President Barack Obama. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s equivocation over the possibility of a strike on Syria has riled Israeli officials, Israeli daily Maariv reported Sunday.

“Obama is a coward,” one diplomatic source told the paper. “It’s clear he does not want to attack and is looking for reassurance.”

On Saturday, President Obama delayed a decision over military action against Syria in order to seek Congressional approval, delaying a possible strike on the country by more than a week.

Official Syrian state media mocked the U.S. president, calling his redirection an “historic American retreat,” Reuters reported.

Syria’s deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad also accused the U.S. president of being indecisive. “It is clear there was a sense of hesitation and disappointment in what was said by President Barack Obama yesterday. And it is also clear there was a sense of confusion as well,” he told reporters in Damascus.

Israel’s stated position is not to intervene in Syria’s ongoing civil war, but according to Maariv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would like to see American action in Syria so as to restore its credibility and strengthen American deterrence in the region.