Israeli leader backtracks from Palestinian state opposition

[webfact]

Israeli leader backtracks from Palestinian state opposition
By IAN DEITCH

JERUSALEM (AP) — Days after winning re-election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday backtracked from hard-line statements against the establishment of a Palestinian state in the face of a diplomatic backlash.

In the closing days of his campaign, Netanyahu said there could be no Palestinian state while regional violence and chaos persist — conditions that could rule out progress on the issue for many years. The comments, aimed at appealing to his nationalist voter base, angered the Obama administration, which views a two-state solution as a top foreign policy priority.

Netanyahu said in a TV interview Thursday that he remains committed to Palestinian statehood — if conditions in the region improve -- and to the two-state vision first spelled out in a landmark 2009 speech at Israel's Bar Ilan University.

"I haven't changed my policy," he said in a full interview with MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports," excerpts of which will be shown on NBC's "Nightly News" later on. "I never retracted my speech."

At the time, he said he would agree to a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes Israel as a Jewish state. The Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has recognized Israel as a state but refuses to recognize its Jewish character, and last year formed a unity government backed by the Hamas militant group, which is sworn to Israel's destruction.

In the interview, Netanyahu also pointed to the presence of hostile Islamic groups across the region and said that any captured territory handed over to Abbas would be taken over by militants. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and two years later Hamas seized control of the coastal territory, ousting forces loyal to Abbas.

"I don't want a one-state solution, I want a sustainable, peaceful two-state solution, but for that circumstances have to change," Netanyahu said. "And every territory that is vacated in the Middle East is taken up by Islamist forces."

"You can't impose peace. And in any case, if you want to get peace, you've got to get the Palestinian leadership to abandon their pact with Hamas and engage in genuine negotiations with Israel for an achievable peace," Netanyahu said. "You have to have real negotiations with people who are committed to peace. We are. It's time that we saw the pressure on the Palestinians to show that they are committed too," he said.

A day before the election Netanyahu told the Israeli nrg news website that a Palestinian state would not be established on his watch because of the current climate in the region.

"Whoever ignores that is burying his head in the sand. The left is doing that, burying its head in the sand time after time," he said in the video interview. When asked if that means a Palestinian state will not be established if he is elected, Netanyahu replied, "Indeed."

The remarks drew heavy criticism from Washington, which said Wednesday that it was re-evaluating its options after Netanyahu's hardline comments. Relations between Netanyahu and the Obama administration were already at a low point after Netanyahu addressed Congress earlier this month on negotiations with Iran. The address was arranged with Republicans behind the White House's back, a breach of diplomatic protocol.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday that White House officials were talking to their Israeli counterparts to set up a call between Obama and Netanyahu, possible later in the day.

He reiterated the White House view that Netanyahu's pre-election comments regarding a Palestinian state would mean the U.S. would have to reconsider its approach to Israel. He did not go into specifics but pointedly cited the U.N. as an example of where the U.S. has supported Israel in the past.

The tough talk was part of a last-ditch attempt by Netanyahu to spur his more hardline supporters to the polls in the final days of his campaign after it appeared he was losing voters to a more hawkish party.

On Tuesday, just a few hours before voting stations across the country shut, he warned that Arab citizens were voting "in droves" and endangering years of rule by his Likud Party. The comments drew accusations of racism in Israel, especially from its Arab minority, and a White House rebuke.

In Washington, the Obama administration said it was "deeply concerned" by the divisive language. And on Thursday, Earnest called it a "cynical election-day tactic that was a pretty transparent effort to marginalize Arab Israeli vote."

In the MSNBC interview Netanyahu said he was "very proud of the fact that Israel is the one country in a very broad radius that -- in which Arabs have free and fair elections. That's sacrosanct. That will never change," he said.

He repeated allegations he made during the campaign that external elements had funded the Joint List, a recently established alliance of four small, mostly Arab parties. Arab citizens make up 20 percent of Israel's population.

