Prime Minister’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s decisive election win triggered a sharp reaction Wednesday from the Obama White House, which skipped the customary congratulations to warn that the Israeli leader’s eleventh-hour campaign promise to block the creation of a Palestinian state has forced the administration to re-evaluate its overall strategy toward the Middle East peace process.
“This administration is deeply concerned about rhetoric that seeks to marginalize Arab-Israeli citizens,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, who described campaign messages projected this week by Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud Party as divisive and a betrayal of the “values and democratic ideals” that underpin Washington’s alliance with Israel.
The strong comments marked the boldest response yet from a world power to Mr. Netanyahu’s victory. Although the election produced no change at the top in Israel, the result left Washington and capitals across the region scrambling to reassess the effects on the Middle East peace process, nuclear talks with Iran and other issues.
Mr. Netanyahu’s fervent criticism of the Obama administration’s pursuit of an Iran nuclear deal is likely to continue to strain the alliance with Washington. Mr. Netanyahu’s relations with the Obama administration reached a low point weeks before the election, when the Israeli prime minister accepted an invitation from House Republicans to address Congress about Iran without first consulting the White House.
Analysts now say the diplomatic fallout likely will continue during the final two years of President Obama’s term.
Robert Danin, a senior fellow on the Middle East at the Council on Foreign relations, told Bloomberg News on Wednesday that neither side should be expected “to go too far to make any drastic changes in policy in order to create a new alignment.”
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“I’m skeptical that there’s any single act or even set of acts right now that will just wave away the tensions and the recrimination and the enmity,” he said. “This is going to just have to be managed, and I think both sides are going to want to manage it for their own reasons.”
Palestinian leaders argued Wednesday that Washington and its allies could and should have done more to prevent Mr. Netanyahu’s victory.
The Likud triumph “would not have been possible had the international community held Israel to account for its systematic violations of international law,” said Saeb Erekat, a former top Palestinian negotiator.
Mr. Erekat maintained that Mr. Netanyahu’s win showed the “success of a campaign platform based on settlements, racism, apartheid and the denial of the fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people,” according to Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli news organization.
Officials in Iran, which is engaged in intense talks with the U.S. and other world powers to try to complete a nuclear agreement in the coming days, maintained that the election was ultimately irrelevant, regardless of what the candidates said on the campaign trail or who won.
“There is no difference between the Zionist regime’s political parties,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marizeh Afkham was quoted as saying Wednesday. “They are all aggressors in nature.”
Kerry calls
Despite the disappointment in Washington, the Obama administration tried during the day to moderate its tone of disapproval.
While Mr. Earnest offered tough talk on Air Force One, State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said the administration remained committed to continuing “our close military, intelligence and security cooperation” with the Israeli government.
She also said Secretary of State John F. Kerry phoned Mr. Netanyahu to congratulate him but acknowledged it “was a brief phone call” because party negotiations in Israel have technically not produced a new government.
Even though a host of other world leaders — including British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — reached out to congratulate Mr. Netanyahu on the results, Mr. Earnest said Mr. Obama had not made a similar call but likely would do so “in the coming days.”
He suggested the president’s concern centers on comments Mr. Netanyahu made on his official Facebook page just ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
With pre-election polls showing center-left Zionist Union head Isaac Herzog poised for an upset, Mr. Netanyahu warned that Israel’s right-wing government was in danger. He also claimed that Israel’s Arab voters were “coming out in droves,” even being bused to the polls by “left-wing organizations.”
Mr. Earnest called the claims divisive and took issue with Mr. Netanyahu’s statement’s on Palestinian statehood. “It has been the policy of the United States for more than 20 years that a two-state solution is the goal of resolving the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.”
“Based on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments,” he said, the U.S. “will re-evaluate our position and the path forward.”
By contrast, leading Republicans were quick to hail the result.
“Congratulations to Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Jeb Bush, a likely presidential contender, said on Twitter. “He’s a true leader who will continue to keep Israel strong and secure.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, Tennessee Republican, was more guarded. Mr. Corker hailed Mr. Netanyahu but also praised his defeated rival.
Asserting that Mr. Herzog made a “competitive run,” Mr. Corker said “the oldest and most stable democracy in the Middle East has once again gone through a hotly contested election and will peacefully form a new government.”
Many fear the vote could increase Israeli-Palestinian friction. While peace efforts have been stalled for years, Mr. Netanyahu likely will head a coalition far more hostile to the idea of resuming serious negotiations on an eventual Palestinian state.
The United Nations’ Mr. Ban and the European Union appealed for a resumption of peace talks, but Mr. Netanyahu’s campaign pledge against Palestinian statehood could put Israel on a collision course with supporters around the world for a “two-state” solution.
The European Union is reported to be weighing steps such as trade measures to sanction Israel for continuing to back the construction of settlements in the West Bank — a policy that some see as a violation of peace accords.
• Guy Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@washingtontimes.com.
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