Israeli TV: Obama ‘president of Iran’
Channel 2 gaffe comes amid acute tensions between US and Israel over nuclear deal
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJudah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
Barack Obama is the president of… Iran? Channel 2 news accidentally bestowed that honorific upon Obama Saturday night when reporting on a press conference by the US president.
The mistake, in an on-screen ID tag, came at a time when Israeli concerns over the US-Iran relationship are particularly acute.
Ties between America and Israel have grown strained in recent months as Obama attempts to work out a nuclear deal with Iran, on terms Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu furiously opposes.
Netanyahu has repeatedly protested that the emerging deal fails to dismantle Iranian nuclear facilities, and instead “paves the way” to the bomb for Iran. Obama insists that the deal is the best means of preventing an Iranian bomb, and has complained that Netanyahu has failed to present a realistic alternative.
The Times of Israel Community.