The White House this week attempted to distance itself from comments by an anonymous senior U.S. official who called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “chickenshit.”
“Certainly that’s not the administration’s view, and we think such comments are inappropriate and counter-productive,” Alistair Baskey, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said in a statement.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu and the president have forged an effective partnership, and consult closely and frequently, including earlier this month when the president hosted the prime minister in the Oval Office,” Baskey added.
The Obama administration official’s use of the slur, reported Oct. 28 by The Atlantic magazine’s Jeffrey Goldberg, has caused outrage in Israel while adding tension to an already strained relationship between Netanyahu and President Barack Obama.
The anonymous official was characterizing White House reaction to Netanyahu’s tendency to work around the White House in lobbying Congress and the media against a prospective nuclear deal between Iran and the major powers, and recent announcements of new building in eastern Jerusalem.
The charge of cowardice had to do with what the administration sees as Netanyahu’s unwillingness to face down hawkish coalition partners and the settlement movement.
The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), meanwhile, expressed “disappointment at the profane and inappropriate language” attributed to the Obama administration official in The Atlantic piece.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has the right and responsibility as the freely elected leader of a sovereign nation to conduct Israel’s foreign and domestic policies as he determines are in the best interests of his country and its people,” NJDC said in a statement.
While Baskey condemned the remarks, he acknowledged that “obviously” the American and Israeli governments “do not agree on every issue.” He added, “For instance, we have repeatedly made clear the United States’ decades-long view that settlement activity is ‘illegitimate’ and complicates efforts to achieve a two-state solution.” — jta & jns.org