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Sarkozy: 'I can't stand him… he’s a liar'
Obama: 'You're fed up with him - I have to deal with him every day!'
Presidents' unflattering comments about Israeli PM Netanyahu are broadcast at G20 summit
An unguarded moment at the G20 is set to pile huge embarrassment on presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama.
The pair were caught out having a private dig at the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during talks last week in Cannes.
Nicolas Sarkozy was caught branding him 'a liar' on a microphone he thought was switched off, while Obama's retort was equally undignified.
But while the outburst - which was heard by six French journalists wearing headsets - is humiliating for French summit host, it could lead to serious difficulties for the Americans.
With a UN report set to reveal the serious extent of Iran's nuclear programme, the prospect of military action which would require Israel-U.S. co-operation on a major scale is becoming a horrifying possibility.
Problems: A private exchange between French president Nicolas Sarkozy, left, and US president Barack Obama about Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was overheard by journalists
The conversation began with Obama chiding Sarkozy for not telling him that France would vote to admit the Palestinians into the UN body UNESCO - a step the U.S. opposes.
From there, the two men began discussing the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an exchange which has now been published on French news website Arret Sur Images.
Mr Sarkozy is then overheard saying: 'I cannot stand him. He is a liar.'
Mr. Obama is reported to have replied: 'You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!'
Talked about: Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the topic of discussion between Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama
The U.S. president then urged Sarkozy to try to persuade the Palestinian Authority to step down its campaign for membership of the United Nations.
After three minutes, French officials realised the conversation was being eavesdropped and cut the microphones, Arret Sur Images said.
The journalists then agreed not to publish the overheard chat and stick to the 'rules of conduct' that applied to covering the summit - but one reporter later leaked the details to the website.
Obama and Sarkozy made for a very congenial pair at Cannes, with lots of handshakes and backslapping.
In fact, the U.S. President felt so comfortable in the presence of dimunitive Sarkozy that he cracked a joke at the Frenchman's expense over the birth of his new daughter Giulia with his supermodel wife Carla Bruni.
‘I’m confident that Giulia inherited her mother’s looks, rather than her father’s,’ he said.
Both the White House and Elysee Palace have refused to confirm or deny that the exchange took place.
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...d-telling-Obama-G20-summit.html#ixzz1d7ztOOiE