No subject

Israeli Prime Minister has stopped short of saying that Israel controls the=
 US government. Speaking to the Israeli media this week, Olmert said he had=
 asked President Bush to order Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to absta=
in in a key UN vote on the Israeli genocidal onslaught in the Gaza Strip.=
=20



=E2=80=9CShe was left shamed. A resolution that she prepared and arranged, =
and in the end she didn=E2=80=99t vote in favor,=E2=80=9D said Olmert, brag=
ging about =E2=80=9Cour clout and influence=E2=80=9D in the US .=20



=E2=80=9CWe didn=E2=80=99t want her to vote in favor of the resolution. And=
 this is what we eventually got.=E2=80=9D=20



Olmert said he demanded rather aggressively to talk to President Bush and w=
hen Bush was on the phone, he told him to order Rice not to vote for the re=
solution.=20



=E2=80=9CI said =E2=80=98get me President Bush on the phone.=E2=80=99 They =
said he was in the middle of giving a speech in Philadelphia . I said I did=
n=E2=80=99t care. I need to talk to him now. He got off the podium and spok=
e to me.=20



=E2=80=9CI told him the US could not vote in favor. It cannot vote in favor=
 of such a resolution. He (Bush) immediately called the Secretary of State =
and told her not to vote in favor.=E2=80=9D=20



However, a State Department spokesperson has been quoted as denying Olmert=
=E2=80=99s claim.=20



=E2=80=9CMr. Olmert is wrong,=E2=80=9D the official said.=20



=E2=80=9CEven if everything had gone according to plan, she would have abst=
ained. That was the plan,=E2=80=9D said the official. =E2=80=9CIsrael does =
not make US policy.=E2=80=9D=20



In 2001, an acrimonious argument reportedly erupted during the Israeli cabi=
net=20
weekly session between then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and then fo=
reign Minister Shimon Peres during which Sharon reportedly yelled at Peres,=
 saying: "Don't worry about American pressure, we control America."=20



Peres reportedly warned Sharon that refusing to heed incessant American req=
uests for a cease-fire with the Palestinians would endanger Israeli interes=
ts and turn the US against Israel.=20



At this point, a furious Sharon turned toward Peres, saying:=20



"Every time we do something you tell me America will do this and will do th=
at . . . I want to tell you something very clear:=20



=E2=80=9CDon't worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish peop=
le, control America, and the Americans know it."=20



Peres and other cabinet ministers reportedly warned Sharon against saying w=
hat he said in public, because "It would cause us a public relations disast=
er."=20



Israeli sources denied the story.