New York – More than a dozen Israeli and German journalists covering Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the UN found themselves stranded in a tunnel near the FDR Drive after the SUV sent by the U.S. Secret Service to ferry them ran out of gas en route to the Prime Minister’s hotel on the East side, the Times of Israel reported (http://bit.ly/QZJ6vt).
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Florit Peretz, a Netanyahu staffer in charge of the traveling press corps, ordered them to remain in the vehicle, but the journalists refused. Some managed to hail a taxi as cars breezed past them in the tunnel. The rest hailed a nearly empty small yellow school bus to take to them to the UN. Only the bus driver’s friend was on board.
The Secret Service driver protested. “Do not get on this bus, it has not undergone any security checks,” he commanded. “I can’t guarantee that I can get this vehicle anywhere near the hotel or the UN.”
Defying the Secret Service driver, Peretz and the journalists boarded the small bus. Remarkably, the bus driver was a Jew, originally from Russia. He even spoke a few words of Hebrew. The bus driver safely dropped his passengers off across from the UN some 30 minutes later. The journalists asked how much they owed him for his services, but the bus driver refused payment. “No, that’s OK,” he said. But the press corps insisted. So, the driver told them he would take $10. They paid him $20 and the bus driver wished them a “Shana Tovah” before he sped off.
Peretz made sure to obtain the bus driver’s name and contact information. She intends to submit a proper bill on his behalf for his services to the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
Why is the Secret Service providing services to these reporters at taxpayer expense in the first place???
Let me get this straight it’s not a security risk to stay in one place with a vehicle that has no gas, like a sitting duck on the FDR.
The US Secret Service is clearly not yet privy to the password “PPPPFU” – Prior Proper Planning Prevents Foul Ups!
You know the price of gas has gone thru the roof when even the Secret Service has trouble filling up an SUV’s gas tank which can cost upwards of $100 or more.
car trouble happens, but running out of gas in a big city? unforgivable!! I would investigate this driver
This makes the secret service look not too savvy! Running out of gas?????
Could this have been a plot to kill these journalists via an international terror plot? The driver of the suv needs a lie detector test and then an IQ test.
In Obama’s America, the Secret Service is starting to look like the Keystone Cops.
The Director of the Secret Service must go; how long more does the public have to tolerate these grievous errors, ont the part of the Secret Service? Last year, when Obama was visiting Ireland, one of the armored limousines got stuck on a roadway, because the driver went over an obstruction. Fortunately, the President wasn’t onboard. Also, there have been reports of fights by off duty Secret Service agents, at bars, where they’ve bullied, and assaulted non-Secret Service personnel. There has to be a thorough housekeeping at that agency. There is no excuse for running out of gas, and someone has to be held accountable.
Yup, these Secret Service agents keep digging themselves a deeper hole. Just another wonderful reflection of this extremely capable adminstration. Well done!
Looks like a planned attempt to sabotage of the Israeli Press from getting to the cover BiBi by the Secret Service. Guess they ( SS) didn’t count on Jewish Ingenuity mixed with a good dose of chutzpah and Ha Kodesh Borachu. The empty school bus who just happened to be driving past the Israeli and German Press? The driver just happened to be Jewish? This is purely hasgacha Protis.
The funny part was.
The Secret Service ordering them not to go. I wish I could have seen that. That is hilarious!