People, a video of Netanyahu saying pretty unpleasant stuff was released today. The video itself is 9 years old, though.

Netanyahu In 2001: ‘America Is A Thing You Can Move Very Easily’

A newly released video of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could add some additional strain to the sometimes tense relationship between him and President Obama.

Here’s the video, which is from 2001, Netanyahu — who reportedly did not know his speech was being recorded — speaks frankly in Hebrew about relations with the Clinton White House and the peace process.

As noted in Haaretz, Netanyahu seems to boast of his knowledge of the US by saying, “I know what America is. America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won’t get in their way.”

He also boasts of manipulating the U.S. in the ongoing peace process, as the Washington Post points out:

“They asked me before the election if I’d honor [the Oslo accords],” he said. “I said I would, but … I’m going to interpret the accords in such a way that would allow me to put an end to this galloping forward to the ‘67 borders. How did we do it? Nobody said what defined military zones were. Defined military zones are security zones; as far as I’m concerned, the entire Jordan Valley is a defined military zone. Go argue.”

Haaretz column on this:
haaretz.com

Here is the video, but it’s in Hebrew. English transcript in the youtube page.

Youtube Video!