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Netanyahu hires ex-Breitbart journalist as campaign chief

“Netanyahu already saved the country during the initial health and economic crisis of this pandemic,” Aaron Klein said in June 2020.

By AP and World Israel News staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has named a former journalist with the right-wing Breitbart news site, who authored books challenging Barack Obama’s fitness for president, as his campaign chief for the March 23 elections.

Aaron Klein, who has served as a political strategist to Netanyahu since last year, confirmed his appointment to The Associated Press on Wednesday. The news was first reported in Israeli media.

Klein is a former U.S. radio show host and ex-Jerusalem bureau chief for Breitbart News. He was appointed by the site’s executive chairman at the time, Steven Bannon, who would later become a key strategist to Donald Trump.

Klein is the author of a number of books about Obama. They include: The Manchurian President: Barack Obama’s Ties to Communists, Socialists and Other Anti-American Extremists; Fool Me Twice: Obama’s Shocking Plans for the Next Four Years Exposed; and Impeachable Offenses: The Case for Removing Barack Obama from Office.

“Netanyahu already saved the country during the initial health and economic crisis of this pandemic. Israel is lucky that he is leading the Jewish State, especially during this period where the country finds itself at such a critical strategic juncture,” Klein told The Jerusalem Post back in June 2020, when Netanyahu had hired him earlier as a strategic consultant.

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Netanyahu, who is fighting a tough reelection battle, has a long history of using American campaign advisers. One of his main challengers, Gideon Saar, recently hired several founders of “The Lincoln Project,” an anti-Trump Republican organization, as advisers.

Netanyahu and Obama clashed repeatedly during his time in office over Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians and the nuclear agreement Obama’s administration negotiated with Iran. President Joe Biden is expected to restore many of these policies.

Trump in contrast gave unprecedented support to Israel, making good on the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act passed by Congress. The bill recognized Israel as the undisputed capital of Israel and set aside funds for the relocation of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.