On Friday, CBS Mornings and NBC’s Today bellyached about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of President Biden abandoning Israel and argued Netanyahu has not only “already cross[ed] President Biden’s red line” on Rafah with limited strikes by the Israel Defense Forces, but he’s holding up ceasefire talks and prolonging the war so as to avoid jail time.
Foreign correspondent Ramy Inocencio returned to the well of former Israeli national security adviser Chuck Freilich for the second day in a row to suggest without evidence that Netanyahu’s kept Israel’s war against Hamas going for personal gain.
Right on cue, Inocencio pointed out Freilich was referring to indictments against Netanyahu “for fraud, bribery, and breach of trust”:
Netanyahu derangement syndrome on ‘CBS Mornings’ as they imply the Israeli Prime Minister is only keeping the war going so he can stay in power and out of prison pic.twitter.com/XJRsNQucjw
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 10, 2024
Over on NBC’s Today, chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel also had some Netanyahu bashing, but first some classic sob story propaganda for Hamas:
The U.N. announced that, as of this morning, more than 100,000 Palestinians have fled the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. Many civilians had originally been ordered by Israel to come here for their safety. Now, they say, they have nowhere to go. We are tired, says this man. Either they should kill us all at once and send us up to God or they stop the war.
Engel bemoaned that “Netanyahu is determined to press on with an offensive against Rafah” with tough talk about Israel being willing to go it “alone” and has “much more than our fingernails”.
In an act of irony, Engel had the gall to complain about Netanyahu sitting for “a lengthy and nonconfrontational interview with talk show host Dr. Phil” that ripped “protests on college campuses in the U.S.”
IRONY ALERT: NBC’s ‘Today’ complains about a ‘nonconfrontational’ interview Netanyahu gave to Dr. Phil.
Gee, what were all those Jimmy Carter and Kennedy family interviews over the years?
Also, notice how Richard Engel argues Israel has “already cross[ed]” Biden’s “red line” pic.twitter.com/SsGlzUwYpA
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 10, 2024
Engel doled out more sob stories on Gazans and openly wondered if Israel has “already cross[ed] President Biden’s red line” with limited strikes on Rafah, which he claimed NBC’s Gazan stringers have proven “already” “attack[ed] Rafah’s main population centers”
He also concluded by suggesting Israel — not Hamas — is why there’s no ceasefire/hostage deal: “The Rafah operation has also derailed hostage negotiations and talks to achieve a cease-fire with one senior diplomat telling NBC News the talks have effectively collapsed.”
To see the relevant transcripts from May 10, click here (for CBS) and here (for NBC).