President Barack Obama said that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu's pre-election disavowal of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict makes it “hard to find a path” to resolve the issue.
In an interview with the Huffington Post, Obama also scolded Netanyahu over his remarks about Arab Israelis voting, making clear that the deep rift in relations between Israel and the United States, its most important ally, is not ending anytime soon.
In the interview, conducted on Friday and published on Saturday, Obama described his Thursday phone call with Netanyahu, two days after the Israeli leader was re-elected.
“I did indicate to him that we continue to believe that a two-state solution is the only way for the long-term security of Israel, if it wants to stay both a Jewish state and democratic,” Obama said, in his first public comments on the issue.
“And I indicated to him that given his statements prior to the election, it is going to be hard to find a path where people are seriously believing that negotiations are possible.”
The worst crisis in decades in US-Israeli relations was worsened by Netanyahu’s declaration just before Tuesday’s election that there would be no Palestinian state on his watch. Netanyahu sought on Thursday to backtrack from that.
“Well, 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,” said Obama, whose administration sponsored failed talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state that would exist peacefully side-by-side with Israel.
The White House had said after Obama’s call on Thursday that the president had told Netanyahu Washington would “reassess” its options on US-Israel relations and Middle East diplomacy.
In the interview, Obama also expressed dismay over Netanyahu’s Election Day warning to his supporters about Arab Israeli voters going to the polls “in droves.”
“We indicated that that kind of rhetoric was contrary to what is the best of Israel’s traditions, that 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.
Obama underscored his support for Israel’s security, saying he would make sure that military and intelligence cooperation continues in order to keep the Israeli people safe.
“But we are going to continue to insist that, from our point of view, the status quo is unsustainable. And that while taking into complete account Israel’s security, we can’t just in perpetuity maintain the status quo, expand settlements. That’s not a recipe for stability in the region,” Obama said, referring to the current state of affairs with the Palestinians.
The United States provides US$3 billion in military aid annually.
Obama will continue seeking deal with Iran
Netanyahu’s tense relations with Obama have been strained over US efforts to reach an international agreement with Iran to curb Tehran’s nuclear program. Ties worsened when Netanyahu accepted a Republican invitation to speak to the US Congress two weeks before the Israeli election to criticise Obama’s quest for such a deal. Democrats assailed the speech as an insult to the presidency and a breach of protocol.
Obama told the Huffington Post that Netanyahu’s election win would not significantly affect his defence of any deal reached with Iran.
"I don't think it will have a significant impact," Obama said.
Iran and six world powers are in negotiations to clinch a landmark deal that would have the country scale back its controversial nuclear program in return for relief from sanctions.
Western powers in London affirmed their "unity of purpose" in Iran nuclear talks Saturday, urging the Islamic Republic to take "difficult decisions."
Netanyahu opposes any accommodation with Tehran and told US lawmakers during his visit that the agreement under negotiation as a "bad deal."
Obama, however, was cautiously optimistic about the progress of the nuclear talks while acknowledging the bitterness between Iran and Israel.
"Obviously, there's significant scepticism 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.
"What is going to have an effect on whether we get a deal done is, number one, is Iran prepared to show, to prove to the world that it is not developing a nuclear weapon, and can we verify that in an intrusive, consistent way," Obama said.
"Frankly, they have not yet made the kind of concessions that are I think going to be needed for a final deal to get done. But they have moved, and so there's the possibility."
The complex deal on the table would likely involve Iran reducing its nuclear activities, allowing tight inspections, and limiting development of new nuclear machinery.
In exchange, Iran — which denies wanting nuclear weapons — would get relief from the mountain of painful sanctions that have strangled its oil exports and hammered its economy.
