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Furious PM tells Obama: ‘Never second guess me again’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily warned the White House “not to ever secondguess me again” on matters involving Hamas — and followed up by vowing Israel will deal with Palestinian terrorists on its own terms.
Netanyahu issued his stinging rebuke to the Obama administration in a heated phone call Friday with US Ambassador Dan Shapiro following the collapse of a USbrokered truce with Hamas, The Associated Press reported.
In the call, Netanyahu insisted that he must be “trusted” in his handling of the crisis and that he “expected” the US and other countries to support Israel’s Gaza offensive.
He made similar points directly to Secretary of State John Kerry, the AP reported.
The Israeli leader played down the comments at a press conference Saturday, saying they were distorted.
“The US has been terrific and has given us tremendous support during the Gaza crisis,” he said.
He stuck to his hard line on Hamas, insisting Israel would withdraw from Gaza on its own terms, not those of the US and the international community.
“We do not have any obligation but our obligation to the security of Israel,” he said.
“We will take as much time as necessary and will exert as much force as needed,” he said, adding Israel had dealt a “significant blow” to Hamas’ infrastructure in its Gaza campaign, now 27 days old.
Netanyahu has long had a rocky relationship with President Obama and his administration, which he feels have not always stood up for Israel’s interests.
One sign of the mistrust emerged last week in the French newspaper Le Canard Enchaine, a satirical weekly known for its sources among diplomats.
Kerry called Netanyahu “a stubborn head” in a meeting with French officials July 26 and expressed fear the Israeli leader was hindering US efforts to deal with Sunni terrorists and Iranian nukes, Le Canard reported.
Last November, Netanyahu blasted Obama’s interim deal to freeze Iran’s development of nuclear weapons as a “historic mis take.” Obama kept Israel in the dark for months before the deal was announced.
During the 2012 campaign, Netanyahu could barely hide his support for Mitt Romney, with whom he worked at Boston Consulting Group in the 1970s.
Obama has expressed frustration with Netanyahu. Responding to thenFrench Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy’s comment in 2011 that Netanyahu was a “liar,” Obama said, “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you.”
Rep. Peter King (RLI) said the latest brouhaha stirs up the leaders’ mutual mistrust but added that they could move past it.
“It’s unfortunate, but not fatal,” said King, member of the House Homeland Security Committee. “We have so many common interests and common enemies that it’ll work itself out. We don’t have to love each other to work with each other.”
Reports emerged Saturday that Israeli troops appeared to be pulling back from positions in Gaza. Netanyahu portrayed the moves as a redeployment to “minimize friction” with Hamas.
Shlomo Brom, a retired general and a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said the redeployment would leave Israeli troops in position to resume their attack.
“The government is going to withdraw most of its forces while staying very close in case they have to go in again,” he said.