President Obama yesterday admitted he got “some toes blown off” making missteps in sensitive US-Israel relations.
“I walked through a minefield in the Middle East and I stepped on the land mines,” Obama told Jewish Democratic members of Congress at a closed-door meeting, a participant told The Post.
“I got some toes blown off.”
Still, Obama said his goofs were not about policy — but the way the message was delivered.
The president called his first-ever White House meeting with the Jewish lawmakers to clear the air on US-Israeli relations, which have been strained since March, when Israel announced plans to build new settlements in contested East Jerusalem during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden.
Obama also said America’s relationship with Israel is “fundamentally strong” and the “rift is greatly overstated.”
Obama said Israeli settlements in the disputed territories should be addressed as part of the final status of Israel and Palestinian states, not during peace talks.