I’m not sure any of these items were on President Obama’s birthday list — except maybe the golf clubs.
Mako, described as the fastest growing news and entertainment site in Israel, asked its readers what President Obama should get for his 53rd birthday this past Monday. The results included the aforementioned clubs, a video set of a popular TV show, and even peace in the Middle East.
But the runaway winner for Obama’s birthday present, coming in at just a tick under 50% was (drumroll)…
That’s right, readers of the third largest Israeli website would have liked to deliver an envelope of Ebola to the American leader on his birthday. That’s strike two in the “international birthday wishes for Obama” department.
From the outside of the US-Israel alliance, it can look like the countries are so close that they are practically extensions of one another. From within, though, the relationship is a good deal more complex. One of the complexities that gets overlooked: Israelis get that the US is a crucial backer, but they sure don’t trust President Obama.
That came through in a recent reader poll on the popular Israeli news and entertainment site Mako, which asked readers what Obama should get for his 53rd birthday, on Monday. By far the most popular choice is “An envelope of the ebola virus,” which has tracked about 50 percent of votes since the poll went up.
“Kidnapped” is the name of a popular Israeli TV show, on which the Obama-approved American show “Homeland” is based. Noy Allouche is an Israeli who does funny, musical YouTube remixes of speeches; this is a reference to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly telling the US not to “ever second guess me again” on combating Hamas.
Of course, any internet poll should always be taken with a grain of salt. Vox, however, points out that while the statistical results may not be strictly accurate for obvious reasons, other polls show a clear pattern of “Israeli distrust of Obama” and the “perception that he is secretly hostile to Israel.”
Cross-posted at the Mental Recession
