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The Schmooze

Video: Ehud Barak, Israeli Minister of Camera Angles?

Some Israelis are suggesting that Ehud Barak’s portfolio be changed from Minister of Defense to Minister of Camera Angles, after he was caught on camera giving stage directions to the commander of the IDF’s Southern Command as he briefed the press on the terrorist attacks earlier today near Eilat.

As Major General Tal Russo was giving a detailed description of the terrorists’ incursion into Israeli territory and their attack on a public bus and private vehicles, Barak was caught on video interrupting the commander. “Tal, you don’t understand these things. You need to look over there at the cameras,” Barak said as he pointed to said cameras. Then he chuckled. It can be imagined that Russo, who continued his debriefing without reacting to Barak’s comments, was not amused. Neither was an aide, standing behind Barak, who could be heard admonishing the Minister, “There’s already a director here, you know.”

Israel’s Channel 2 News put the clip up on YouTube, its Internet site, and Facebook. Hundreds of comments were posted, none of them complimentary to Barak.

Israel’s remix king, Noy Alooshe, however, did have something nice to say about Barak’s rude and inappropriate interruption of Russo — albeit in a backhanded compliment kind of way. Alooshe posted the clip on his Facebook page with this introduction: “The bummer about Ehud Barak is that he takes away any desire to make a remix. The original is so amazing that you shouldn’t touch it.”

Watch the Channel 2 News Clip:

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