Israeli Prime Minister appears to have walked back his earlier repudiation of the American-backed two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, in an interview with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports (portions will air on NBC Nightly News on Thursday).

Just on Monday, Netanyahu had announced that there would be no Palestinian state under his watch. NRG, an Israeli news site, asked if Netanyahu would oppose the creation of Palestinian state under his watch, and he said "indeed."

This statement was widely seen as a rejection of the two-state solution, which would require the establishment of a Palestinian state, meant to turn out right-wing votes in this week's election. The move caused an international uproar, particularly in the US. Now that the election is over and Netanyahu has gotten his votes, he appears to have already reversed himself in this interview, saying that he had never actually abandoned his support for a Palestinian state.

Here's they key exchange between Mitchell and Netanyahu:

MITCHELL: Critics and analysts here and around the world are saying at what cost. Your hard turn right on the Palestinian issue, what you said about the Arab voters coming out in droves, they say are costing you, costing you support around the world. NETANYAHU: Well, neither one is— the premises in your question are wrong. I haven't changed my policy. I never changed my speech in Bar Ilan University six years ago calling for a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state. What has changed is the reality. Abu Mazen, the Palestinian leader, refuses to recognize the Jewish state, has made a pact with Hamas that calls for destruction of Jewish state. And every territory that is vacated in the Middle East is taken up by Islamist forces.

Netanyahu is saying, in other words, that he wasn't abandoning in-principle support for a Palestinian state — he just doesn't think the Palestinians are interested and capable of setting up a peaceful one anytime soon. It remains to be seen as to whether the White House will buy that.

Here's a longer transcript of their discussion of the Palestinian state issue: