One of John Kerry’s closest confidantes is now in charge of the Israeli-Palestinian portfolio at the State Department.
Mark Toner, the acting State Department spokesman and an Obama administration holdover, announced Wednesday that Michael Ratney, former U.S. consul to Jerusalem, will now take point on the Middle East conflict.
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Controversy has been ubiquitous throughout Michael Ratney’s Israel-related career.
While he served as Jerusalem consul, Ratney oversaw grants to OneVoice, a leftist non-profit that President Obama allegedly used to try to unseat Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s 2015 election.
About $350,000 was dumped into OneVoice to “build a voter database, train activists and hire a political consulting firm with ties to President Obama’s campaign.” The group hired a former top Obama campaign official, Jeremy Bird — described by The New York Times as “the architect” of the former president’s grassroots campaign — in efforts to oust Netanyahu.
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Michael Ratney is a holdover from an administration that constantly demonized the state of Israel from top to bottom. In his last days in office, John Kerry (Ratney’s boss) delivered perhaps the most anti-Israel speech ever from a sitting secretary of state.
The question remains: Why has the Department of State, under Sec. Rex Tillerson, decided to designate John Kerry’s deputy as the man in charge of Israeli-Palestinian peace?
The State Department did not return a request for clarification on Ratney’s role in time for publication.
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John Kerry apprentice to lead Israeli-Palestinian portfolio at State Department https://t.co/1WqRUlWgYT via @CR
— Elliott Hamilton (@ElliottRHams) March 10, 2017
What could go wrong?
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