Secretary of State John Kerry Thursday condemned the anonymous quote by a senior Obama administration offcial who called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘chickens**t’ in a story published by The Atlantic.
At an ideas forum in Washington, ironically hosted by The Atlantic, Kerry said ‘we condemn anybody who uses language such as was used in this article.’
‘It does not reflect the president,’ he added. ‘It does not reflect me. It is disgraceful, unacceptable, damaging, and I think neither President Obama nor I – I’ve never heard that word around me in the White House or anywhere.’
In The Atlantic piece, the unnamed senior official said ‘The one thing about ‘Bibi,’ he’s a chickens**t.’
‘The good thing about Netanyahu is that he’s scared of wars. The bad thing about him is that he won’t do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states,’ the official continued. ‘The only thing he’s interested in is protecting himself from political defeat. He’s not (Yitzhak) Rabin, he’s not (Ariel) Sharon, he’s certainly no (Menachem) Begin. He’s go no guts.’
‘I don’t know who these anonymous people are who keep getting quoted in things, but they make life much more difficult, and we are proud of what we have done to help Israel through a very difficult time,’ Kerry said.