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http://www.canada.com/health/Fitch+Affirms+Bethel+Outlook+Revised+Negative/5501715/Obama+Sarkozy+squirm+after+gaffe+over+Netanyahu/5674514/story.html?id=5674514
Obama and Sarkozy squirm after gaffe over Netanyahu
French and U.S. leaders overheard at Cannes summit
By Adrian Blomfield and Jon Swaine, Daily Telegraph
Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy are facing deep embarrassment after they were inadvertently recorded disparaging Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, as a "liar".
The exchange, which took place during talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Cannes last week, has already prompted a backlash on the American right and is likely to undermine Obama's claims to be a friend of Israel as he campaigns for re-election next year.
The French and American presidents, speaking during what they believed to be a private encounter this week, failed to realize that a simultaneous translation of their conversation was being broadcast to journalists outside the room.
During a discussion on Israeli-Palestinian policy, Sarkozy gave an unapologetic assessment of his views of Netanyahu, saying: "I cannot bear him, he's a liar."
Damaging his pro-Israel credentials, the U.S. president did not demur.
Instead he exacerbated his sin in the eyes of pro-Israeli Americans by retorting: "You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day."
The exchange was gleefully seized on by Republicans who have accused Obama of "throwing Israel under the bus" for his past criticism of Netanyahu's settlement policy in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
John McCain, the Republican Senator for Arizona who Obama defeated in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, suggested that the comments were indicative of the administration's antipathy towards Israel.
"I happen to be a great admirer of Prime Minister Netanyahu," he told Fox News. "I've known him for years, and Israel is under more pressure and probably in more danger than they've been since the '67 war and that kind of comment is not only not helpful, but indicative of some of the policies towards Israel that this administration has been part of."
The conversation between Obama and his French host was overheard by journalists waiting for the two men to address them after their meeting.
Reporters had been given translation devices to follow the press conference but were deprived of headphones until it started so the two leaders could speak in private.
The precaution was easily circumvented, however, with reporters able to use their own headphones.
Although they agreed to abide by French tradition by respecting the nature of a private conversation, the exchange was disclosed yesterday on a French website called Arret sur Images. The contents of the conversation were subsequently confirmed by the journalists who initially heard it.
Obama has had a strained relationship with the Israeli leader. In March last year, Netanyahu was left to stew in a White House meeting room for over an hour after the president allegedly walked out of tense talks to have dinner with his family.
Under pressure from Republicans and supporters of Israel within his own party, Obama has tried to strike a more conciliatory note, notably by his vocal opposition to Palestinian attempts to win statehood at the United Nations.
But his change of tone has largely been seen as born of domestic necessity and it is widely believed that he remains irritated by Netanyahu's obduracy over settlement building, an issue that has prevented the resumption of Middle East peace talks. In answer to a call by pro-Israel groups, the Facebook page of the U.S. embassy to Tel Aviv was inundated with identical complaints reading: "We don't accept your president insulting our leader. Right and left, we're all behind our prime minister. Friends don't insult friends."
The governments of the United States, France and Israel all declined to comment on the exchange, which is just as embarrassing for Sarkozy and Netanyahu as it is for Obama.
The French president, who has a Jewish grandmother, has also been careful to portray himself as a friend of Israel even though his government has emerged as one of Europe's foremost critics of Netanyahu's policy.
Critics of the Israeli prime minister, meanwhile, will see the conversation as evidence of the true way in which he is regarded in the West, with many suspecting that greater blame for the stalemate in the peace process is attributed to Netanyahu than the Palestinians.
© Copyright (c) The Daily Telegraph
Obama and Sarkozy squirm after gaffe over Netanyahu
French and U.S. leaders overheard at Cannes summit
By Adrian Blomfield and Jon Swaine, Daily Telegraph
Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy are facing deep embarrassment after they were inadvertently recorded disparaging Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, as a "liar".
The exchange, which took place during talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Cannes last week, has already prompted a backlash on the American right and is likely to undermine Obama's claims to be a friend of Israel as he campaigns for re-election next year.
The French and American presidents, speaking during what they believed to be a private encounter this week, failed to realize that a simultaneous translation of their conversation was being broadcast to journalists outside the room.
During a discussion on Israeli-Palestinian policy, Sarkozy gave an unapologetic assessment of his views of Netanyahu, saying: "I cannot bear him, he's a liar."
Damaging his pro-Israel credentials, the U.S. president did not demur.
Instead he exacerbated his sin in the eyes of pro-Israeli Americans by retorting: "You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day."
The exchange was gleefully seized on by Republicans who have accused Obama of "throwing Israel under the bus" for his past criticism of Netanyahu's settlement policy in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
John McCain, the Republican Senator for Arizona who Obama defeated in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, suggested that the comments were indicative of the administration's antipathy towards Israel.
"I happen to be a great admirer of Prime Minister Netanyahu," he told Fox News. "I've known him for years, and Israel is under more pressure and probably in more danger than they've been since the '67 war and that kind of comment is not only not helpful, but indicative of some of the policies towards Israel that this administration has been part of."
The conversation between Obama and his French host was overheard by journalists waiting for the two men to address them after their meeting.
Reporters had been given translation devices to follow the press conference but were deprived of headphones until it started so the two leaders could speak in private.
The precaution was easily circumvented, however, with reporters able to use their own headphones.
Although they agreed to abide by French tradition by respecting the nature of a private conversation, the exchange was disclosed yesterday on a French website called Arret sur Images. The contents of the conversation were subsequently confirmed by the journalists who initially heard it.
Obama has had a strained relationship with the Israeli leader. In March last year, Netanyahu was left to stew in a White House meeting room for over an hour after the president allegedly walked out of tense talks to have dinner with his family.
Under pressure from Republicans and supporters of Israel within his own party, Obama has tried to strike a more conciliatory note, notably by his vocal opposition to Palestinian attempts to win statehood at the United Nations.
But his change of tone has largely been seen as born of domestic necessity and it is widely believed that he remains irritated by Netanyahu's obduracy over settlement building, an issue that has prevented the resumption of Middle East peace talks. In answer to a call by pro-Israel groups, the Facebook page of the U.S. embassy to Tel Aviv was inundated with identical complaints reading: "We don't accept your president insulting our leader. Right and left, we're all behind our prime minister. Friends don't insult friends."
The governments of the United States, France and Israel all declined to comment on the exchange, which is just as embarrassing for Sarkozy and Netanyahu as it is for Obama.
The French president, who has a Jewish grandmother, has also been careful to portray himself as a friend of Israel even though his government has emerged as one of Europe's foremost critics of Netanyahu's policy.
Critics of the Israeli prime minister, meanwhile, will see the conversation as evidence of the true way in which he is regarded in the West, with many suspecting that greater blame for the stalemate in the peace process is attributed to Netanyahu than the Palestinians.
© Copyright (c) The Daily Telegraph
