Israeli leader lashes back at harsh US criticism

Israel's prime minister said today that recent verbal attacks against him from the United States were merely because he was "defending Israel" and vowed to carry on with his policies despite the vitriolic rhetoric.
Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks to parliament followed a report in The Atlantic this week in which unidentified US officials lambasted the Israeli premier for his settlement policies and for undermining American peace efforts. The officials derided Netanyahu as cowardly and recalcitrant, among other insults.
The report reverberated throughout Israel, with some coming to the prime minister's defense while others pointing to them as an indication of just how bad relations between the two close allies have gotten under Netanyahu's watch.

Netanyahu responded that those who attack him do so only because he defends Israel, and stressed that he was "not prepared to make concessions that will endanger our state."
"Our supreme interests, with security and the unity of Jerusalem first and foremost, are not among the top concerns of those anonymous elements that are attacking us and me personally," he said.
National Security Council Spokesman Alistair Baskey said the comments in The Atlantic do not reflect the views of the administration.

"We think such comments are inappropriate and counter-productive," he said, before adding, "Despite the extremely close relationship between the US and Israel, we do not agree on every issue."

There have been growing concerns of a new crisis in Israeli-US relations after US officials said the Obama administration last week refused Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon's requests to meet several top national security aides. The rejection followed negative comments Yaalon made about Secretary of State John Kerry.
The Obama administration has long has a tense relationship with Netanyahu for his close relationship with the Republican Party and for what is often perceived as a lecturing tone toward the president.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, has been suspicious of US efforts to reach a diplomatic agreement over Iran's nuclear program that fails to remove the threat of it acquiring a bomb.