Chicago Billionaire Pressures Obama On Behalf of Israel?

Netanyahu, the Chicago billionaire, and Barack Obama.

President Barack Obama recently went into overdrive-pander mood toward the state of Israel. After uncharacteristically applying strong pressure on Israel to cease construction of illegal Jewish-only settlements on Palestinian land, Obama has apparently got the message: You do not mess with Israel without paying a political price.

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Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, could have easily asked the high-profile Israel lobby or AIPAC to apply pressure against the administration. And certainly AIPAC did, but AIPAC has not his main card. Netanyahu or "Bibi" did not want a public fight with Obama, instead he preferred the old politics way of applying behind-the-scenes pressure against the president.

Netanyahu was not about to give into Obama's demands to cease illegal settlements and sincerely pursue peace with the Palestinians, so he asked a prominent and influential Chicago billionaire to apply the pressure against Obama.

Last month the Israeli daily Ha'arezt reported about how Netanyahu applied a price via Chicago: "Netanyahu waged a struggle. And the statesman who is depicted as susceptible to pressure did not succumb to the American pressure of this past spring. He fought back. The price for what Netanyahu did was felt by Obama in Chicago. The Israeli leader applied hidden pressure to the American leader, which made it perfectly clear to him: No more."

The reference to Chicago concerns noted billionaire Lester Crown. This head of the Crown household supported Obama in 2008 and it was in part his largess and connections to other wealthy donors that launched Obama’s campaign. And part of his commitment was that Obama would uphold the U.S.-Israel so-called ’special relationship’. As Crown, wrote then to “a large number of Jewish voters” to encourage support of Obama:

“While my involvement in politics is motivated by a variety of issues, there is one issue that is fundamental: My deep commitment to Israel and to a strong U.S.-Israel relationship that strengthens both Israel’s security and its efforts to seek peace,” Crown wrote. “I am writing to share with you my confidence that Senator Barack Obama’s stellar record on Israel gives me great comfort that, as President, he will be the friend to Israel that we all want to see in the White House - stalwart in his defense of Israel’s security, and committed to helping Israel achieve peace with its neighbors.”

Well that effort between Israel and Crown was more intimate than initially thought:

Israel is trying to convey the message not only through the official channels - Israeli military intelligence chief Major General Amos Yadlin visited Chicago recently to meet with the billionaire Lester Crown, one of Obama’s [early, crucial, munificent] supporters, and asked to him to convey Israel's concerns to the American President, Goldberg reports.

This is how policy toward Israel is often shaped and molded in the United States.

Yes, Virginia, there is an Israel lobby.