The AP: Scary, scary, hardline Israeli is going to lose, but we’ll profile him anyway

The AP never misses an opportunity to bash Benjamin Netanyahu. This time, they use my personal winner of Most Annoying Israeli Spam to Meryl Award, Moshe Feiglin, as the bogeyman who is even more extreme than Bibi. Here’s the lead:

A hard-line Jewish settler who wants to pay Palestinians to leave the West Bank and Gaza is running against Israel’s prime minister in Tuesday’s ruling party primary election.

Moshe Feiglin has little chance of defeating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but he could deliver an embarrassing blow to the country’s leader in his fourth try for leadership of the Likud, none of which have had a realistic shot at success.

Experts say Feiglin could get a third of the vote in the closed party primary, reflecting the view of hard-liners that Netanyahu, despite his uncompromising worldview, is not hawkish enough.

Got it? This guy hasn’t got a snowball’s chance in hell of winning, but note the slam at Netanyahu bolded above.

Now look what else the AP says about him.

Israeli nationalists believe the West Bank must remain under Israeli control for religious and security reasons. Though Netanyahu backed that view for years, his movement has edged toward compromise in recent years, and Netanyahu himself has accepted the concept of creating a Palestinian state.

Really? So, you mean–Netanyahu has compromised on his former views? In the exact opposite of what you report two whole paragraphs ago?

They say that analysts are “divided” over how Feiglin’s challenge will affect Netanyahu’s actions. That’s because they interviewed two “analysts” and one said it would have no effect, and the other said it would.

And there you have it, folks. Another day in Scary Israel-Land reporting in the AP, and still not a single word about Palestinian TV praising the murders of the Fogel family (including a three-month old infant) as “heroes.”