"I wasn't trying to suppress a vote; I was trying to get something to counter a foreign-funded effort to get votes that are intended to topple my party. And I was calling on our voters to come out," he said.
___

Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-03-20

[ezzra]

They say that all is fair in love and war, now you can add politics to it as well, never mind

what they say, very mind what they do, and time to put the Palestinians issue to bed once

and for all, enough with this generations of hatreds and bloodshed, move on, and give

them their own place to live providing that they will be good and peaceful neighbors...

[Ulysses G.]

move on, and give them their own place to live providing that they will be good and peaceful neighbors...

IMO, the good and peaceful neighbors question is the root of the whole problem. Most Israelis would have been happy to make peace long ago, but not enough sincere partners on the side.

[Seastallion]

You're a laugh, Netanyahu. A spineless fascist. A flip-flopper. A liar.

I wonder how long this government will last before it's dissolved. Surely the citizens will not stand for this liar's deceits any more.

[RockyBeerbelly]

move on, and give them their own place to live providing that they will be good and peaceful neighbors...

IMO, the good and peaceful neighbors question is the root of the whole problem. Most Israelis would have been happy to make peace long ago, but not enough sincere partners on the side.

Agree, at least a large part of the Israeli wanted peace a long time ago, unfortunately the Likud has never been a sincere partner and keeps on promoting division, war and violence with their fascist policies....

[dexterm]

What a joke. Having won the election with his scare tactics, he takes it all back.

How can the Palestinians, the US administration, the world believe anything this man says?

Much better for the Palestinians and US admin to bypass him.

[Seastallion]

move on, and give them their own place to live providing that they will be good and peaceful neighbors...

IMO, the good and peaceful neighbors question is the root of the whole problem. Most Israelis would have been happy to make peace long ago, but not enough sincere partners on the side.

Agree, at least a large part of the Israeli wanted peace a long time ago, unfortunately the Likud has never been a sincere partner and keeps on promoting division, war and violence with their fascist policies....

Yes. It's a silly and transparent condition....he really does not want peace and he will be already planning more settlements so that it is more difficult to give back the West Bank, as he's done and will continue to do in Jerusalem.

When the time comes that peace is imperative, he will shrug and say, "But we simply can not displace 50 000 families!" as if it is a surprise that they are there.

I sort of feel sorry for the settlers being used by Netanyahu. But not really, because they know full well what the score is.

[hard124get]

Haaretz poll: More than 90 percent of Israeli Jews support Gaza war.

The game is up, you can't cry wolf again. This will bring Israel down, and they deserve it !

[dexterm]

His backtracking on a 2 state solution in English is purely for consumption by his American audience, for fear of funds and UNSC vetoes drying up.

His election claim “never a Palestinian state” in Hebrew is the truth. It certainly is for his extreme right wing coalition partners.

What I find encouraging is the US reaction to his racist remarks

from OP..

On Tuesday, just a few hours before voting stations across the country shut, he warned that Arab citizens were voting "in droves" and endangering years of rule by his Likud Party. The comments drew accusations of racism in Israel, especially from its Arab minority, and a White House rebuke.

In Washington, the Obama administration said it was "deeply concerned" by the divisive language. And on Thursday, Earnest called it a "cynical election-day tactic that was a pretty transparent effort to marginalize Arab Israeli vote."

This US reaction to Netanyahu’s racism means he won’t have carte blanche to ethnically cleanse under the guise of his: Palestinians must swear allegiance to the Jewish state of Israel proposal. For the US admin therefore full blown apartheid would be a non starter too for the 2.5 million West Bank Palestinians Israel would inherit if they annex the West Bank.

All the Palestinians need do is practise passive resistance and stay put to await a just and acceptable 2 state solution peace offer...Israel’s only hope for a state with a Jewish character. Or be absorbed as equal citizens in a one state solution of an expanded Israel. Personally I would prefer the inevitability of the latter.

[Thorgal]

Reality is that he needs to chose between his new 'right'coalition in the Knesset and the international agenda to the Palistinian solution.

He will invent a reason soon to decline the Palestinian state solution in favour to his coalition, voters and his own agenda.

His actual colonial conditions will be 'required' for security reasons....

