Washington – US Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to apologize for the quotes attributed to anonymous White House officials referring to the Israeli premier in harsh terms, Channel 10 reported.
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Kerry sought to convey to the prime minister that the comments reported in The Atlantic “do not reflect the position of the United States.”
The apology comes one day after Kerry said that insulting the character and leadership of the Israeli premier is “disgraceful, unacceptable and damaging.”
The public spat has put noticeable strain on the administration, Kerry said, who has known Netanyahu for decades and has worked on a near-daily basis with him since becoming secretary of state.
“Such statements are disgraceful, unacceptable and damaging,” Kerry said in a press conference.
“I don’t know who the people that said those things are, but it made our lives much harder.”
Tensions between Washington and Jerusalem were already on public display before Jeffrey Goldberg, a prominent columnist on matters of interest to the Israeli and American Jewish communities, reported a senior administration official calling Netanyahu a “chickenshit coward” for his stance on Iran.
The White House and State Department rejected that characterization and called the language offensive. The administration official has not been identified.
Goldberg, the diplomatic correspondent for The Atlantic, spoke to Army Radio on Thursday morning about the splash he made in the headlines this week.
“That’s a completely normal course of events: Someone tells the truth, and then because the truth isn’t diplomatic, they have to say the y weren’t authorized to speak,” Goldberg said. “The level of frustration [in the White House] is incredibly high, possibly higher than ever, from the Washington side, and people are boiling over.”
Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post
If no one knows who said it maybe the whole thing is made up?
Rumor has it that the one who said the remarks was none other than VP Joe Biden. Given the sheer to stupidity of the remark, besides its vulgarity, it makes a lot of sense.
On the other hand given Jeff Golberg’s hatred for the State of Israel, it is very possible he made it up himself.
I wouldn’t be surprised in the least bit if this rotten hateful bigot totally fabricated the sorry……
Babies
Given that political leaders in EY have publicly and privately made some equally crude and derogatory remarks about President Obama, why is everyone in EY so outraged when the XXX comes right back at them. Both sides should simply shut up and stop with the personal character assassination over legitimate policy differences.
Kerry doesn’t know who the people, but we all know who they are, they are Obama
and his minions
Obama should be the one apologizing… If the same remarks would have been made about iran I’m sure Obama whould have made a public statement denouncing the remark…
Mashed Potato Face had to do Obama dirty work. These comments HAVE TO BE originated by the president, the biggest chicken bleep girl ever.
Kerry waited three days to apologize. Now, these headed back here with another “tear Israel into pieces plan.” Coincidence? I think not.
Disparaging remarks about Obama and Kerry by Israeli politicians were in the form of statements that told the truth about their motivations, not crude insults. Yet, Ya’alon, telling it like it is about Kerry, was forced to apologize and he did.
Say what you will about Netanyahu, but while he was in an elite paratrooper unit, the real coward Obama was smoking dope on college campuses. The primary problem with Netanyahu is that he caves into the U’S.’ interference that causes Israel harm.
There are many things Obama could call Bibi on, but calling him a coward is not one of them. They know who said it & the person who did will no doubt be promoted.
You do have to be impressed how the men who handle the great affairs of state can act like kids sometimes. Maybe even most of the time.
Really? You’re a genius. And I thought rumor was a fact. Thanks for setting the record straight.
For all the brainiacs who are doubting whether the disgusting slur was ever really said, do you think Kerry would be apologizing for a statement that was not definitely made??? Duh.
Statesmen like Machiavelli, Metternich and Abba Eban did not have to use insults. Any fool can hurl an insult . The reason is he/she cannot make a cogent intelligent rebuttal. President Obama whatever your opinion is of him has been called worse names on this website