PARIS—French President Nicolas Sarkozy described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a «liar» during a recent conversation with President Barack Obama that was overheard by reporters, according to a French website’s report of the incident.
«I can’t stand him anymore, he is a liar,» Mr. Sarkozy told Mr. Obama as the two were preparing to start a news conference during a summit of the Group of 20 world’s largest economies in Cannes, France, last week.
«You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day,» Mr. Obama replied, according to the French site, Arrêt sur Images.
A spokesman for Mr. Sarkozy, a spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu and a White House official declined to comment.
Senior French government officials have criticized Mr. Netanyahu in recent months over his refusal to freeze Israeli settlement construction in Palestinian territories.
The Associated Press on Tuesday said one of its reporters overheard the comments but didn’t initially report them because the agency thought they «were deemed private under French media traditions.»
The website said the Cannes conversation was overheard by several reporters because, even though the two presidents were still in a separate room, they were already wearing microphones for the news conference and aides to Mr. Sarkozy had distributed translating devices to a small group of journalists.
Reporters were told not to connect headphones until the news conference started. Those who did, however, heard the exchange, according to Arrêt sur Images.
During the conversation, Mr. Obama asked Mr. Sarkozy to help persuade Palestinians not to seek membership at the United Nations.
Mr. Obama also blamed the French president for not warning him that France would support the Palestinian Authority’s application to Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Unesco members approved the application, despite U.S. lobbying efforts against the bid and the threat that Palestinian membership would legally oblige the U.S.—the largest contributor to the organization—to withdraw funding.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said he had no comment on the substance of the overheard remarks. But he said it is well known that the U.S. and France disagree on the Palestinian efforts at the U.N.
Source: http://online.wsj.com/