Matt Yglesias

16 Responses to “Bibi Spox Denies “Self-Hating Jews” Quote”

1. RTG Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 11:54 am

   The reaction is a bit odd, but if it’s true that he was with is family it’s not bizarre, and the wait isn’t that strange, pols often wait to see if these things “just go away” before they officially respond to avoid feeding a negative story.

2. Anon Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 11:54 am

   This headline of this post reminds me of Variety.

3. yc Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 12:08 pm

   The thing is, ’self-hating Jews’ isn’t really a common expression in Hebrew. So, as hateful as I can imagine Bibi being, it doesn’t sound like a natural locution to me.

4. David Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 12:11 pm

   Interesting point yc, but you have to remember Bibi went to college in the US.

5. pseudonymous in nc Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 12:18 pm

   Mark Regev would dump his family in a ditch if there was a camera nearby and some Palestinians to insult. He’s that kind of guy.

6. SLC Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 12:19 pm

   A couple of items here.

   1. The article was published in Haaretz which has a long history of being hypercritical of Bibi. More then a grain of salt should be taken before accepting anything that paper says about him.

   2. Regardless of whether he said it or not, Bibi must surely realize that Mr. Emmanuel is noted for being a very nasty piece of work who would not take kindly to anyone saying such a thing about him. Mr. Emmanuel is not someone on whose bad guy list one should aspire, especially someone in Bibis’ position.

7. Kip Manley Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 12:40 pm

   Please please PLEASE do not aid and abet the spread of that ghastly abbreviation, “spox.” I don’t care that it takes up less room that spokesperson. That’s no excuse for doing such a terrible thing with the alphabet.

   Varietysprech isn’t even funny when Variety does it. Just stop.

8. Don Williams Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 1:18 pm

   Hey, Matthew –take a leaf from Lyndon Johnson’s playbook and suggest that Bibi is a pig fucker.

   Just to see how long it will take him to deny it.

9. G.D. Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 2:18 pm

   To #3, #4 : maybe you didn’t realize, but the original story is in hebrew (Here’s the link.). The expression used there is “יהודים אכולי שנאה עצמית” — literally, “jews consumed by self hatred”.

   If you want to attack Bibi, his policies give you ample reasons. But it’s pretty silly to parse the exact words of a “quote” that got leaked, embellished and translated before you read them.

10. low-tech cyclist Says:
    July 10th, 2009 at 4:48 pm

    Re ‘Spox’:

    Long before texting and Twitter, I was using a final ‘x’ as a shorthand for a final ‘cks’ on a word. (I think I picked it up from the Winnie-the-Pooh illustrator, who has “Big stones and rox” in one corner of his map.)

    So when I see ‘Spox’ I can’t help but mentally expand it to ‘Spocks.’ Which brings about a mental picture of public figures with Vulcan assistants to help them chart their course: “This bill isn’t very logical, Senator.”

    I think that would immensely improve the quality of our governance.

11. Mythbuster Says:
    July 10th, 2009 at 5:05 pm

    Did SLC call someone else “a very nasty piece of work”?

12. SS Says:
    July 10th, 2009 at 5:56 pm

    SLC’s not a nasty piece of work – he’s just some hack who gets a kick out of posting inflammatory comments on a politics blog.

13. tdub Says:
    July 10th, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    The article was published in Haaretz which has a long history of being hypercritical of Bibi. More then a grain of salt should be taken before accepting anything that paper says about him.

    Non sequitur. It may be “hypercritical.” It also has a long history of the highest journalistic standards in the Israeli press. Haaretz doesn’t publish fictional quotes any more often than the NYT.
    
    Seems strange. Also strange that it took them this long to deny it.

    To a blog!

14. Richard Steven Hack Says:
    July 10th, 2009 at 11:10 pm

    Anybody other than SLC motivated to believe anything a Zionist says?

    Thought not.

    Zionists are born and bred liars.

15. abb1 Says:
    July 11th, 2009 at 2:04 am

    Zionism is a disgrace.

16. SLC Says:
    July 11th, 2009 at 6:12 am

    Re abb1

    Can’t Mr. abb1 come up with some new material?

    Re Richard Steven Hack

    They’re all Zionists save me and thee and I have my doubts about thee.