Service's eye

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- The U.S. Secret Service is looking into a controversial column by an Atlanta Jewish newspaper publisher that mulled the assassination of an American president.

Andrew Adler, owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, wrote a January 13 column about the threat of Iran to Israel. He posed three options for the Jewish state to counter the Iranian regime.

One of them called for a "hit on a president in order to preserve Israel's existence."

"Give the go-ahead for U.S. based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place and forcefully dictate that the United States' policy includes its helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies."

U.S. Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie told CNN Saturday, "We are aware of it. We are taking the appropriate investigative steps."

Adler could not be reached for comment, but the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a wire service for Jewish newspapers in North America, quoted Adler on Friday as saying "I very much regret it. I wish I hadn't made reference to it at all."

Adler -- who said he's gotten a lot of flak for the column -- said he would issue an apology in the next edition of the weekly newspaper, the JTA reported.

The column, titled "What would you do?" doesn't mention President Barack Obama's name, but U.S. Jewish groups that strongly denounced the column read the words as a reference to Obama himself. The column also refers to the administration's "never ending 'Alice in Wonderland' belief that diplomacy is the answer," an apparent dig at the Obama White House's foreign policy efforts at dialogue with such countries as Iran.

"The suggestion by anyone, in this case a Jewish newspaper publisher, that Israel should consider assassinating President Obama is shocking beyond belief," said Dov Wilker, director of the American Jewish Committee in Atlanta.

"While we acknowledge Mr. Adler's apology, we are flabbergasted that he could ever say such a thing in the first place. How could he even conceive of such a twisted idea?" said Wilker. "Mr. Adler surely owes immediate apologies to President Obama, as well as to the State of Israel and his readership, the Atlanta Jewish community."

The White House declined to comment Saturday on the column.

in full: http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/21/us/jewish-president-threat/index.html

[saedi1995]

21. Stupid

The only reason Israel is in such a position of power is because of the United States in the first place, if they took out our president that would only put them in an even worse situation, they would get crushed from both sides, the West and from Iran from the East. They would have to be extremely dumb or extremely confident in their "military" to do something like this. But back to their original reasoning, it's not like Iran is run by a bunch of primitive religious fanatics, even if they get a Nuclear weapon they're smart enough to know that Israel's 200-300 nuclear warheads against their 1 would surely wipe them off the map.

[Scurrilous]

22. Atlanta Jewish Times publisher resigns over Obama 'assassination' column

Andrew Adler suggested Israel should assassinate U.S. President Barack Obama to counter Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

<snip>

"The owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, Andrew Adler, who suggested Israel should assassinate U.S. President Barack Obama, has resigned from his post, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on Monday."

<snip>

"According to JTA's report, Adler announced Monday that he is “relinquishing all day-to-day activities effective immediately,” and that he named John McCurdy as interim managing editor."

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/atlanta-jewish-times-publisher-resigns-over-obama-assassination-column-1.408849

[Ruby the Liberal]

24. He should. He'll be needing that time to put his

financial and legal affairs together if DOJ decides to throw the book at him.

[Ken Burch]

25. Shouldn't Adler be in jail now?

Last I heard, it's STILL illegal to call for the assassination of the president...even if you're calling for the Israelis to do it.