A U.S. diplomat apologized Thursday for using the word “animalistic” while urging reporters to quiet down during a news conference in Lebanon earlier this week.
Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Türkiye and envoy to Syria, who was temporarily assigned to Lebanon, said he did not intend the word to be derogatory but acknowledged his remarks were “inappropriate.”
Barrack visited Beirut Tuesday with a delegation of U.S. officials to discuss Lebanese government efforts to disarm the Hezbollah group and to monitor the implementation of the cease-fire agreement that ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict in November.
The comment came at the start of a news conference at the presidential palace, when journalists shouted at Barrack to move to the podium after he began speaking from another spot in the room.
Once at the podium, Barrack urged reporters to “act civilized, act kind, act tolerant,” warning that he might cut the conference short.
“The moment that this starts becoming chaotic, like animalistic, we’re gone,” Barrack said.
The remark sparked an outcry, with the Lebanese press syndicate calling for an apology and threatening to boycott Barrack’s visits if one was not issued.
The presidential palace also issued a statement expressing regret for comments made by “one of our guests” and thanking journalists for their “hard work.”
In an interview with Mario Nawfal, a media personality on X, an excerpt of which was published Thursday, Barrack said: “Animalistic was a word that I didn’t use in a derogatory manner. I was just saying, ‘Can we calm down? Can we find some tolerance and kindness? Let’s be civilized.’ But it was inappropriate to do when the media was just doing their job.”
He added, “I should have been more generous with my time and more tolerant myself.”
Barrack’s visit came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces could begin withdrawing from territory they hold in southern Lebanon following the Lebanese government’s decision to disarm Hezbollah.
When, how, and in what order Hezbollah’s disarmament and Israeli withdrawal would take place remain in dispute.
On Thursday, the Israeli army launched airstrikes in southern Lebanon, targeting “terrorist infrastructure and a rocket platform” belonging to Hezbollah.
Several hours later, the Lebanese army announced that two soldiers had been killed while investigating an Israeli drone that had crashed in the Naqoura area on the southern coast, which then exploded. It was unclear why the drone fell or what caused the explosion.
