The crisis in relations between the Israeli government under Binyamin Netanyahu and the US administration of Barack Obama, which has stooped to name calling against Netanyahu, has received a mixed reaction among Israeli politicians.

“Netanyahu is behaving like a political pyromaniac and has brought relations with the United States to an unprecedented low,” Opposition Head and Labor Party Chairman MK Yitzhak Herzog told News 2 Online Wednesday morning.

“The debate here is not about the harshness of the expressions but about the substance, and this is where Netanyahu is damaging Israel’s security. The political games that he is playing vis-a-vis the American administration at the expense of Israel’s citizens must stop,” added Herzog.

Meretz chair MK Zehava Galon also chimed in saying “the Obama administration’s clear contempt for Netanyahu shows that they are so tired of him, that they are telling him – ‘go look for your friends somewhere else.'”

“After destroying his relations with the Americans by continuing to build in Jerusalem and with his unwillingness to reach a diplomatic arrangement, Netanyahu has brought Israel to the most serious nadir in relations with its most important ally,” she claimed.

Netanyahu “had earned” the American criticism according to MK Yaakov Mergi (Shas), who said “we have no complaint toward the Americans.”

“Americans are showing ignorance”

On the other hand, Netanyahu’s supposedly nationalist partners in the coalition have come out solidly in his favor thus far.

“In recent years, the Americans showed ignorance and a complete lack of understanding regarding the Middle East,” said Jewish Home Minister of Construction and Housing, Uri Ariel. “They will achieve nothing by hurling insults and bad words at the prime minister of Israel. I hope that the person hiding behind the term ‘Administration officials’ will come to his senses quickly.”

“The United States administration is planning to throw Israel under the bus,” Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday night. “Israel is stronger than all those who curse it.”

“The prime minister is not a private individual, but the leader of the Jewish State and the Jewish world as a whole. Serious curses such as these against the Israeli Prime Minister are harmful to millions of citizens of Israel and Jews worldwide,” added Bennett.