Image by getty images

By Nathan Guttman August 24, 2017

Taking a page from President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the media for not reporting on his condemnation of racist events in Charlottesville, Virginia.

And taking another page from Trump, Netanyahu misrepresented the media’s response.

Netanyahu came under fire for his belated response to the events, which were laced with anti-Semitic themes, and for not reacting to Trump’s comments in which he equated neo-Nazis to those protesting against them.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

In a Thursday interview with Israel’s right-wing leaning Channel 20 TV, Netanyahu responded, to the claim: “I said, and of course our media did not exactly cover it, that these people should crawl back under the rock they came from. I usually choose my words carefully, but that was a very harsh statement. This, of course, was not covered and led to all sorts of irrelevant interpretations.”

The reason Netanyahu’s comments weren’t covered by the media? Because he never said them publicly.

Netanyahu was apparently referring to a Facebook post of the Israeli embassy in Washington about an address Ambassador Ron Dermer gave in Arkansas on August 14. In his speech, Dermer said he had spoken earlier to the prime minister and that Netanyahu asked him to convey the message that “these people should crawl back under the rock they came from.”

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount