French President Nicolas Sarkozy is getting some strong feedback from Israel supporters after news reports confirmed he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “liar” during a one-on-one conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama.
“President Sarkozy’s comments were deeply troubling,” says John Hagee, Christians United for Israel’s (CUFI) founder and chairman. “I’ve known Prime Minister Netanyahu for years. Not only is he a straight shooter, but he’s one of the few people actually telling the truth about Israel and the Middle East these days. President Sarkozy would do well to listen to him.”
The conversation leaked in a broadcast to journalists at the G20 summit in Cannes last week. According to Reuters, Sarkozy didn’t realize the microphone was on and that reporters could hear him telling Obama, “I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar.” Obama replied, “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you.”
CUFI responded. Members of the pro-Israel organization sent more than 31,000 emails to the French Ambassador to the United States, François Delattre, expressing concern over Sarkozy’s comments, as well as France’s recent vote in support of Palestinian admission to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Referencing Sarkozy’s comments, the letter to Delattre argues “… such language raises the troubling possibility that your president’s personal animus has influenced French policy.” The letter also says, “We pray that France will overcome such personal pettiness—and misunderstandings of fact—and choose to vote against the Palestinian request for unilateral recognition at the United Nations Security Council.”
As CUFI Executive Director David Brog sees it, Netanyahu made a compelling case against unilateral actions at the U.N. When it came to the UNESCO vote, he says, France completely ignored Israel’s argument.
“We pray that President Sarkozy will overcome any personal animus towards Israel’s Prime Minister and reconsider such support for unilateral measures,” Brog says. “Ultimately, the only path to peace is through negotiations between the parties.”
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