Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is firing back at reports that a senior Obama administration official called him “chickens—t,” or cowardly, who is only concerned about his own political survival.
On Tuesday, U.S. magazine The Atlantic quoted an anonymous U.S. official as saying, “The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickens—t,” using Mr. Netanyahu’s nickname.
The insult comes after a month of heated exchanges between the Netanyahu government and Washington over settlement building in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, Reuters reported.
“The good thing about Netanyahu is that he’s scared to launch wars,” the official said. “The bad thing about him is that he won’t do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states. The only thing he’s interested in is protecting himself from political defeat. He’s not [Yitzhak] Rabin, he’s not [Ariel] Sharon, he’s certainly no [Menachem] Begin. He’s got no guts.”
Israeli leaders usually do not respond to comments by unidentified officials, but Mr. Netanyahu addressed the remarks directly Wednesday in parliament, Reuters reported.
“Our supreme interests, chiefly the security and unity of Jerusalem, are not the main concern of those anonymous officials who attack us and me personally, as the assault on me comes only because I defend the State of Israel,” the Israeli leader said.
“…Despite all of the attacks I suffer, I will continue to defend our country. I will continue to defend the citizens of Israel,” he said.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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