White House condemns anti-Semitic speech by Egypt's Morsi

Anti-semitic comments by the Egyptian president have been strongly condemned by the White House.

Mohammed Morsi described Jews as ‘descendants of apes and pigs’.

The Muslim Brotherhood leader is also reported to have asked Egyptians to ‘nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred’.

In other comments, he said Zionists are bloodsuckers who attack Palestinians, and are related to apes.

President Barack Obama’s White House spokesman Jay Carney said: ‘The language that we have seen is deeply offensive.

‘We completely reject these statements, as we do any language that espouses religious hatred.

‘This kind of discourse has been acceptable in the region for far too long, and is counter to the goal of peace.’

Morsi’s remarks and the Obama administration’s rebuke marked a new point of tension in the complex relationship between the U.S. and Egypt’s fledgling democracy.