Moshe Kahlon, the head of the populist Kulanu party in Israel, apologized to the Obama administration for the recent comments made by fellow party member Michael Oren (who formerly served as the Israeli Ambassador to the United States), who next week is releasing Ally, which in part is a scathing critique of the administration’s position on Israel.
In Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide, Oren testifies that President Obama was primarily responsible for the cooling of relations between the U.S. and Israel, citing many newly revealed firsthand accounts of the administration’s harsh policy towards the Jewish state.
“I distance myself from the statements made by Michael Oren. President Obama has greatly contributed to Israel’s security,” Kahlon told Israel’s Channel 2, the Times of Israel reports. The Kulanu party chief said that Oren’s critique is not endorsed by the party, and is “only his personal opinion, according to the report.
Kahlon’s comments come on the same day that the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro– who was appointed to his position by President Obama– rejected Oren’s assertion that president Obama “deliberately” hurt the U.S.-Israel relationship.
“He was an ambassador in the past, but he is now a politician and an author who wants to sell books. Sometimes an ambassador has a limited point of view into ongoing efforts. What he wrote does not reflect the truth,” said Shapiro.
The U.S. Ambassador to Israel described the current U.S.-Israel dynamic as an “effective” partnership that “serves the interests of both countries, and even more than that.”
But evidence continues to surface that that Obama administration is becoming more hostile towards the State of Israel.
On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power refused to reveal whether the White House would block a UN resolution recognizing a Palestinian state.
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