Under pressure from mainstream publications, a spokesman for Israel's Maariv Hebrew-only daily newspaper has now denied that the paper ever claimed that the Obama campaign pre-approved publication of the prayer note attributed to him. This despite the fact that four other Israel newspaper published on July 28 a prior statement from another unnnamed Maariv spokesmen that made this claim: "Barack Obama's note was approved for publication in the international media even before he put in the Kotel [Western Wall], a short time after he wrote it at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem."
But posting of a video that allegedly shows the purloining of the note, and the claim of the cameraman that the pilferer was connected to the Obama entourage, adds yet another wrinkle to the fast unfolding mystery.
The latest twist in the byzantine "Kotel-gate" affair comes from The News Republic's Zvika Krieger, writing in TNR's "The Plank" Blog and then updates: "I just got off the phone with a Ma'ariv spokesman who says that the accusation is 'completely false,' and that he has no idea who these papers were quoting from Ma'ariv. 'No official spokesman for Ma'ariv told this to any of the papers.'" Krieger added: "He told me definitively that "the Obama campaign did not give us a copy of the letter or approve it for printing."
Krieger is now following up with the papers who published the original quote -- The Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, The Marker and Globes -- to find out who at Maariv issued the prior statement. It remains curious that neither Maariv spokesman appears willing to be named, and the whole conduct of the paper, which let the claim of pre-authorization remain unchallenged and uncorrected for more than a day," deeply undermines its credibility.
Krieger, again without naming names, updates that "I just spoke with an editor at one of the four publications who quoted the alleged "Ma'ariv spokesman." This editor broached the possibility that Ma'ariv was trying to deflect criticims of it by releasing these spurious rumors about the Obama campaign, but upon realizing that they'll have to back up those accusations, is now disavowing them. This editor is going to look into this alleged "Ma'ariv spokesman" they quoted in his publication so we can try to ascertain if this is a Ma'ariv cover-up."
Maariv has been roundly criticized in Israel for revealing the alleged prayer note, and has even been subjected to a threat of a lawsuit or a consumer boycott unless it apologizes for the note's publication.
If Maariv is now contradicting itself, the Obama campaign, characteristically has been acting coy, refusing to confirm of deny that the prayer note even comes from the hand of Barack Obama. An AP report notes: "Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs would neither confirm nor deny the note was Obama's [but] The handwriting appeared to match a message Obama inscribed Wednesday in the guest book at Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial, and was written on stationery from the King David Hotel, where Obama stayed while in Israel. Obama signed the Yad Vashem message. The note from the Western Wall was unsigned."
An Obama spokesman Bill Burton flatly denied the contention that Obama's prayer, in the form of a note slipped into the Wailing Wall, was "approved for publication," adding: "That didn't happen," he said in an email cited in Ben Smith's Politico blog. "We have neither confirmed nor denied the prayer to anyone."
Still, the suspicion that Barack Obama intended for his "private prayer" to become public knowledge is gaining currency here and abroad. James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal's influential "Best of the Web" column cites Israel Insider's previous revelations on the affair in concluding: "Obama's so-called prayer was at best an open letter to God--a sentiment intended for public, not divine, consumption."
He also cities the witty column of Israel's leading Hebrew-to-English translator Hillel Halkin, who writes in the New York Sun that the content of Obama's note strikes a false note. He starts by repeating the alleged prayer of Obama: "Lord, protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of Your will."
"Frankly," Halkin quips, "I'd feel a bit better about Mr. Obama if his prayer had simply said, "Lord, help me to be president." It's perhaps churlish of me, but the suspicion lurks that that's what he would have written had he felt sure it would not have ended up in the newspapers."
Taranto, after citing Halkin's "embarrassing story" of visiting Rachel's tomb and reading some of the prayer notes there, wryly concludes: "Now, maybe men tend to pray more high-mindedly than women do, or maybe Obama's is an unusually elevated soul. But Halkin's tale leads one to suspect that if Obama were really praying to God, he'd have asked for something more earthly: Lord, give me a landslide!" The WSJ pundit adds: "If Obama is insincere about his religious faith, that does not speak well of his character. Then again, it is reassuring in a way, given that wacko church he belonged to for 20 years."
