Prime Minister apologized to US diplomat Brian Hook after he shook his hand when the two met in Jerusalem earlier in the day, Channel 12 news reports.
Video of the meeting showed Netanyahu stride up to hook with his arm outstretched and Hook, who should have been whiling away the hours in 14-day quarantine, grasping Netanyahu’s digits with the same gusto.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Brian Hook, US Special Representative for Iran and Senior Adviser to the US Secretary of State, at the Prime Minister Office in Jerusalem on June 30, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
As they pull away, Hook is seen rubbing his hand on his suit jacket momentarily. The two then put their hands on their faces to remove their masks
According to the report, Netanyahu told Hook in private that he had messed up but had gotten carried away because the two got along so famously.
Netanyahu stopped shaking people’s hands in February, weeks before doing so was common, and soon after urged his countrymen to follow suit.
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