‘This Man Is a Spite Machine’; Obama Blasted on Social Media for Appointment of Ben Rhodes to Holocaust Memorial Council
by Algemeiner Staff

Ben Rhodes and US President Barack Obama on Air Force One. Photo: Pete Souza / White House via Wikimedia Commons.
Outgoing President Barack Obama’s choice on Tuesday of top aide Ben Rhodes to serve on the US Holocaust Memorial Council drew a slew of online ire over Rhodes’ controversial record on Israel-related issues.
Rhodes — whose role as Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications will come to an end on Friday with the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump — was a leading advocate of the Iran nuclear deal and a vocal critic of Israeli settlement policies.
“So Ben Rhodes, who is a veritable enemy of Israel, Obama appoints to Holocaust Memorial Council,” American Spectator Managing Editor Melissa Mackenzie tweeted. “The man is a spite machine.”
So Ben Rhodes, who is a veritable enemy of Israel, Obama appoints to Holocaust Memorial Council.
The man is a spite machine.
— Melissa Mackenzie ? (@MelissaTweets) January 17, 2017
UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer tweeted, “No joke: Obama names aide who bragged of whitewashing Iran’s Holocaust-denying regime to Holocaust memorial council.”
No joke: Obama names aide who bragged of whitewashing Iran’s Holocaust-denying regime to Holocaust memorial council. https://t.co/CuxA0KzbH5
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 17, 2017
Jonathan Greenberg — senior vice president of the Haym Salomon Center — tweeted, “Other board members should refuse to sit with him.”
Other board members should refuse to sit with him. https://t.co/KaaXytwigP
— Jonathan Greenberg (@JGreenbergSez) January 17, 2017
Journalist Lori Lowenthal Marcus tweeted, “The only interest in the Holocaust I’ve seen from @rhodes44 is his effort 2 help create another 1.”
The only interest in the Holocaust I’ve seen from @rhodes44 is his effort 2 help create another 1. https://t.co/kJn3l74GoH @BeladonnaRogers
— Lori LowenthalMarcus (@LoriLMarcus) January 17, 2017
Rachel Steinmetz tweeted, “In a final F-U to the #Jewish community #Obama names his shill #BenRhodes to #Holocaust Memorial Council.”
In a final F-U to the #Jewish community #Obama names his shill #BenRhodes to #Holocaust Memorial Council https://t.co/sEPMNCsp4r
— (((רחל Steinmetz))) (@RachelSteinmetz) January 17, 2017
The US Holocaust Memorial Council is comprised of 68 members — 55 of whom are presidential appointees. The members serve five-year terms on the council, which meets twice annually.
Last week, as reported by The Algemeiner, the ombudsman of PBS called on the station to issue a “clarifying or correcting” statement in the wake of a false claim made by Rhodes during an interview with Judy Woodruff in December that Israel was constructing “tens of thousands” of new settlements in the West Bank.
Just a few days after the PBS “NewsHour” interview, Rhodes — who was born to a Jewish mother — was called an “expert at fiction” by Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer for asserting that the Obama administration did not orchestrate the passage of the anti-settlement UN Security Council resolution last month.
In a New York Times Magazine profile published in May, Rhodes — the holder of a M.F.A. in creative writing — admitted to creating a media “echo chamber” to promote the Iran nuclear deal. Reporters were “saying things that validated what he had given them to say,” he revealed.
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