Obama's Western Wall Prayer - - UPDATED

Earlier I posted about the fact that Obama's prayer had been published in the Israeli newspaper Maariv.  I thought that was a terrible breach of privacy.  However, new information has now turned up, and Maariv is stating that they in fact had permission to publish the prayer from Obama's campaign.  From Israel Insider:

What initially seemed to be a journalistic scoop of dubious moral propriety now seems to be a case of an Israeli paper being played by the Barack Obama campaign. Maariv, the second most popular newspaper in Israel, was roundly criticized for publishing the note Obama left in the Kotel. But now a Maariv spokesperson says that publication of the note was pre-approved for international publication by the Obama campaign, leading to the conclusion that the "private" prayer was intentionally leaked for public consumption.

Apparently several bloggers thought the story seemed fishy from the beginning.  Big Lizards covers the story in detail here and here.  Information and links can be also be found at Atlas Shrugs.

If it's true that Obama's campaign leaked the prayer and if it was done with his knowledge, any shred of respect I might have had for him is completely gone. 

UPDATE:

TNR's  Zvika Krieger had a conversation with a Maariv spokesman who stated that no one from the Obama campaign gave them a copy of the prayer or approved of it being published. Don't miss SoccerDad's comment giving background and context, below.

Hat tip: SoccerDad

Comments

[Leora]

I was considering going around to every site that ranted at the so-called Yeshiva student and say, so now whaddya think? Stop picking on the Yeshiva students. grumble. That part of the story really pissed me off, that a Yeshiva student was wrongly accused.

[soccerdad]

My wife initially said that Obama's a poltician, surely he knew it was likely that someone would appropriate his note.

What I do find interesting is that TNR - a publication supporting Obama - pointed out that not just Ma'ariv but Yedioth Ahronot claims to have received a copy of the note before it was placed into the wall.

The JPost story quotes an Obama aide:
"Prayer notes at the Wall should remain private," a campaign aide said.

There's no denial that the campaign released the contents of the note though.

Of course if Ma'ariv already knew about the contents of the note, why'd they have to filch it?

And if Obama wanted the note to remain private why'd he put it on stationery from the King David Hotel? Most notes that I'm aware of are written on tiny nondescript pieces of paper.

I find TNR's coverage to be the most damning.

[AndyJ]

Obama's whole trip was stage managed for the Photo Opportunity. It was all designed to look good as a backdrop during the convention...remember-? He will give a speech at the outdoor stadium because the convention hall is not large enough for his ego... The commentators dancing around the comparisons to Bill Clinton and Adolf Hitler's rallies are fun to watch... Both are stage managed affairs that blinded the public to reality and closed ears to arguments about the Emperor's Lack of Clothing...

The note was released from the hotel either by photocopy or fax, depending on sources... Just like Clinton's walk along Omaha Beach was marked so that he would bend down and lay a cross in stones, with Liberty Ships and warships siloutted in the background... Obama has the entire Clinton/Hollywood stage manager circus manipulating the visuals... Afterall, -HISTORY- is being made here-!