Yet in the days leading up to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s White House visit the size of that increase continues to grow precipitously.
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Netanyahu and Obama are due to meet to try to mend fences after fierce feuding over the Iran nuclear deal that Israel opposes.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest welcomed Mr. Baratz’s apology and said his comments would not affect negotiations between Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu.
Baratz’ controversial comments resurfaced in Israeli media late Wednesday, just hours after he was named Netanyahu’s chief spokesman.
Israel has also secured hundreds of millions of dollars in additional USA funding for missile defence in recent years.
Baratz will not be joining Netanyahu on the Israeli leader’s trip to the USA, Israeli officials told the BBC. That’s why it’s so important he make clear that, not only is the status quo unsafe and unacceptable, but that government actions which undermine the two-state solution hurt Israel’s special relationship with the United States.
“I didn’t say reconsider the appointment of Dr. [R]en Baratz, but deal with my return to the country”, Netanyahu said in a tweet translated from Hebrew.
According to Reuters, an Israeli official said Baratz had apologized to Netanyahu for the provocative comments and Netanyahu still considers the appointment as a valid one.
Israel’s new ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, is an avid supporter of Israel’s West Bank settlements and an equally fervent opponent of the establishment of a Palestinian state, putting him at odds with the global community.
In comments made in a private capacity, in a Facebook post last March, Baratz said Obama’s response to a speech by Netanyahu to the US Congress, during which he slammed the emerging Iran deal, “was what modern anti-Semitism looks like in Western and liberal countries”.
According to a spokesman of the U.S. State Department, John Kirby, the posts were “troubling and offensive”.
In a 2004 column, Baratz voiced support for extremists pushing for a greater Jewish presence at a Jerusalem holy site.
On Thursday, Israeli forces shot dead an alleged Palestinian attacker in northern Hebron. Israel denies the allegations.
Baratz’s Facebook comments, which also mocked Kerry and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, came to light earlier in the week when Rivlin’s bureau requested an explanation from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Rivlin’s office said it asked the prime minister’s office for clarifications.
A current agreement between the US and Israel, known as a memorandum of understanding, doesn’t expire until the 2018 fiscal year, after Obama is no longer president.
During that visit, Netanyahu will meet with Obama at the White House in an effort to fix damaged relations between the two leaders which may be further challenged by Baratz’s comments.
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“We view this gravely” wrote the president’s office, “and demand an explanation of whether the words written by Baratz were known to the prime minister when he made his decision to appoint Baratz to this job”.
