President Obama addressed his “hot mic” conversation with French President Nicholas Sarkozy during a press conference in Hawaii Sunday, explaining that the conversation was focused on the U.S’ dedication to Israel’s security, not bad-mouthing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Netanyahu.
“The primary conversation I had with President Sarkozy in that meeting revolved around my significant disappointment that France had voted in favor of the Palestinians joining UNESCO,” Obama said, noting that he would not comment on the specific comments the two leaders made regarding Netanyahu.
In this exchange, Obama told Sarkozy that the Israel-Palestine issue could only be resolved through direct negotiations. Going through the UN, Obama told Sarkozy, would short-cuircuit the peace process and result in further distress in the Middle East.
“I had a very frank and firm conversation with President Sarkozy about that issue,” Obama said. “And that is consistent with both private and public statements that I’ve been making to everybody over the last several months.”
During an intended private conversation between Obama and Sarkozy at the G20 summit, Sarkozy reportedly called Netanyahu a “liar” to which Obama allegedly responded, “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you.” Unbeknownst to Obama or Sarkozy, reporters were listening to the entire exchange over a headset connected to Obama and Sarkozy’s microphones. The Obama administration has been trying to smooth things over since the exchange was made public last Tuesday.