By coincidence, previous, peace talks jumped off just before operation protective edge...

Edited March 20, 2015 by Thorgal

[up-country_sinclair]

So, this article informs us that Netanyahu is a duplicitous, two-faced, double-tongued liar.

Thanks for the breaking news.

[Jingthing]

Ignoring the Israel demonizing voices from those who are obviously and hatefully hostile to Israel's very existence and live for the day she might fall, Bibi's walking back his two state election flip flop was entirely predictable. Most people already realized he understandably didn't think there was any legit side to negotiate with, especially terrorist Hamas from Hamastan (Gaza). However, he did say what he said so explicitly and the world heard it not only Israeli voters, so to actually successfully walk it back, he is going to have do something more than words. Don't be shocked ... he just might. A right wing Israeli PM is actually in a better position to make a deal with the Palestinians than a left wing one ... in a similar way that only right wing American Nixon could have opened up relations with China. Will it be Bibi ... from these dark days it doesn't look like it, but things can still change.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Jingthing

[Lissos]

Amusing how anybody is showing surprise. During his election comments they were frothing that he was finally showing his true colours, suddenly believing his rhetoric when it suited them to frame it and hang it on a way. No, politicians on both sides of this say whatever is effective to say at the time depending on who is watching and what is at stake. Don't we all already know that most politicians out there are snake oil salesmen?

[Jingthing]

Amusing how anybody is showing surprise. During his election comments they were frothing that he was finally showing his true colours, suddenly believing his rhetoric when it suited them to frame it and hang it on a way. No, politicians on both sides of this say whatever is effective to say at the time depending on who is watching and what is at stake. Don't we all already know that most politicians out there are snake oil salesmen?

I agree.

There is no reason to be surprised.

The truth is NEITHER side has been open to serious negotiations between each other for a solid and peaceful two state solution for a very long time now.

[ToddinChonburi]

There will never be peace as long as terrorists live among the Palestinian's.

[Wat dee]

Haaretz poll: More than 90 percent of Israeli Jews support Gaza war.

The game is up, you can't cry wolf again. This will bring Israel down, and they deserve it !

Any chance this is FOX news poll? Really disappointed if this is real ...

[Thorgal]

Ignoring the Israel demonizing voices from those who are obviously and hatefully hostile to Israel's very existence and live for the day she might fall, Bibi's walking back his two state election flip flop was entirely predictable. Most people already realized he understandably didn't think there was any legit side to negotiate with, especially terrorist Hamas from Hamastan (Gaza). However, he did say what he said so explicitly and the world heard it not only Israeli voters, so to actually successfully walk it back, he is going to have do something more than words. Don't be shocked ... he just might. A right wing Israeli PM is actually in a better position to make a deal with the Palestinians than a left wing one ... in a similar way that only right wing American Nixon could have opened up relations with China. Will it be Bibi ... from these dark days it doesn't look like it, but things can still change.

So it's now predictable that Netanyahu will come back to his first decision, isn't it ?

[Jingthing]

Support for defense against Hamas rockets and tunnels is not the same as supporting every action taken in the recent flare up. I'm certain many Israelis thought it was too harsh and others thought it wasn't harsh enough.

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Ulysses G.]

It sure put a stop to those terrorist rockets.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts and replies removed.

Please stay on topic and we do not need to re-live the Gaza/Israeli conflict. If you wish to discuss the situation in the context of the OP, that is permissible, but just a re-hash is generally inflammatory and off-topic.

[Jingthing]

Ignoring the Israel demonizing voices from those who are obviously and hatefully hostile to Israel's very existence and live for the day she might fall, Bibi's walking back his two state election flip flop was entirely predictable. Most people already realized he understandably didn't think there was any legit side to negotiate with, especially terrorist Hamas from Hamastan (Gaza). However, he did say what he said so explicitly and the world heard it not only Israeli voters, so to actually successfully walk it back, he is going to have do something more than words. Don't be shocked ... he just might. A right wing Israeli PM is actually in a better position to make a deal with the Palestinians than a left wing one ... in a similar way that only right wing American Nixon could have opened up relations with China. Will it be Bibi ... from these dark days it doesn't look like it, but things can still change.

