Mr Netanyahu has described the comments as totally unacceptable.
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He also said Secretary of State John Kerry had the mental capacity of a 12-year-old.
Baratz’s comments were not limited to US leaders. “It is readily apparently that that apology was warranted”, Earnest said.
Appointment of communications director for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being reviewed by the prime minister himself. “That is far more important than any sort of interpersonal dynamics”.
The Facebook posts appeared soon after Mr Netanyahu declared the appointment of philosophy lecturer Mr Baratz as his chief spokesman. But a slew of his controversial comments then quickly came to light.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest speaking to reporters, October 7, 2015.
The Iranian situation will be on the agenda, but USA 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.
Netanyahu said that Baratz had apologized for the posts and clarified them in a meeting with him and the two had agreed to meet again upon Netanyahu’s return from his visit to the United States next week.
Rivlin’s office publicly demanded to know whether Netanyahu was aware of Baratz’s comments when he appointed him. Two Cabinet ministers urged him to reconsider.
Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Obama in Washington for the first time in a year.
“The desire to build the third temple is worthy, Jewish and Zionist to the first degree”, Baratz wrote on the NRG news website 11 years ago, acknowledging such aspirations were harboured by fringe elements in Israeli society.
“President Obama will have a very substantive agenda to pursue with the prime minister”. The prime minister’s office said Netanyahu would review the appointment upon his return from Washington.
“Allow me to be a bit blunt, which is a break from my usual moderation”, Baratz wrote. Another Netanyahu spokesman deals with foreign press. “And it is accompanied, of course, with much tolerance and understanding of Islamist anti-Semitism; so much tolerance and understanding that they are even willing to give them (Iran) a nuclear bomb”.
Besides his comments on Obama, Baratz reportedly wrote that Kerry’s “mental age” was no older than 12. “Obama’s reference to Netanyahu’s speech – this is what modern anti-Semitism looks like in Western and liberal countries”.
A few of his Facebook comments are criticising U.S. President Barack Obama. “It would be premature to talk about numbers or dollar figures”, Shapiro said.
He then suggested putting Rivlin in a paraglider and sending him into Islamic State-controlled Syria.
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.
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Predictably, the United States blew a gasket, expressing concern at Netanyahu’s appointment.
