{"id":2269,"date":"2014-10-29T22:53:50","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T22:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gphrc.org\/?p=2269"},"modified":"2014-10-29T22:54:53","modified_gmt":"2014-10-29T22:54:53","slug":"quotes-senior-obama-administration-figures-damn-israeli-prime-minister-chickenshit-stance-settlements-peace-palestinians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gphrc.org\/index.php\/quotes-senior-obama-administration-figures-damn-israeli-prime-minister-chickenshit-stance-settlements-peace-palestinians\/","title":{"rendered":"Quotes from senior Obama administration figures damn Israeli prime minister as \u2018chickenshit\u2019 over stance on settlements and peace with Palestinians"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-header\">\n<div id=\"main-article-info\">\n<h1>Netanyahu insists he is &#8216;under attack for defending Israel&#8217; after remarks from US official<\/h1>\n<div id=\"stand-first\" class=\"stand-first-alone\" data-component=\"Article:standfirst_cta\">\n<p>Quotes from senior Obama administration figures damn Israeli prime minister as \u2018chickenshit\u2019 over stance on settlements and peace with Palestinian<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul id=\"content-actions\" class=\"share-links trackable-component\" data-component=\"Article:top share tools\">\n<li class=\"full-line email\" data-link-name=\"email this story Top\"><a class=\"contributor\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/peterbeaumont\" rel=\"author\">Peter Beaumont<\/a> in Jerusalem<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"content\">\n<ul class=\"article-attributes trackable-component b4\" data-component=\"Article:byline\">\n<li class=\"publication\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/\">theguardian.com<\/a>, <time datetime=\"2014-10-29T17:15GMT\">Wednesday 29 October 2014 17.15 GMT<\/time><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"article-wrapper\" class=\"trackable-component\" data-component=\"Article:in body link\">\n<div id=\"article-body-blocks\">\n<div class=\"flexible-content\">\n<div id=\"mainblock\" class=\"block\" data-id=\"54508d6fe4b03ba8725f2bc2\">\n<div class=\"block-elements\">\n<figure class=\"element element-image\" data-media-id=\"ba5d764caa1cf864a8f57cf366d11a0dfdb82fa9\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"gu-image\" src=\"http:\/\/static.guim.co.uk\/sys-images\/Guardian\/Pix\/pictures\/2014\/10\/29\/1414565228347\/41183c80-4acf-434b-af80-7b9c83a7dfa5-460x276.jpeg\" alt=\"Binyamin Netanyahu is condemned by Obama administration officials in an interview for the Atlantic.\" width=\"460\" height=\"276\" \/><figcaption><span class=\"element-image__caption\">Binyamin Netanyahu is condemned by Obama administration officials in an interview for the Atlantic.<\/span> <span class=\"element-image__credit\">Photograph: Amir Cohen\/Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flexible-content-body\" data-display-hint=\"\">\n<p>US relations with Israel have plunged to new depths of bitterness and hostility as senior officials in the Obama administration decried Binyamin Netanyahu as a \u201cchickenshit prime minister\u201d, \u201ccoward\u201d and a man more interested in his own political survival than peace.<\/p>\n<p>The furious assessment delivered in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/international\/archive\/2014\/10\/the-crisis-in-us-israel-relations-is-officially-here\/382031\/\">anonymous but no-holds barred comments<\/a> in an interview with the American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg in the Atlantic underline a state of anger with Netanyahu that is characterised as \u201cred hot\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The remarks are particularly telling in having been made to Goldberg, a Washington insider who has interviewed both Obama and Netanyahu, and who warned US-Israeli relations were in a \u201cfull-blown crisis\u201d that could only get worse after the midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to the Israeli parliament \u2013 the Knesset \u2013 a few hours after the comments were revealed, Netanyahu angrily insisted he was \u201cunder attack simply for defending Israel\u201d, adding that he \u201ccherished\u201d Israel\u2019s relationship with the US.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen there are pressures on Israel to concede its security, the easiest thing to do is to concede,\u201d he said. \u201cYou get a round of applause, ceremonies on grassy knolls, and then come the missiles and the tunnels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Obama officials\u2019 comments underline the dismal state of relations between the Obama administration and Netanyahu after a series of damaging announcements by Israel \u2013 including again this week \u2013<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2014\/oct\/27\/israel-construct-settler-homes-east-jerusalem-netanyahu\">regarding its determination to push ahead with settlement building<\/a> in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2014\/oct\/25\/israeli-defense-minister-crisis-with-the-united-states\">The temperature of relations plunged again last week<\/a> when Israel\u2019s defence minister, Moshe Yaalon, was pointedly snubbed by senior administration officials during a visit last week to Washington, which itself followed a public warning from the White House that Israel risked alienating its \u201cclosest allies\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the deepening frustration in Washington, Netanyahu continued to hit back over the latest settlement announcement, saying US criticism was \u201cdetached from