Geraldo Rivera: Middle East Passive/Aggressive or Just a Fraud ?

Geraldo Rivera (nee Gerald Riviera from Babylon Long Island) likes to portray himself as being the ultimate Zionist, simply based on the fact that his mother was Jewish and he had a Bar-Mitzvah when he was 13. The Fox news in-house progressive exhibits little affection for the Jewish State, but loves to announce that he is a long-time Zionist immediately before he throws Israel under the bus. Gerry from Babylon is textbook passive/aggressive.

The last week of March, Gerry exhibited his typical passive/aggressive behavior during an appearance on Fox and Friends. He began by saying how well he knew Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu, then threw the truth out the window to trash Bibi and Israel (transcript from CAMERA):

Doocy: Obama wants to get some concessions on settlements. You have known Bibi Netanyahu for many, many years.

Geraldo Rivera: Since 1972, I know him far better than I know the President. I've only met our President one time. Bibi and I have smoked cigars in this building together. We've hung out together in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv. I knew his family, his hero brother died in Entebbe.

He knows Michael Jackson's family also, maybe the three families get together for Passover Seder. Hey Gerry,I don't want to burst your bubble but Bibi is a politician, he "hangs out" with lots of people, that doesn't mean he's your friend. Oh, and you might be trying to show you are an insider by mentioning that Yonatan Netanyahu lost his life during the Entebbe rescue, but everyone knows that it was in all of the papers, heck it was even a made-for-TV movie, but we do appreciate the phony name dropping.

Doocy: How embarrassed and humiliated is he by this?

Rivera: He's very humiliated. Although I haven't spoken to him, but I can project that knowing him as well as I do. But here's the dirty little secret folks and I think this is what has been revealed. I don't think Bibi Netanyahu has any intention of making a two state solution peace with the Palestinians. I think he has no intention of ever yielding east Jerusalem. I know it's very difficult for my fellow Zionists and lovers of Israel to get our arms around what is a clear cut agenda. I think what has been revealed by this snub of Joe Biden when he went over there is far more profound than people credit. I think that what has been revealed is the policy of the Netanyahu government never to make peace with the Palestinians based on a two-state solution, never to give up Jerusalem, never, ever ever and, you know, for them to go through the machinations or continue to point to the Iranian threat as their priority is just to divert attention from the fact that there will never be under a Netanyahu or a Likud government any kind of a two state--

...My fellow Zionists and Lovers of Israel...You gotta love his technique, establishing his credentials and then the lies. Lets look at the facts Gerry-boy.  Bibi Netanyahu announced his support for the two-state solution many times since he became Prime Minister, and the last time he was in the office he signed an agreement with the terrorist Yassir Arafat, called the Wye River Memorandum that moved the PLO closer to statehood by mapping out the implementation of Oslo.  He also gave the PLO control of much of Hebron which, until they Jews were massacred in the city in 1929 had always been a Jewish city. Little Gerry might even remember from his Bar Mitzvah days that Hebron was the first piece of land ever purchased by a Jew in Israel.

Geraldo mentioned Jerusalem. With the possible exception of Levi Eshkol who died less than two years after the 6-day-war, EVERY Israeli Prime Minister built in Jerusalem. When he talks about the lack of peace because of the death of Rabin, it is true that Rabin negotiated and signed the Oslo Agreement, but Rabin was against the creation of a Palestinian State, he was against dividing Jerusalem, in fact he said so in a speech to Knesset just a few weeks before he was assassinated.

The former Babylon Bar-Mitzvah boy also found time to bash the Likud Party as being against peace, again he ignores the truth. There have been a total of four Prime Ministers from the Likud Party:

• Menachem Begin made peace with Egypt.

• Binyamin Netanyahu signed the Wye agreement

• Ariel Sharon gave Gaza to the Palestinians (it had originally been part of Egypt), only for it to become a terrorist base.

That is one of many examples of Rivera's faux support of Israel, perhaps his most famous performance was his rant about the al Dura hoax. The reported shooting of a Palestinian boy by the IDF that turned out to be a hoax perpetuated by a French reporter and a Palestinian cameraman. When a few months after the incident was first reported, Mr. Investigative reporter was interviewed by Brit Hume where he condemned Israel without seeking the truth, in fact, he made the memorable statement, I've also become a Palestinian-ist.

Hume: It happens time and again. Western journalists, sympathetic to Israel and repelled by the terrorism practiced by the Palestinians, head off to cover the Middle East. After experiencing the place firsthand, especially when the fighting is intense, their views seem to change, and there emerges a certain sympathy for the Palestinians and their cause.

Fox News war correspondent, Geraldo Rivera, a longtime supporter of Israel, who is himself part Jewish, seems to have undergone just such an experience in his recent work in the region, and he joins me now live from Jerusalem. Geraldo, welcome.

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brit. I think you characterized my evolution in thought quite accurately. The catharsis for me was that video -- I'm sure you remember -- of the Palestinian father huddled with the child.....You remember that infamous video of some months ago, that showed a Palestinian father huddled with his 7- or 8- or 9-year-old son against the wall, caught in a crossfire between the Israelis and Palestinians who, at the time, were shooting back, were throwing rocks at the soldiers. By the time that video ended, that young boy was dead and the father severely injured.

Now, I have been, as you suggest, a Zionist my entire life. I would die for Israel. But watching the suffering of the Palestinian people, the real suffering of these people, I've also become a Palestinian-ist, in a sense (Source CAMERA)

There's the root of the problem, just like the al Dura story, Geraldo Rivera is a fraud. It's perfectly legitimate to express sympathy for the plight of the Palestinian people who have been condemned to suffering, first by Egypt and then by their leaders who choose terror and enriching their own pockets rather than peace. But for him to declare himself a Zionist, say he would die for the Jewish State and then slander her with lies is simply fraudulent. 

Allow me to suggest that Mr. Rivera look into his own heart and seek the truth because the only thing he would find there now, is an old stop sign and an empty soda bottle.

Tamar Sternthal of CAMERA did a much more thorough vetting of Rivera's appearance on Fox and Friends a few weeks ago which you can read by clicking here