Mr Morsi’s slurs, which emerged in recordings from 2010, were termed “deeply offensive” by Jay Carney, Mr Obama’s press secretary, who said concerns had been raised with Egyptian officials.
Mr Carney urged Mr Morsi, who has promised to respect Egypt's decades-old peace treaty with Israel, to promptly state publicly that he respects people of all faiths.
“This type of rhetoric is unacceptable in a democratic Egypt," he said during a briefing at The White House, adding: “It is counter to peace."
The intervention from Washington came amid growing controversy over the three-year-old comments, in a speech and subsequent television interview, which were unearthed by researchers.
Mr Morsi, then a Muslim Brotherhood opposition politician, urged Egyptians to “nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred” for Jews and Zionists.
He also described Zionists as “these bloodsuckers who attack the Palestinians, these warmongers, the descendants of apes and pigs.” » | Jon Swaine, Washington | Tuesday, January 15, 2013
