A report quoting a senior U.S. official as saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "spat" in the face of President Obama by agreeing to speak before Congress in March reveals the deep "hostility" Obama holds against the leader of the Jewish State, former Sen. Rick Santorum says.
"I can imagine what he would have said had another leader, not an ally of the United States, been invited to speak. I suspect they wouldn't have used those terms," Santorum said Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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"This is the kind of hostility that you see from this administration to our friends. This should not be an issue, be it be the prime minister of Israel, the state of Israel, friend of the U.S.
"[Netanyahu] should be welcomed any time to speak to the U.S. Congress … This should be something he should encourage to engender support for our ally. But this is how he treats his friends and that's very disappointing."
The unnamed official
told Haaretz: "We thought we've seen everything. But Bibi managed to surprise even us. There are things you simply don't do. He spat in our face publicly and that's no way to behave. Netanyahu ought to remember that President Obama has a year and a half left to his presidency, and that there will be a price."
Obama has said he will not meet with Netanyahu when he comes to the U.S. in March, an invitation orchestrated by House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Santorum said Obama's view of Israel is "pervasive. Israel may get the worst of it in part because Israel is one of our best allies. The better the ally you are of the U.S., the worse you are going to get treated.
"This is a serious problem of this administration. They see anybody who's a friend of the U.S. as someone they should be suspicious of because they don't really like the way the U.S. has behaved over the last 20-30 years," he said.
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