Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sharply rejected former President Barack Obama’s characterization of Israel’s founding and the displacement of Palestinians, insisting that the Jewish people are not foreign occupiers in their ancestral homeland.

In a video posted Friday on X, Netanyahu responded to Obama’s remarks during a speaking engagement in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where the former president discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before an audience of approximately 7,000 people.

“The Jewish people are not foreign occupiers in the land of our forefathers,” Netanyahu said.

Obama, speaking Tuesday at the O2 Arena in Belfast during a discussion with Irish journalist Susan McKay, described European persecution as a driving force behind Jewish migration to the Middle East before addressing the displacement of Palestinians during Israel’s establishment.

“They took land off people, and they were expelled. And those people understandably said, ‘This is injustice, and I want my land back,’” Obama said.

Netanyahu rejected that framing, emphasizing the Jewish people’s longstanding historical and cultural connection to the region.

“Our land is not stolen land. This is our homeland; it’s called Judea. That’s where Jews come from. We’ve been attached to it for thousands of years,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli leader also challenged Obama’s criticism of Israel’s security policies and military conduct during the war in Gaza, which began after Hamas launched its October 7, 2023, terrorist attack that killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel.

Obama argued that Israel’s military strength could undermine its long-term security if its government relied on force without making concessions to its adversaries.

“If the attitude of Israel is, now that we are the strongest, the most technologically advanced in the region, then our security will depend on us simply doing whatever we need and taking whatever we want, and not making any concessions to anyone, that may work short-term,” Obama said. “But you have ceded moral ground if that is the position you take.”

Netanyahu countered that the fundamental obstacle to peace is the refusal of Israel’s adversaries to recognize the Jewish people’s right to an independent state.

“The obstacle to peace is not Israel; it’s not our fight for our very right to exist in our own state; it’s the refusal of our enemies, and America’s enemies, to recognize the Jewish people’s right to a state of our own, in any boundaries,” Netanyahu said.

The exchange underscores the longstanding divide between Netanyahu and Obama over Israel’s security, territorial questions and prospects for a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians. The two leaders publicly clashed in 2011, when Netanyahu pushed back against Obama’s proposal to use Israel’s pre-1967 borders, alongside mutually agreed land swaps, as the starting point for negotiations over a Palestinian state.

Obama’s Belfast appearance was a paid speaking engagement. Earlier Tuesday, he received an honorary doctorate from Queen’s University Belfast.

The latest dispute highlights the continuing disagreement over how Israel’s founding, Palestinian displacement and the requirements for lasting peace should be understood, with Netanyahu emphasizing Jewish historical ties and the recognition of Israel’s right to exist as essential foundations for any settlement.