Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s associates expressed their disappointment with Barack Obama’s speech Thursday, with one aide saying that the US president is detached from regional realities.
The PM’s associates told Ynet early Friday that Netanyahu, who departed to the US Thursday night, is prepared for a confrontation withPresident Obama on vital issues.
“He (Obama) didn’t deliver the goods…Obama apparently does not understand the reality in the Mideast.”
The PM’s aides added that Obama’s historic speech lacked many key points and that his address was “bad for Israel.”
"The president apparently “forgot the conditions set forth by the International Quartet, which Obama himself endorsed.”
The aide added that Obama did not meet any demand set forth by the prime minister, referring to Netanyahu’s recent speech where he declared that Israel will not give up settlement blocs and maintain a military presence along the Jordan River.
“Netanyahu is willing to offer painful concessions. In his Knesset speech, the prime minister went far, He contends with a problematic rightist coalition. We expected Obama to understand this and take these issues into consideration in his speech.”