Israeli PM Under Fire Over Nominee’s ‘Inappropriate’ Remarks

In a Facebook post last March, Baratz said that Obama’s reaction to Netanyahu’s speech to U.S. Congress about the imminent Iranian nuclear deal “was what modern anti-Semitism looks like in Western and liberal countries”. The agreement, which was formally adopted last month by the USA, Iran and five other nations, will lift sanctions in return for assurances by Iran that it will scale down its nuclear weapons program.

“This is the time, then”, Baratz wrote, “to want the secretary of state success and rely down two years on the calendar with the hope that somebody within the State Department will then get up and start to see the world by way of the eyes of a person with a psychological age above 12”. “And it is of course accompanied by a lot of tolerance and understanding for Islamic anti-Semitism; so much tolerance and understanding that they’ll even give them [an atomic bomb]”.

He also said Secretary of State John Kerry had the mental capacity of a 12-year-old.

Ran Baratz’s apology came just days before Netanyahu and Obama meet at the White House. It’s the first time Obama and Netanyahu have met face-to-face since the US and its global partners reached a nuclear accord with Iran.

Netanyahu also distanced himself from Ran Baratz’s remarks, a few of them posted on his Facebook page, saying he hadn’t been aware of them before the nomination. “I’m sorry for not briefing the prime minister on these things beforehand”, he wrote on Facebook, adding that it is clear to him that when holding public office one must act accordingly.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu listens as President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., October 1, 2014.

Baratz told Channel 2 News that his comments about Rivlin were meant to be satirical.

Sources close to the US and Israeli governments, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their relationships, said that Secretary of State John F. Kerry is particularly anxious about the expansion of settlements and the possibility of what one source called “creeping annexation”.

The statement comes as Obama prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House Monday.

In addition to his social media posts about American figures, Baratz has been found to have written a few choice comments about Israeli figures as well, including Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. The comments drew a strong rebuke from the president’s bureau. He is not accompanying Netanyahu to Washington.

Netanyahu condemned the remarks Thursday, while Baratz apologised.

She urged Mr Netanyahu to reconsider the appointment before it is put the cabinet for approval on Sunday.

Opposition Leader MK Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) also called for the appointment to be overturned. A man like him should be sent home immediately.