In a blunt message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Barack Obama has said the United States will need to “reassess” aspects of the bilateral relationship in the light of its long-standing commitment to a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. He has also strongly defended his push for a comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran, something that Netanyahu despises.
Obama, despite the strained relations with Netanyahu for a long time, called him on Thursday to congratulate him on his re-election and simultaneously voice concern over his election-eve assertion that he would not agree to a separate Palestinian state as long as he was the Prime Minister of Israel. “The President told the Prime Minister that we will need to reassess our options following the Prime Minister’s new positions (on Palestine) and comments regarding the two-state solution,” a senior White House official was quoted as saying while speaking on condition of anonymity.
Significantly, the official, when asked if the US would remove its diplomatic cover for Israel by blocking in the United Nations a resolution for creation of a Palestinian state, said no decision has yet been made, but added: “We haven’t taken the option off the table.” Obama’s telephone call came on a day when Netanyahu himself sought to backtrack from his controversial comments, telling MSNBC network” “I don’t want a one-state solution. I want a sustainable, peaceful two-state solution. But for that, circumstances have to change.”
Despite Netanyahu’s volte-face, White House spokesman Josh Earnest kept up the possibility of a US reassessment, commenting: “Steps that the United States has taken at the United Nations had been predicated on this idea that the two-state solution is the best outcome. Now our ally in these talks (Israel) has said that they are no longer committed to that solution. That means we need to reevaluate our position in this matter, and that is what we will do moving forward.”