The White House has quickly backtracked on a senior administration official’s “chickens..t” insult against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Certainly, that's not the administration's view, and we think such comments are inappropriate and counterproductive," National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey said, according to The Hill.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu and the president (Barack Obama) have forged an effective partnership and consult closely and frequently, including earlier this month when the president hosted the prime minister in the Oval Office."

In a Tuesday report in The Atlantic, unnamed senior administration officials expressed their frustration with Netanyahu, while claiming that he’s more concerned about staying in power than forging a peace deal with the Palestinians.

“The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickens..t,” said one official, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.

The official later said: “The good thing about Netanyahu is that he’s scared to launch wars. The bad thing about him is that he won’t do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states.

"The only thing he’s interested in is protecting himself from political defeat. He’s not [Yitzhak] Rabin, he’s not [Ariel] Sharon, he’s certainly no [Menachem] Begin. He’s got no guts."

Another administration official called Netanyahu a "coward" and said he it was highly unlikely that the Israeli leader would launch a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

While admitting that the United States and Israeli governments "do not agree on every issue," Baskey noted that the U.S. believes that Israeli settlements are muddling attempts to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians.

But he added: “Our security bonds have never been greater, and the ties between our nations are unshakable. We remain fully and firmly committed to Israel's security.

“And Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly affirmed that he shares the U.S. view that the best solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to establish two states living side by side in peace and security.”

Earlier on Wednesday, as he attended a memorial ceremony for a cabinet minister assassinated by a Palestinian, Netanyahu hit out at the anonymous attack in The Atlantic while defending himself by saying that he was "not willing to make concessions that will endanger our country."

“Our paramount interests, first and foremost security and the unity of Jerusalem, are not of vital importance to those same anonymous sources who attack us and me, personally,” he said. “I am being attacked personally only because I am defending the state of Israel.”

Related Stories:

• Netanyahu Hits Back at Israeli Critics of Gaza Truce With Hamas
  
• Alan Dershowitz: Bill Clinton Is Wrong About Netanyahu