Washington (AFP) - The White
House gave a tepid acknowledgement of Benjamin Netanyahu's reelection on
Wednesday, stressing that his election pledge to block the creation of a
Palestinian state runs against US policy.
After an
election campaign that was marked by open hostility between Obama and
Netanyahu, the White House said the president had not yet called the
prime minister to congratulate him.
Instead, that job was left to
Secretary of State John Kerry. "The president in the coming days will
also call Prime Minister Netanyahu," said White House spokesman Josh
Earnest.
Netanyahu had
angered the White House during his reelection campaign by appearing
before the US Congress to mount a bid to kill a nascent nuclear deal
with Iran that is a key goal of the Obama administration.
Tensions
were deepened in the final hours before Tuesday's election when
Netanyahu ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state, seemingly
upending decades of international consensus.
The White House said
that while security cooperation between the US and Israel would
continue, but Earnest added that "it continues to be the view of the
president that a two state solution is the best way to address those
tensions." "In the context of the recent election Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated a change in his position, based on those comments the United States will evaluate our approach to the situation."
The
US has until now played a key role in limiting diplomatic maneuvers
that would isolate Israel at the United Nations and elsewhere.
The White House also castigated Netanyahu's Likud party for urging supporters to match a large turn out by Arab Israelis."The right-wing government is in danger," a Facebook page belonging to Netanyahu warned during voting. "Arab voters are coming out in droves."
"The
United States and this administration is deeply concerned by decisive
rhetoric that seeks to marginalize Arab-Israeli citizens," Earnest said.
"It undermines the values
and democratic ideals that have been important to our democracy and an
important part of what binds the United States and Israel together.
"And I can tell you that these are views the administration intends to communicate directly to the Israelis."
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