By Michael Hernandez with additional reporting from Abdel-Raouf Arnaout in Jerusalem
WASHINGTON
The Obama administration distanced itself Wednesday from a recent media report that quoted a senior administration official using less than diplomatic language to describe Israel’s prime minister.
A report by the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg quoted the official who described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "a chickenshit."
"The thing about Bibi [Netanyahu] is he's a chickenshit," the official was quoted by Goldberg as saying.
The article paints a bleak picture of the state of U.S.-Israeli relations saying that they have moved “toward a full-blown crisis.”
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest had a rosier view, saying that relations are “as strong as ever” while admitting that differences persist. He firmly refuted that the unnamed official’s views are indicative of those of the administration.
“Comments like that do not reflect the administration’s view, and we do believe that they are counterproductive,” he said. “There is a very close relationship between the United States and Israel, but that close relationship does not mean that we paper over our differences.”
Earnest’s State Department counterpart, Jen Psaki, said that the views of the official do not represent those held by Secretary of State John Kerry or the president. She said that if tensions exist, they will be addressed behind closed doors.
“As in any diplomatic relationship, if there are points of frustration, we’ll raise those through appropriate channels. I think the point is that doing that publicly is not constructive or productive,” she said. "As the secretary speaks with Prime Minister Netanyahu pretty frequently, as all of you know, and if this issue comes up, he would make clear this isn’t the position of the administration."
The response from Congress, which has been an ardent supporter of the Israeli government despite successive rows between the administration and Israel, has been markedly stiffer.
“When the president discusses Israel and Iran, it is sometimes hard to tell who he thinks is America’s friend and who he thinks is America’s enemy. The House of Representatives has no trouble drawing that distinction," House Speaker John Boenher said in a statement, hinting that Obama should show the official the door.
Tensions has emerged between the two historic allies over a series of recent announcements by Israel regarding plans to move ahead with new settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
International law considers the West Bank and East Jerusalem occupied territories captured by Israel in 1967, deeming all Jewish settlement building there as illegal.
In Israel, Netanyahu himself struck out at the comments Wednesday.
"If I did not defend the state of Israel, if I did not vigorously uphold our national and security interests, they would not attack me," he said.
"And despite all the attacks against me, I will continue to defend our state," he added.
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