Obama and Netanyahu meet in 2013. U.S. to 're-evaluate' peace process Netanyahu’s disavowal of a “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict upends U.S. policy, White House says.

President Barack Obama will call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on Tuesday’s election victory in the coming days, his spokesman said. But he suggested the conversation is likely to go downhill after the “mazel tov.”

In light of Netanyahu’s vow that there would be no Palestinian state during his tenure, the United States will “re-evaluate our approach” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict said Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Wednesday.


“It has been the longstanding policy of the United States that a two-state solution is the best way to address this conflict,” said Earnest during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One. The president still holds that view, he added.

En route to an event in Cleveland, Earnest also went out of his way to condemn “divisive rhetoric” from Netanyahu’s Likud Party. While Earnest did not cite the prime minister by name, a post on Netanyahu’s Facebook wall on Election Day warned, according to a translation, “The right-wing government is in danger. Arab voters are going en masse to the polls. Left-wing NGOs are bringing them on buses.”

The message “sought to, frankly, marginalize Arab-Israelis,” Earnest said, adding that it “undermines the values of democratic ideals that have been important to our democracy and an important part of what binds the United States and Israel together.”

Netanyahu made the comments in the final hours before Israelis went to the polls on Tuesday with public opinion surveys suggesting that his opponents were on course to come out ahead in the Israeli parliament. In the final vote count, however, Netanyahu’s Likud party won a decisive victory.

Despite these new tensions in the U.S.-Israeli relationship, Earnest said America’s ties to Israel would remain strong. “The unprecedented security cooperation between the United States, including our strong military and intelligence relationships, will continue,” he said.

Secretary of State John Kerry placed a “brief” phone call to congratulate Netanyahu, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, adding “they did not discuss substantive issues.”

Psaki wouldn’t say whether U.S. policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian issue would change, but added that “the fact that [Netanyahu] has changed his position has certainly had an impact.”

Michael Crowley contributed to this report.