The comments came in an interview with The Atlantic. The president also discussed the nuclear talks with Iran and his often-frosty relationship with Israel's political leadership.
The head of FIFA visited Israel and the West Bank this week, where Palestinians are petitioning to expel Israel from soccer's governing body — and its biggest international tournaments.
Israel is investigating potential criminal actions by its troops last summer during the war against Hamas in Gaza, including three attacks that killed nearly 50 civilians taking refuge in schools.
Ayelet Shaked is a secular Jew who belongs to a religious party closely tied to West Bank settlers. She's faced criticism for controversial statements about Palestinians.
In a treaty between the two sides, the Holy See switches its diplomatic relations from the Palestine Liberation Organization to the state of Palestine. Israel said it was "disappointed."
Older Palestinians can enter Israel without prior authorization; 100 Palestinian doctors are now permitted to drive to work. An Israeli officer describes these modest policy changes as an experiment.
Tesfai Kidane, an Eritrean migrant, made his way to Israel, where he was detained. He returned to Africa. It's not clear what happened next, but he was killed recently by the Islamic State in Libya.
Dozens of soldiers have offered testimonials saying indiscriminate fire was tolerated, even encouraged in last summer's war in Gaza. This contributed to the high numbers of civilian deaths, they say.
Security forces have been deployed in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to try to prevent further violence after police and protesters clashed Sunday at rallies to protest police treatment of Ethiopian-Israelis.