The White House distanced itself on Wednesday from comments made by an anonymous senior US official that called Israeli Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu a “chickenshit” prime minister.

“Certainly, that’s not the administration’s view, and we think such comments are inappropriate and counterproductive,” said National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey. “Prime Minister Netanyahu and the president 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.”

Baskey, however, acknowledged that Obama and Netanyahu “do not agree on every issue,” adding that the US considers Israeli construction beyond the Green Line to be “illegitimate.”

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed that US Secretary of State John Kerry would personally make clear to Netanyahu that the comments do not reflect the view of the Obama administration.

Psaki said that Obama, Kerry and other officials “don’t view” the language used in the article as “appropriate or accurate.”

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest did not deny the comments and made no mention as to whether the White House would be investigating the identity of the official.

The official, who was quoted in a piece The Atlantic written by Jeffrey Goldberg, said that diplomatic relations between Israel and the US have reached a “full-blown crisis.”

Amid growing hostility between Netanyahu and Obama, the “unbreakable” bond between both nations “is now the worst it’s ever been.”

The article quoted Obama administration officials as describing Netanyahu “as recalcitrant, myopic, reactionary, obtuse, blustering, pompous, and ‘Aspergery.’”

In response, Netanyahu said Wednesday in front of the Knesset that he was being attacked for continually “defending Israel.”

“I was personally attacked purely because I defend Israel, and despite all the attacks against me, I will continue to defend our country. I will continue to defend the citizens of Israel,” he said.

In what is becoming known as “Chickenshit-gate,” the comments prompted sharp criticism among Republican and Jewish leaders in the US.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) condemned the “disrespectful rhetoric used time and again by this administration with respect to the special relationship the United States has with the State of Israel.”

“He [Obama] either condones the profanity and disrespect used by the most senior members of his administration, or he does not,” Boehner said. “It is time for him to get his house in order and tell the people that can’t muster professionalism that it is time to move on.”

Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, called on Obama to “name, apologize for, and repudiate” the official who made the “chickenshit” slur.

“It is rather ironic that a senior American official is prepared to curse his friends, yet when it comes to the mortal enemies of the United State – as the Iranians discovered during the recent nuclear negotiations – praise is heaped on them,” Hier told The Algemeiner.