Obama Warns Netanyahu About the 'Chaotic Situation' His Pledge to Oppose a Palestinian State Could Cause in the Region
Obama rips Netanyahu over Arab voter comments
The president's comments cap a geopolitical backlash sparked by Netanyahu's statement on Monday that a Palestinian state would not be established on his watch. The Israeli prime minister has since insisted that he remains open to a two-state solution under very specific, restrictive conditions. But the damage appears to have been done, with the White House offering only the most perfunctory of diplo-speak to obscure its frustrations.March 21, 2015
AFP - US President Barack Obama criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his warning that Arab Israeli voters would vote "in droves."
In his first public comments about Tuesday's elections that saw Netanyahu score a surprise third term, Obama told The Huffington Post he had "indicated that that kind of rhetoric was contrary to what is the best of Israel's traditions."
The White House said earlier this week that Obama had warned Netanyahu on Thursday that his last-minute campaign pledge to oppose the creation of a Palestinian state and his comments about Israeli Arab voters would force a rethink in Washington.
"Although Israel was founded based on the historic Jewish homeland and the need to have a Jewish homeland, Israeli democracy has been premised on everybody in the country being treated equally and fairly," Obama said.The interview, which took place Friday, was published in full Saturday.
"And I think that that is what's best about Israeli democracy. If that is lost, then I think that not only does it give ammunition to folks who don't believe in a Jewish state, but it also I think starts to erode the meaning of democracy in the country."
- Taking Netanyahu 'at his word' -
"We take him at his word when he said that it wouldn't happen during his prime ministership, and so that's why we've got to evaluate what other options are available to make sure that we don't see a chaotic situation in the region," Obama said.
It has also shielded Israel from often Arab-led UN votes castigating the Jewish state for various actions, including alleged human rights abuses.
Such a move would represent a major inflection point for US-Israeli relations, the likes of which has not been seen in years, or perhaps decades.
It is now more than 30 years since former president Ronald Reagan allowed anti-Israel resolutions to pass at the UN after Israel bombed Iraq's nuclear facilities.
During their phone call, Obama said he told Netanyahu that "it is going to be hard to find a path where people are seriously believing that negotiations are possible."
Obama also said Israel's elections will not greatly affect his defense of any deal reached with Iran.
"I don't think it will have a significant impact," Obama said.
"Obviously, there's significant skepticism in Israel generally about Iran, and understandably. Iran has made vile comments, anti-Semitic comments, comments about the destruction of Israel."It is precisely for that reason that even before I became president, I said Iran could not have a nuclear weapon," Obama added.
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