http://nypost.com/2015/06/21/ambassador-reveals-how-obama-undermined-israel/Ambassador reveals how Obama undermined Israel
By Larry Getlen
June 21, 2015 | 6:00am
Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu Photo: Getty Images
On Nov. 8, 2011, President Obama met with then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Cannes after what had been a particularly rough week for US-Israeli relations.
Modal Trigger
The week prior, the UN agency UNESCO admitted Palestine as a member state. Congress responded by cutting off UNESCO’s funding, a move the Obama administration direly opposed. Michael Oren, who served as Israel’s US ambassador from 2009 to 2013, said the president, having opposed Palestine’s admission to the agency, “thought he had done enough . . . and did not need to punish them further.”
President Obama responded to Congress’ act by admonishing Israel for supporting it, with Deputy Secretary of State Tom Nides telling Oren, “UNESCO teaches Holocaust studies, for chrissakes. You want to cut off f–king Holocaust studies?”
The matter was clearly weighing on Obama’s mind as he met with Sarkozy, who himself held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in contempt. After Sarkozy called Netanyahu a liar, Obama, who did not realize he was on a live microphone, replied, “You are fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you.”
continued
