President Barack Obama has become childish, petty and vengeful against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz tells
Newsmax TV.
In an appearance Thursday on "The Steve Malzberg Show," Dershowitz discussed the recent tweet by PBS news anchor Gwen Ifill seemingly taunting Netanyahu after the White House secured enough votes to override a veto of the Iran nuclear deal, which the prime minister opposes.
Dershowitz said he isn't surprised at Ifill's tweet, and wouldn't be surprised if such statements also were made in the White House.
"This has become all too personal," Dershowitz said. "The president of the United States has become childish, petty, vengeful against Netanyahu, because Netanyahu came to America, spoke the truth to members of Congress – and they listened to him."
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Obama isn't alone in his thinking, Dershowitz said, though he declined to name names.
"I think there are people out there who don't like tough Jews and tough Israelis, and Netanyahu is tough," he said. Many prefer an Israel that is "conciliatory and accepts whatever America says," he told Malzberg.
Dershowitz said he sees an attack on Iran as likely since the deal leaves no other options to prevent giving a nuclear weapon to a country whose leader has called Israel a "one-bomb country," meaning that a single nuclear weapon could wipe it out.
"I know Benjamin Netanyahu. I've known him since 1973. He is not going to sit back and allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons," he said. "This deal makes it much harder for Israel to defend its people and to defend itself and to defend the world, but it will do it if it has to."