reality\u201d, even on the eve of the publication of the latest remarks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe thing about Bibi is, he\u2019s a chickenshit,\u201d said one official quoted in the Atlantic. \u201cThe good thing about Netanyahu is that he\u2019s scared to launch wars. The bad thing about him is that he won\u2019t do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only thing he\u2019s interested in is protecting himself from political defeat. He\u2019s not [Yitzhak] Rabin, he\u2019s not [Ariel] Sharon, he\u2019s certainly no [Menachem] Begin. He\u2019s got no guts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a more diplomatic and public statement on the recent settlement announcements, the US national security council spokesman Alistair Baskey insisted the US would continue to criticise Israel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are times when we disagree with actions of the Israeli government and we must raise our concerns, such as our concerns about Israel\u2019s settlement policy,\u201d he said. \u201cWe raise these concerns as a partner who is deeply concerned about Israel\u2019s future and wants to see Israel living side by side in peace and security with its neighbours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In comments designed to further sting Netanyahu, who has expended huge diplomatic effort on attempting to derail any deal with Iran over its nuclear programme, another official suggested the White House no longer believed Netanyahu would launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran to prevent it obtaining nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s too late for him to do anything,\u201d the official said. \u201cTwo, three years ago, this was a possibility. But ultimately he couldn\u2019t bring himself to pull the trigger. It was a combination of our pressure and his own unwillingness to do anything dramatic. Now it\u2019s too late.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A White House spokesman sought to distance the administration from the remarks, insisting they were \u201cinappropriate and counter-productive\u201d, adding Netanyahu and Obama have \u201cforged an effective partnership\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The comments are the latest in a series of high-profile spats between Washington and Netanyahu\u2019s government. Relations began their sharp decline when defence minister Yaalon accused the US secretary of state, John Kerry, of being \u201cobsessive and messianic\u201d in his pursuit of a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians. Later, in off-the-record remarks, Kerry warned that Israeli risked becoming \u201can apartheid state\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday Netanyahu told the Knesset: \u201cI am not prepared to make concessions that will endanger our state. Understand, our national interests, topped by security and the unity of Jerusalem, are not what top the interests of those anonymous forces attacking us, and me personally. I am under attack simply because I am defending the State of Israel. If I didn\u2019t stand firm on our national interests, I would not be under attack.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI respect and cherish the deep connection with the United States. Since the establishment of the state, we\u2019ve had our arguments and then some. We have seen time after time, year and year, support rising among the American public. The strategic alliance between the stances is continuing and will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Responding to the remarks in the Atlantic late on Tuesday night, Israel\u2019s far-right economics minister, Naftali Bennett, used his Facebook page to call for Washington to renounce the comments: \u201cIf what was written [in The Atlantic] is true, then it appears the current administration plans to throw Israel under the bus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe prime minister is not a private person but the leader of the Jewish state and the whole Jewish world. Such severe insults towards the prime minister of Israel are hurtful to millions of Israeli citizens and Jews all over the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of attacking Israel and forcing it to accept suicidal terms, it should be strengthened. I call on the US administration to renounce these coarse comments and to reject them outright.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Netanyahu insists he is &#8216;under attack for defending Israel&#8217; after remarks from US official Quotes from senior Obama administration figures damn Israeli prime minister as \u2018chickenshit\u2019 over stance on settlements and peace with Palestinian Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem theguardian.com, Wednesday 29 October 2014 17.15 GMT Binyamin Netanyahu is condemned by Obama administration officials in an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gphrc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gphrc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gphrc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gphrc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gphrc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2269"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gphrc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2273,"href":"https:\/\/gphrc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2269\/revisions\/2273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gphrc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gphrc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gphrc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}