Meanwhile, a videotape has been posted on YouTube which may show the moment of pilferage, which the videographer credibly shows is taken "seconds after Senator Obama steps away from the Western Wall."
The videographer identifies himself as David Cohen, "a freelance photographer/videographer currently living in Jerusalem." He reports that "Seconds after Obama left the stones, some of his entourage stepped up to the wall (dressed in suits) and I recorded a young man gathering notes in his hands in what appeared to be the search for Obama's freshly placed personal note. He is joined by others who unwrap notes and read them. One person [is shown] walking away from the wall with a note that he unwraps as he tries to aggressively block the camera lens." There is a continuous stream of images and sounds which links to the visible departure of the remaining Obama entourage.
Cohen's testimony provides new evidence that suggests that the alleged pilferer, dressed in the garb of a seminary student, may in fact have been a member of Obama's entourage. If so, there would not need to have been an official authorization by the campaign to publish the note. The actual "pilferer" may have been working for Obama. This possibility would go a long way to account for the mixed messages emanating from both the Maariv and Obama spokesmen.
It important to emphasize that the alleged pilferer has not been publicly identified, and any connection between him and the Obama campaign, or with Maariv, has not been proven.
A yeshiva student subsequently appeared on Israel's Channel Two, his face concealed, identified only by the Hebrew letter "Aleph." He confessed: "I am asking for Obama's forgiveness," said Aleph. "If he was offended by it ... of course he was, this is not a nice thing to do. It was sort of a prank. I hope he will forgive us, and we hope that he will win the presidency." Aleph's hands were shaking as he held the folded sheet of King David Hotel letterhead. "I hope he wasn't hurt," the Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying. "We all believe he will take the presidency."
According to The Post, "Channel 2's religious affairs correspondent said she had passed the note from the yeshiva student to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which reinserted it -- deeply -- between the ancient slabs of stone."
That doesn't sound like someone who was formally associated with the Obama campaign, but at this muddled stage who can really say? Stage, indeed, appears to be the operative word here, as the ancient Western Wall was used by Obama as a prop for a public relations exercise that appears to have spun way out of control beyond anyone's expectations. A particularly Machiavellian interpretation for why a yeshiva student might have been used as "an instrument" is put forward by Helen Cadogan in American Thinker:
But it is with regard to his Muslim audience that the full cynicism of Obama's note becomes apparent. To appeal to the Muslims, he has to be a victim of the Jews.
Having gone to the Western Wall, and not to Al Aqsa mosque, having offered a Christian-type "prayer," he has to regain some credibility in Muslim eyes, without seeming to do that. To distract his Muslim American audience from his genuflection at the Western Wall of the Jews, Obama made his fall guy a yeshiva student -- not just your average garden-variety Jew, but a seminarian....
So, Obama called a play straight out of the Farrakhan playbook. The note is stolen and the Jew did it! The Jews, they are always to be blamed for everything. Who violated the sanctity of the note a man wrote to God? The Jews! Thus, Obama distracted from his visit to the Western Wall and appealed to his Muslim audience by being a victim of the Jews. His message to his Muslim audience: he believes as we do concerning the Jews.
Why the song and dance? It was a passion play designed to win votes. Jewish votes. Christian votes. Muslim votes.
Filching a prayer note does not appeared to be a criminal offense; the Israeli police have expressed no interest in the case. It is unclear whether money changed hands between the student and Maariv. But publication of the video, with its capture of the suspect's face (at left), is likely to lead to identification of the pilferer and elucidation of the mystery. (Leads may be sent to the Israel Insider publisher.)
In any case, Obama supporters have been quick to exploit the prayer note to buttress Obama's claim to being an all-American non-Muslim, surrounded by huge crucifixes and Old Glory, wrapping up his "private prayer" in a very public appeal to vote for him, concluding with a link to the official campaign site.
So the prayer note now has been returned by the pro-Obama student to the Wall. Within six months it is expected to be formally buried, according to rabbinical protocol, along with all of the other notes that have been placed in the cracks of the ancient stones. By then we may know whether some of the wishes and prayers have come true. Passion play indeed.
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