Mortimer Benjamin Zuckerman

<youtube size="tiny" align="right" caption="Zuckerman tells Fox News: 'In fact, I helped write one of [Obama's] speeches'">kP79FUZzgD0</youtube> Mortimer Benjamin Zuckerman is (born 4 June 1937, Montreal) is an American media mogul and real estate magnate who was listed in 2008 by Forbes as the 147th richest man in the country. Between 2001-2003, Zuckerman was the chairman of the Israel lobby group Presidents Conference.

Zuckerman supported Barack Obama in the 2008 elections, but has grown highly critical because of what he perceives the administration to be insufficiently supportive of Israel. However, he lauded the administration for its defense of Israel following the massacre of nine humanitarian activists by Israeli commandos on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

Fortunately, the Obama administration refused to participate in such moral hypocrisy, as it steered the United Nations Security Council into a neutral protest and then blocked demand for an international inquiry into Israel’s conduct.

Friends in High Places

In a flattering profile for the New Yorker, Nick Paumgarten lists Zuckerman's various personal assosications with high US and Israeli officials, including Bill Clinton and Ehud Olmert. He spoke to Paumgarten about Israel:

"I met all the major players, and we basically talked. We reviewed both their strategic position and their tactical position, let's put it that way." He said that he'd gone as "an analyst," on authority he finds it difficult or indiscreet to specify. "I have been involved with these people for years and years and years," he said. "And so you have a certain history, where either they trust your judgment and confidentiality or they don't." He explains the nuances of American politics and policy to the Israelis and then comes home and explains the nuances of Israeli politics and policy to the Americans.

He had a less high opinion of former Israeli Defense Minister and Labor leader Amir Peretz who according to Zuckerman naivelywanted to speak to the Palestinians from a position of empathy.

William Casey's open fly

Zuckerman also regaled Paumgarten with stories that highlighted his close relations with other high officials. He told the journalist that after the arrest on espionage charges of Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for the U.S. News & World Report, in 1986 he went to Moscow to facilitate his. He then met CIA director William Casey.

"Casey came to my office," Zuckerman started in. "It was the end of the day, and he was wearing black tie...Now, Casey shared with me some of the most extraordinary things. I couldn't believe what he was willing to share with me. I don't know how else to put this, but it was very hard for me to concentrate on it, because he had his fly open. I didn't know what to expect. Would a microphone come out of the zipper?"

Reagan's jokes

According to Zuckerman, to Zuckerman the Daniloff affair also cemented his friendship with Ronald Reagan

"Among the reasons we hit it off was that he loved to tell jokes," Zuckerman told me. "I would be invited to dinners with Reagan, even private dinners. I'd be sitting at his table, and we would tell jokes...The wonderful thing about Reagan," Zuckerman went on, "is that he would tell jokes that were apropos of the moment. And, by the way, as I spent more time with him he would tell some of these jokes over and over again."

Affiliations

• US News & World Report - publisher and editor-in-chief since 1984
• New York Daily News - publisher
• Washington Institute for Near East Policy - board of advisors
• Herzliya Conference - panelist
• The Atlantic - publisher (1980-1999)
• Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations - chairman (2001-2003)