Netanyahu chicken?

The Quote of the Week for October 26-November 1 comes from an unnamed senior official in the Obama administration who described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “chickenshit”. (“US disavows scathing criticism of Israeli PM Netanyahu,” World, October 31.)

A chickenshit (American slang) is defined as a contemptibly petty or cowardly person. Chickenshit as a substance means petty details.

The remark was actually made on July 28, but was reported in an article by Jeffrey Goldberg published in The Atlantic magazine on October 28.

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki responded in soothing diplomatese by saying, “There are issues where we express concern, and there’s disagreement.  [But] our security bonds have never been greater and the ties between our nations are unshakeable.” Translation: We get along, but our relationship is in deep doo-dah.

The offending official is reported to have added: “He’s got no guts.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu may well be obsessed with what American officials consider petty details. Their country is not a small island in an Arab sea that threatens to engulf them. As for the implication of cowardice and the accusation that he has no guts, Wikipedia reports that Netanyahu was a team leader in a special forces unit of the Israeli Army during the Six-Day War in 1967. He took part in many missions and was shot in the shoulder. In the Yom Kippur War of 1973, he fought on the front lines, took part in special forces raids along the Suez Canal, and led a commando assault deep into Syrian territory. Wounded in combat several times, he was a captain at the time he left the army.

I wonder how much military experience the unnamed American official has.

Stay tuned for the next Quote of the Week.

Howard Beasley

(The Quote Guy)