U.S. Defends, Downplays Kerry’s Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Proposal
by News Editor
From the Oval Office, U.S. President Barack Obama speaks on the phone with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sept. 27, 2013.
Times of Israel – The Obama administration went on the defensive Monday afternoon, critiquing Israeli sources for leaking details of a Gaza ceasefire draft, downplaying the status of the draft, and then denying allegations that the draft represented a capitulation to Hamas demands.
“We were surprised that the draft was leaked to the press,” State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Monday. Leaks and criticism of the sort that Secretary of State John Kerry faced over the weekend are “simply not the way allies and partners treat each other,” Psaki complained.
