Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone call to Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for a U.S. official’s anonymous attack describing the Israeli prime minister as “chickenshit.”
The conversation took place on Oct. 31, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters the following day. Kerry had called the slur “disgraceful, unacceptable, damaging,” saying, “That does not reflect the president, it does not reflect me.”
In the phone call, Kerry and Netanyahu also discussed the situation in Jerusalem and the importance of de-escalating tensions.
Psaki added that Kerry spoke on Nov. 1 with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also “expressed his serious concern about the escalating tensions in Jerusalem.”
Psaki told reporters that the State Department was working with “many counterparts” in the Israeli government and the PA to calm the situation.
A Palestinian newspaper reported over the weekend that the Obama administration planned to offer a proposal to restart peace talks after the midterm elections. — jta