Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Senator Bernie Sanders was wrong to call him a racist during a debate among contenders for the US Democratic presidential nomination, but shied away from attacking the senator in return.
"I am not intervening in the US election," Netanyahu replied when asked on Army Radio about Sanders' personal attack on him at Tuesday's event in Charleston, South Carolina.
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Often critical of the right-wing leader's policy toward Palestinians, Sanders described Netanyahu as "a reactionary racist who is now running" Israel.
The US senator also said he would consider moving the US Embassy in Jerusalem back to Tel Aviv.
Pressed further for his thoughts about Sanders, who if elected would be the first Jewish president in US history, Netanyahu said: "What I think about this matter is that he is definitely wrong. No question about it."
Asked about a possible confrontation with Sanders should the self-described democratic socialist win the White House, Netanyahu said that as prime minister he had stood up to US presidential opposition to his policies before and would be able to do so again.
Netanyahu had a contentious relationship with Barack Obama, Republican Donald Trump's predecessor as president, with the Iranian nuclear deal and Israel's settlement policy the main areas of friction.
Netanyahu, who held a campaign rally in an Arab town on Wednesday, has said he has no dispute with the Arab public in general, only with Arab politicians pursuing policies he opposes.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, was less diplomatic than Netanyahu on Wednesday, denouncing the Democratic front-runner for what he called Sanders' "horrifying comment" about Jerusalem.
"We don't intervene in the internal American electoral process, which is splendid," Katz told Army Radio, before noting that Sanders had a long history of attacking Israel and the things most sacred to its identity and national security.
"Naturally, people who support Israel will not support someone who goes against these things," he added.
