Axelrod: Netanyahu 'mortgaged the future' to win

Benjamin Netanyahu “mortgaged the future” to win his reelection, former White House adviser David Axelrod says, blasting the Israeli prime minister’s reversal on a two-state solution with respect to Palestine.

“Let’s acknowledge the obvious: Bibi Netanyahu is a great politician and there’s no question he’s willing to do whatever is necessary to keep himself in power,” Axelrod said in an interview with MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts on Wednesday.


The prime minister ran a “very divisive” operation in the twilight of the campaign, Axelrod said, “abandoning his six-year long commitment to a two-state solution to the Palestinian question.”

Netanyahu declared earlier this week that there would be no independent Palestinian state under his watch, an about-face as polls showed his Likud party in a tight race with chief competitor Isaac Herzog and his Zionist Union party.

Axelrod also took a shot at Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), whose resignation Tuesday came after POLITICO raised questions about mileage reimbursement he received for his personal vehicle, capping more than a month of revelations detailing the lawmaker’s lavish spending.

Mentioning past speculation that Schock might have run for governor of Illinois, Axelrod said that maybe he should have pursued that route.

“Perhaps he should have run, because he would have gotten a mansion as part of that deal, and maybe that would have satisfied some of his needs. I don’t know,” Axelrod said.