By ISRAEL TODAY—
Former Israeli Ambassador to the US Danny Ayalon this week said that President Barack Obama’s hostile response to Israel’s reelection of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was both harmful and childish.
Obama’s apparent desire for some kind of “revenge” against Netanyahu and a majority of Israel’s voting public began to manifest itself on Monday when the White House decided to skip an annual pro-Palestinian event at the main UN human rights forum.
Until now, the US has always made a point of attending the event in order to defend Israel against unfair and unbalanced condemnation.
“Following the elections, Netanyahu reached out to in interviews with American media in which he reiterated his commitment to a two-state solution,” noted Ayalon in an interview with Israel’s NRG online news service.
“But what did Barack Obama do?” he continued. “Instead of acting in a measured way with an understanding that there is mutual interest in maintaining good relations, gave Netanyahu a slap in the face. This is inappropriate and unprecedented in international relations.”
In short, Ayalon accused Obama of “behaving childishly, instead of as the leader of a great power. This will harm the US itself, further destabilize the Middle East. And all out of a personal desire for revenge against Netanyahu…”
A similar assessment was offered on Sunday by US Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain, who told CNN that Obama needs to “get over his temper tantrum” following Netanyahu’s strong electoral victory.
