RUTHFULLY YOURS

Ahead of his visit to the Holy Land next week, U.S. President Barack Obama decided to grant an exclusive interview to leading Israeli anchorwoman Yoni Levi. The 25-minute one-on-one was taped on Wednesday at the White House and broadcast Thursday night, with Hebrew subtitles, on Channel 2.

A few days ago, when Channel 10 caught wind of its competitor’s coup, its station chiefs were none too happy. They even complained to the White House. After all, they argued, Levi already had the privilege of interviewing Obama in July 2010. Why couldn’t Obama give another Israeli news outlet an equal opportunity?

American officials explained that Obama only had time for one such interview before his trip, and due to Channel 2’s higher ratings, the choice was a no-brainer.

This may not have been the only reason to opt for Channel 2 in general and for Levi in particular. When Obama was elected for his first term in 2008, Levi did not conceal her elation. Then, when she interviewed him at the White House two years later, she behaved more like a PR person in his employ than a representative of the foreign press.

Nor did Levi’s enthusiasm for the U.S. president subsequently wane. Indeed, her reporting of his re-election in November was not merely biased in his favor; it gave new meaning to the term “puff piece.”

So why would the White House have dared gamble on an interviewer from a different channel — one who might turn out to be a hard hitter on matters of policy?

The decision not to take such a risk paid off, big-time. Levi was true to form. She cooed through a list of sympathetic questions, and accepted each of Obama’s replies with nary a challenge to a single stuttered platitude on his part.

This included his ridiculous response to her hesitant query about the possible release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. No, said Obama, he did not have plans to pardon Pollard. Pollard committed a criminal act, and criminals in the U.S. are punished. Levi nodded. Got it. No further questions, your honor. Your majesty. Your royal highness.

It is no secret by now that Obama does not tolerate being cross-examined by anyone, least of all members of the media, as rare an occurrence as this may be. He is accustomed to being handled with kid gloves. Levi’s performance, then, merely put her on a par with her American counterparts where Obama worship is concerned.

At home, however, Levi’s clear political slant is a bit more controversial. In fact, her scathing criticism of Israel during Operation Cast Lead (the December 2008 to January 2009 incursion into Gaza to take out Hamas terrorists and infrastructure) and her open empathy with the enemy sparked a countrywide petition to have her fired that went viral on the Web. It was signed by Israelis from all walks of life, who considered Levi’s conduct to be bordering on treason. And the last thing we could stomach, while our loved ones placed themselves in mortal danger to protect us, was to have the likes of Levi attacking them for it on our TV screens.

But the war ended, and Levi was not let go. If anything, the scandal she caused boosted Channel 2’s ratings — the reason, ostensibly, that it became Obama’s favored vehicle of dissemination among Israelis. How befitting for a president who acts as an apologist for those whose goal it is to destroy America to use Levi for his purposes. If ever there were two peas in a pod.

It is thus that Obama was able to get away with inanity on every topic raised, including Iran’s nuclear program. “There is a window of time to resolve this diplomatically,” he asserted. “I do think that [the Iranians] are recognizing that there’s a severe cost for them to continue on the path that they’re on, and that there’s another door open.”

Levi did not ask whether the door to which he was referring to leads to an underground bunker. But she made up for it by providing material worthy of a parody in The Onion.

“Many top Israeli officials have said that your administration has been the most supportive of Israel, of Israel’s security issues,” she said. “And yet, sir, there is this lingering gap between, you know, on the one hand, your very warm and supportive deeds and words, and on the other hand, the way that you are perceived by some people in Israel. Is this a source of frustration to you?”

Obama couldn’t have wished for a better red carpet on which to arrive and “talk directly to the Israeli people” — or at least to those who are waiting with bated breath for the coming of the messiah from Washington. The others, as far as he and Yonit Levi are concerned, can keep their “frustration” to themselves by staying away from the cameras and microphones.

Good luck on that fantasy, Mr. President. Channel 2 may have a lot of viewers. But the Israeli electorate rejected the political camp that hails your policies as feasible or friendly.

Ruthie Blum is the author of “To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama and the ‘Arab Spring.'”