Ehud Olmert: Netanyahu Tried To Interfere In U.S. Elections [View all]

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Former prime minister criticizes his successor's public wrangle with Obama over Iran, claims Netanyahu tried to drive wedge between Congress and U.S. president.

By Amos Harel | Dec. 1, 2013 | 9:43 PM

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's aggressive quarrel with the Obama administration over the agreement with Iran signed in Geneva endangers Israel, and panned Netanyahu for "losing his head."

Olmert accused the prime minister of "declaring war on the United States" and of attempting to incite the Congress against U.S. President Barack Obama.

Olmert spoke Sunday at a closed panel discussion on "the strategic implications of the interim agreement between the P5 + 1 and Iran," held at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.

Olmert said both his government and that of his predecessor Ariel Sharon wished to avoid public confrontation with the American administration over Iran. "At no stage did we want to do battle with Israel's number one ally and to incite the Congress against the president," he said.

Olmert called Netanyahu's acts and statements unprecedented. "The danger and the potential damage from it are incomparably larger" than the value of the public debate with the United States, he said.

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