JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli government minister called the Obama administration "horrible."
Sports and Culture Minister Limor Livnat of the Likud Party said that Israel had "fallen into the hands of a horrible American administration," the Jerusalem Post reported.
"The administration isn’t what it once was; it is harder" on us, she said Nov. 26 at a Likud activists’ meeting in Beersheba.
Livnat added, regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement of a 10-month settlement freeze, that "the pressures are great, and it is not easy to stand up to the American president. I know what a campaign of tribulations he placed before the prime minister," who is also from Likud.
Netanyahu’s office quickly put out a statement saying that Livnat’s remarks "don’t reflect the prime minister’s opinion in any way" and affirming Netanyahu’s appreciation for Obama’s commitment to Israel.
Livnat later backed down from her statement, the Post reported, saying that she wasn’t sure what words she had used but reiterating that the Obama administration had been "hard" on Israel.
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