Sakher El Materi In a 2009 diplomatic cable from the United States Ambassador Robert Godec that was leaked by WikiLeaks during the United States diplomatic cables leak, the diplomat opined that El Materi and Nesrine and other members of Ben Ali's family were disliked and even hated by some Tunisians for their perceived lavish lifestyle. The Canadian Press described him as "one of the most powerful members of Tunisia's ruling class", and before Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the President of Tunisia and Materi's father-in-law, fled Tunisia amidst the 2010–2011 protests, Materi was considered by some to be a possible successor to Ben
Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State but she avoided specific issues of U.S. aid and when elections should take place. President Obama was reportedly unhappy with U.S. intelligence agencies following their failure to foresee the 2010–2011 Tunisian uprising and the downfall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali as well as the Egyptian protests. Responding to criticism that the State Department had failed to see the developments in Egypt coming, Clinton defended the U.S. in an interview on Al-Arabiya, saying "I don't think anybody could have predicted we'd be sitting here talking about the end of the Mubarak presidency at the time that this all started." Reflecting