Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily warned the White House “not to ever second-guess me again” on matters involving Hamas — and followed up by vowing that Israel will deal with Palestinian terrorists on its own terms.
Netanyahu was incensed that President Obama pressured him into a cease-fire that Hamas fighters broke after just 90 minutes Friday by attacking Israeli troops sent to destroy one of the tunnels from Gaza used to raid Israel.
Hamas killed two Israeli soldiers in the attack and possibly abducted a third, who officials later said had been killed in a battle. It was not clear whether he’d been captured or had died with the other two.
Netanyahu issued the stinging rebuke in a heated phone call Friday with US Ambassador Dan Shapiro following the collapse of the US-brokered 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 United States and other countries to fully support Israel’s Gaza offensive. He made similar points directly to Secretary of State John Kerry, AP reported.
Netanyahu had bitterly opposed the cease-fire, which one poll found was also opposed by 86.5 percent of the Israeli public. But he swallowed his objections at the urging of US diplomats.
His reported rant is no surprise to observers of US-Israeli relations. “What else is new? I don’t think there is any secret this is the poorest relationship between a Jewish leader and a US president since Eisenhower,” said Jim Carafano, vice president for foreign policy at the Heritage Foundation.
Netanyahu played down his complaints at a press conference Saturday, saying they were distorted in media reports. “The US has been terrific and has given us tremendous support during the Gaza crisis,” he said.
But he stuck to his hard line on Hamas, insisting that Israel would withdraw from Gaza on its own terms, not those of the US or other countries. “We do not have any obligation but our obligation to the security of Israel,” he said, vowing to keep up the pressure on the Palestinian terror organization.
“We will take as much time as necessary and will exert as much force as needed,” he said, adding that Israel had dealt a “significant blow” to Hamas’ infrastructure in its Gaza campaign.
Netanyahu has long had a rocky relationship with the Obama administration, which he feels has not always stood up for Israel’s interests.
Kerry called Netanyahu “a stubborn head” in a meeting with French officials on July 26 and expressed fear that he was hurting US efforts to deal with Sunni terrorists and Iranian nukes, said the French weekly Le Canard Enchaine.
Last November, Netanyahu blasted Obama’s interim deal to freeze Iran’s development of nuclear weapons as a “historic mistake.” Obama had kept Israel in the dark for months.
During the 2012 presidential campaign, Netanyahu could barely hide his support for Mitt Romney, with whom he worked at Boston Consulting Group in the 1970s. Netanyahu was even featured in a pro-Romney TV ad, though he said the footage was used without his permission.
Obama has expressed frustration with Netanyahu. Responding to then-French 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 (R-LI) said Netanyahu and Obama will move past this latest brouhaha. “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.” said King, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
“There’s always been mistrust between Netanyahu and Obama,” said Rep. Peter King (R-LI), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
The latest brouhaha further strains the relationship, King said, but he thinks the US and Israel will find a way past their mistrust.
Israeli troops pulled back from some of their positions in Gaza Saturday in what Netanyahu said was a redeployment to “minimize friction” with Hamas as the campaign continues. Shlomo Brom, a retired general and a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said Israeli troops remain poised to resume their attack.
“Instead of trying to reach an agreement with Hamas, which seems impossible, The government is going to withdraw most of its forces while staying very close in case they have to go in again,” he said.
Additional reporting by Michael Gartland