



WASHINGTON — President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu had a poisonous relationship long before Mr. Netanyahu swept to victory on Tuesday night in elections watched minute-by-minute at the White House. But now that Mr. Netanyahu has won after aggressively campaigning against a Palestinian state and Mr. Obama’s potential nuclear deal with Iran, the question is whether the president and prime minister can ever repair their relationship — and whether Mr. Obama will even try.

On Wednesday, part of the answer seemed to be that the president would not make the effort. In strikingly strong criticism, the White House called Mr. Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric, in which he railed against Israeli Arabs because they went out to vote, an attempt to “marginalize Arab-Israeli citizens” and inconsistent with the values that bind Israel and the United States. The White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, told reporters traveling with Mr. Obama on Air Force One on Wednesday that Mr. Netanyahu’s statement was “deeply concerning and it is divisive and I can tell you that these are views the administration intends to communicate directly to the Israelis.”

And with Mr. Netanyahu’s last-minute turnaround against a Palestinian state alongside Israel, several administration officials said that the Obama administration may now agree to passage of a UN Security Council resolution embodying principles of a two-state solution that would be based on the pre-1967 lines between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip and mutually agreed swaps. Most foreign policy experts say that Israel would have to cede territory to the Palestinians in exchange for holding on to major Jewish settlement blocks in the West Bank. (NYT)

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Perhaps it is a good thing that Bibi won the election. It’s time for a dose of reality. His official declaration that there will be no Palestinian state finally rips the tattered fig leaf off the failed peace process. No one has to keep up that silly and futile facade any longer. Of course now he claims he never really meant that. Yeah, that’s the ticket. He knows we’re easy to manipulate. We’re just foolish simpletons who’ll believe anything he says. Well it’s time to call bullshit on Bibi. Benjamin Netanyahu is a man void of all truth.

Now that Bibi’s true nature is apparent to all willing to see, it’s an opportunity to try a different approach… like the UNSC. Just stop our slavish support of Israel through our veto. Obama can just tell Samantha Power to sit down and shut up. Our Administration could call it leading from behind. Whatever. Maybe the prospect of the UNSC vigorously pursuing a two state solution and right of return would take Bibi’s mind off of Iran. How will Bibi’s electorate react to sanctions over new settlements? Will they continue to buy whatever line Bibi cooks up next? While we’re at it, how about shining a little light on Israel’s support of Jabhat al-Nusra or reminding the electorate of the USS Liberty?

TTG