US Republican Senator Orrin Hatch has sharply criticized the White House for not welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Washington.
"I think they blew it. I think it was a mistake. I think it was a shame that they blew it," Hatch told USA Today on Friday.
"I was basically disgusted with the way the White House handled this," the Senate’s most senior Republican said. "We're coming to the opinion up here on Capitol Hill, many of us, that they've hired a lot of young people down there [who] don't know what they're doing."
President Barack Obama refused to meet with Netanyahu when he came to the US earlier this week as the Israeli prime minister criticized Washington’s Iran policy during his address to Congress.
The White House was also angry with House Speaker John Boehner, who invited Netanyahu without consulting the US president.
"I think the White House really fouled this up. All that they had to do was say, 'well, we're disappointed that we weren't consulted, but we welcome the prime minister and we'd surely like to meet with him while he's here,'" said the senator.
"They didn't do that. They just acted like a bunch of spoiled brats who didn't know what they were doing. They looked ridiculous in world-wide matters, in foreign policy," he added.
Sen. Hatch took Vice President Joe Biden's place beside Boehner when Netanyahu addressed Congress on Tuesday because Biden was not in the country at the time of the address.
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