Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a notoriously tense relationship with former US president Barack Obama. A decade on, and days ahead of a tight Israeli election, the two again are taking each other to task.
Netanyahu on Friday denounced remarks by Obama, without saying his name, after the former US president said Israel had “ceded moral high ground” in its treatment of the Palestinians.
“The Jewish people for millennia were oppressed, discriminated against, killed. “They understandably sought a refuge in a place where they had historic ties. “What is also undeniable is that they took the land of people.
“I said this directly to Netanyahu when I was president — at some point, to break the cycle, the stronger party has a responsibility by virtue of its strength,” Obama told an event Tuesday in Belfast, according to videos posted online. “If the attitude of Israel is, now that we are the strongest army, most technologically advanced in the region, then our security is dependent on us simply doing whatever we please and taking whatever we want and not making any concessions to anyone — that may work short term; it is a disaster for you,” Obama said. Europe was responsible for much of that,” Obama said. That is undeniable,” Obama said. They were expelled,” Obama said of the Palestinians.
