Haaretz’s Barak Ravid made a mountain of meaning out of Shimon Peres’ offering condolences to Turkey’s prime minister on the death of the latter’s elderly mother recently:
Peres’s condolences are particularly noteworthy in light of the recent deterioration in ties between Israel and Turkey.
The Israeli president’s offer is not “noteworthy,” other than a hypocritical attempt to substitute empathy for one individual for actually showing remorse for the suffering of nine murdered Turks and the anger of the rest of the nation at their treatment.
If Peres wanted to express condolences he might’ve tried doing so to the entire Turkish people for the Mavi Marmara massacre. As for Peres’ effort, it’s pure hypocrisy.
Peres received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Nothing more to say about that man’s integrity or that particular Nobel award.
Apparently crassness appeals to Peres; pandering to cheesy entertainers like Shakira to solicit support for Israel was bad enough, but he’s gone beyond the pale with this one.
Mountains out of molehills – this is pure diplomatic protocol, nothing more nothing less.
Not to have sent condolences would have been a diplomatic statement and an insult.
Not so sure. You’d have to examine messages of condolence Peres has sent to other leaders. If it’s the same old crap, then yes I’d agree. But if it’s diff. then I think Peres was making a much more personal pitch. Hard to know.
Israeli politicians really know how to take the piss.
Perhaps it was a calculated insult?
…….and perhaps it was a genuine gesture?