"I've been attacked before by people using real bullets, not words. And I am not going to be intimidated," Kerry told CNN's Jake Tapper .Kerry was attacked for mentioning "talk of boycotts" against Israel at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, provoking the State Department to release an unusual statement imploring Kerry's critics not to distort his words.Throughout the week, tension grew as a parody video of Kerry's Middle East peace efforts was released, and a group of rabbis wrote a scathing open letter to him claiming that he had "declared war on God."Spokeswoman Psaki responded to questions during Wednesday's press briefing about an increasingly "poisonous atmosphere" created by these incidents."He’s not going to spend a lot of time worrying about words people are using against him," she said. "His greatest concern about this is the impact they have or they could have on the process, that the words aren’t an attack on him, they’re actually an attack on the peace process itself."In response to a question about a spoof video released by Israeli settlers criticizing Kerry's efforts in the Middle East, Psaki said, "I think it goes in with what I’ve already stated about attempts to mis-characterize his record, his position, his positions on issues, his statements, how that is not an attack on him; that’s an attack on the process. And of course that kind of rhetoric we find unacceptable." Reuters contributed to this report.
US condemns east Jerusalem building plan as Kerry downplays Israeli critics
State Department: We oppose any actions that attempt to prejudge final status of Jerusalem; Kerry: Not intimidated by words.
