The Iranian situation will be on the agenda, but U.S. officials say there will be no stepping away from the nuclear deal as the Obama administration believes it is in the wider interests of the region, despite Mr Netanyahu and Israel’s opposition.
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Writing on his Facebook account, Ran Baratz accused Barack Obama of anti-Semitism and said that US Secretary of State John Kerry had the mental age of a 12-year-old.
Baratz, 42, has also taken jabs at U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, saying he should seek out a job as a stand-up comedian, insinuating his speeches are laughable.
State Department said that Kerry had spoken to the Israeli leader on Thursday and understood that Netanyahu “will be reviewing” the appointment of the 42-year-old philosophy lecturer.
Earlier, a White House spokesman said dryly that Baratz’s apology Thursday for his incendiary comments was “warranted”.
Rhodes said he wouldn’t expect the issue to come up when the two leaders meet in the Oval Office Monday morning.
“A nuclear-armed Iran is far more risky to Israel, to America, and to the world than an Iran that benefits from sanctions relief”, said Obama. “This is how modern anti-Semitism looks like in the modern Western world”, he wrote.
The White House is downplaying the significance of President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strained relationship ahead of a highly-anticipated meeting next week.
Gila Gamliel, a minister, warned that Mr Baratz’s appointment could damage relations with Washington as his Facebook posts “could be interpreted as being an official position”.
Much of the furore has centred on a Facebook post Baratz made about Israel’s largely ceremonial but widely respected president, Reuven Rivlin.
Netanyahu himself also distanced from his new spokesman’s comments. He said the two would meet, at Mr Baratz’s request, after he returns from his U.S. trip next week.
“His comments were inappropriate and they do not reflect my position or the government’s policy”, Netanyahu said, adding that while he had not chose to overturn the appointment, he would review the appointment upon his return from Washington next week.
Posting on his Facebook page, Baratz wrote “the things that I published were written thoughtlessly, and sometimes in jest, in the kind of language a private citizens uses when posting on social media”.
Danon is an avid supporter of Israel’s West Bank settlements and an equally fervent opponent of the establishment of a Palestinian state. Baratz apologized and asked for a meeting to “clarify the matter” after Netanyahu returns from Washington, according to the statement.
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Baratz’s appointment still has to be approved by the cabinet. Netanyahu and Obama are expected to reach an agreement on the aid deal’s broad outlines. In September, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said his government would no longer consider itself bound by the Oslo peace agreements in effect for two decades, charging that Israel had failed to live up to its obligations.
