Secretary of State John Kerry took to the podium Wednesday and unloaded on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the State of Israel, claiming they were impeding the Middle East peace process. Later on that evening, NBC Nightly News went to bat for Kerry running two reports backing up his assertions. “Kerry painting a dire picture when it comes to reaching a peace deal in the Middle East,” announced fill-in anchor Tamron Hall.
“Getting personal, a fiery war of words between Secretary of State John Kerry and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” the hyper partisan Andrea Mitchell reported, “With President-elect Trump all in with Israel's leader.”
Mitchell didn’t seem like she could help herself as she fawned over Kerry’s roughly 70 minute long diatribe, “In an impassioned hour long exit speech, Kerry warning Netanyahu Jewish settlements in the Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem will place the Palestinian state and peace in serious jeopardy.”
That was followed up with a clip of Kerry smearing the Israeli government as radically right wing. She also re-aired excerpts of her interview with the secretary were she slow pitched questions, such a, “But you did not orchestrate [the United Nations Security Council vote]? You did not sponsor it? You did not push it?” MItchell whined to the secretary about President-elect Donald Trump getting involved, asking, “Is it confusing allies and adversaries?”
Wrapping up her report, Mitchell parroted the Obama administration’s dubious claim that no one has done more for Israel than him. She also tried to twist the Palestinian Authority as a force for peace claiming, “Tonight the Palestinians said they are ready to resume peace talks if Israel freezes settlements…” “But Israel approved another housing unit even as Kerry was speaking,” she said disappointedly.
But NBC didn’t stop there, they took it a step farther and sent a corresponded to a Jewish settlement in the West Bank to expose the “flashpoint.” “This is the settlement of Maale Adumim not just a neighborhood, a small city,” exclaimed NBC’s Kelly Cobiella, “More than 40,000 residents, 2,500 businesses, 200 parks. And they're expanding!”
“More homes for Israeli Jews in the West Bank. On the very territory Palestinians hope will be site of their future homeland,” she continued. She seemed to be put off by the fact that the settlement she was visiting had tight security, but failed to mention the constant threat of terrorist attacks.
Both Mitchell and Cobiella had failed to mention that the current Palestinian government was ran by a known terrorist organization, Hamas. They also didn’t recall any of times Hamas had broken peace agreements with Israel, or their rocket attacks on civilians, or the organization’s anti-Semitic propaganda which includes forwarding a one-state solution.