Obama in presidential campaign
Obama in presidential campaignIsrael news photo: Whitehouse Photo

Dr. Hagi Ben-Artzi, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s brother-in-law, labeled U.S. President Barack Obama an anti-Semite in two radio interviews Wednesday. The Prime Minister immediately disassociated himself from his remarks and outright rejected them.

"The time has come to tell the truth.” Dr. Ben-Artzi told Arutz-7 radio (Hebrew). “I understand the Prime Minister’s reaction to me, but the truth must be told. Obama is an anti-Semite.” He said that Israel is dealing with “a president who was educated by anti-Semitic preacher Jeremiah Wright.”

He also told IDF Army Radio that Wright (pictured) is "anti-Israeli, anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic." Obama was a devotee of Wright for two decades but distanced himself from the preacher during the presidential campaign two years ago.

Dr. Ben-Artzi told Arutz-7 that the United States is important to Israel from both the economic and security standpoints, but when “the United States makes demands on Jerusalem, the time has come to tell the truth -- we are talking about an anti-Semite."

He said that Prime Minister Netanyahu must follow the course of his predecessors since all of Jerusalem was restored to Israel in 1967. "Once the Americans tried to intervene in anything related to Jerusalem we told them one simple word: No.

"We Jews are a people from nearly 4,000 years ago. In another year, you [Obama] will disappear. Who will remember you?”

Dr. Ben-Artzi said if President Obama is looking for a crisis over Jerusalem, “then a crisis is what he will get.”

He said that he did not speak personally with his brother-in-law about his comments but discussed with him the achievement of Avner Netanyahu, the Prime Minister's son, who advanced this week in the national Bible Quiz.

Dr. Ben-Artzi noted that the achievement was symbolic "because the theme for this year is Jerusalem and its connection with the People of Israel." He said he told the Prime Minister, “You, Avner’s father, stand at a test that requires you to prove the strong link with Jerusalem."