--- description: The aide also described John Kerry as having a "mental age" of no more than 12 title: Israel 'To Review' Aide Who Accused Obama of Anti-Semitism image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a3196aad6509ca4/69886fe7f887dce34de93311/netanyahu-ran-baratz.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Israel To Review Appointment of Spokesman Who Accused Obama of Anti-Semitism by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 6, 2015 12:13 PM CUT  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen prior to bilateral talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on October 22, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen prior to bilateral talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on October 22, 2015 in Berlin, Germany.Miriam May—Pool/Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 6, 2015 12:13 PM CUT Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reviewing the appointment of his new communications director over Facebook comments criticising U.S. President Barack Obama. Ran Baratz, a philosophy lecturer who was appointed as Netanyahu’s chief spokesman, accused Obama of anti-Semitism and described U.S. Secretary of State Jon Kerry as someone “whose mental age doesn’t exceed 12.” His March post, [reports the _BBC_](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34742675 "undefined"), described Obama’s criticism of Netanyahu’s opposition to the Iran nuclear deal as “the modern face of anti-Semitism in Western and liberal countries.” U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby called the posts “troubling and offensive.” “The secretary spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning and we understand that the Prime Minister will be reviewing this appointment when he returns from his visit to the United States” says Kirby to the _BBC_. “We obviously expect government officials from any country, especially our closest allies, to speak respectfully and truthfully about senior US government officials.” Netanyahu, who is due to visit Washington for next week’s U.S.-Israeli summit, has distanced himself from Baratz. “Those posts are totally unacceptable and in no way reflect my positions or the policies of the government of Israel. Dr Baratz has apologised and has asked to meet me to clarify the matter following my return to Israel” says Netanyahu in a statement. Israeli officials say that Baratz will not be accompanying Netanyahu to the U.S. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4102621/israel-ran-baratz-obama-antisemitism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4102621/israel-ran-baratz-obama-antisemitism/"},"headline":"Israel To Review Appointment of Spokesman Who Accused Obama of Anti-Semitism","datePublished":"2015-11-06T12:13:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:24:21.910Z","description":"The aide also described John Kerry as having a \"mental age\" of no more than 12","url":"https://time.com/4102621/israel-ran-baratz-obama-antisemitism/","keywords":["politics","Israel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a3196aad6509ca4/69886fe7f887dce34de93311/netanyahu-ran-baratz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a3196aad6509ca4/69886fe7f887dce34de93311/netanyahu-ran-baratz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen prior to bilateral talks","caption":"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen prior to bilateral talks","creditText":"Miriam May—Pool/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4102621/israel-ran-baratz-obama-antisemitism/","name":"Israel To Review Appointment of Spokesman Who Accused Obama of Anti-Semitism"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch Scenes From the Peace Rally in Jerusalem","description":"Watch Scenes From the Peace Rally in Jerusalem","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dPu7ttdv/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-10-18T15:16:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dPu7ttdv.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4102621/israel-ran-baratz-obama-antisemitism/","duration":"PT32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4102621/israel-ran-baratz-obama-antisemitism/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```