So it's now predictable that Netanyahu will come back to his first decision, isn't it ?

What is predictable is that Bibi will never settle for a peace plan that is too risky for Israel.

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Lissos]

What is predictable is that Bibi will never settle for a peace plan that is too risky for Israel.

Risk is one thing, but pride is probably the biggest factor on both sides.

Core to the Palestinian demand is East Jerusalem to be the capital of a Palestinian state, something commonly glossed over by most forms of media when discussion fizzles out. Core to the Israeli defense (IMO) is East Jerusalem. For the Islamists, never mind the general Arab Nationalists, the Dome of the Rock stands aloft as a beacon/ last bastion of Islamic power in a sea of encroaching Jewry, and explains the fever which overtakes them en masse at even the briefest of restrictions to access. For Israeli Jews, the 67 victory in the Old City and liberation of the Kotel was one of their formative events in the history of the state. Palestinians don't want to be seen as accepting only what Israel hands them, and history shows that continually. Its nationalism wants to leave Israel with a bleeding nose as it forms its Palestinian State. Arguably, Israel wants to do the same to them in various forms. Both want to be seen (and need to be seen domestically) as having come out on top in any deal, something that is far easier said than achieved.

[7by7]

There will never be peace as long as terrorists live among the Palestinian's.

There will never be peace as long as Israel continues to build more and more illegall settlements on Palestinian land.

[Ulysses G.]

There will never be peace as long as the Palestinian Authority are allied with at terrorist group whose charter calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement with a radical Islamic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean See.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[Steely Dan]

This is all a storm in a teacup. The only reason why it's 'news' is because the Islamist-leftist alliance is trying to salvage something from the reelection of Netanyahu. From the O.P it appears that everything Netanyahu said was in the conditional. A blind man can see a two state solution is a non-starter in the foreseeable future. To zoom in on what Netanyahu said during a close fought election campaign is somewhat hypocritical, unless of course the genocidal statements from the Iranians or Hamas are given similar credence. Obama's favorite Middle Eastern leader Erdogan has got away with some outrageous rhetoric without any repercussions. I suspect Obama, who himself dissembles and abuses language will try to make something of this. He can see his time slipping away with the bitter prospect of his Nemesis outlasting him in politics. I suspect the U.N will where we see what Obama intends to do to get revenge.

[Linky]

It sure put a stop to those terrorist rockets.

What a disgraceful comment. Giving the thumbs up to thousands of people killed just to stop a few rockets falling in a field.

[sawadee1947]

You're a laugh, Netanyahu. A spineless fascist. A flip-flopper. A liar.

I wonder how long this government will last before it's dissolved. Surely the citizens will not stand for this liar's deceits any more.

yes, it's a shame for Israel...

[Ulysses G.]

It sure put a stop to those terrorist rockets.

What a disgraceful comment. Giving the thumbs up to thousands of people killed just to stop a few rockets falling in a field.

What an ignorant remark. 11,000 rockets from Gaza since 2005. The majority of those rockets struck Israel, damaging homes, schools and other civilian areas. If Palestinian terrorists stopped firing them, there would be no reason to strike back.

[Linky]

This is all a storm in a teacup. The only reason why it's 'news' is because the Islamist-leftist alliance is trying to salvage something from the reelection of Netanyahu. From the O.P it appears that everything Netanyahu said was in the conditional. A blind man can see a two state solution is a non-starter in the foreseeable future. To zoom in on what Netanyahu said during a close fought election campaign is somewhat hypocritical, unless of course the genocidal statements from the Iranians or Hamas are given similar credence. Obama's favorite Middle Eastern leader Erdogan has got away with some outrageous rhetoric without any repercussions. I suspect Obama, who himself dissembles and abuses language will try to make something of this. He can see his time slipping away with the bitter prospect of his Nemesis outlasting him in politics. I suspect the U.N will where we see what Obama intends to do to get revenge.

I guess a thread on Netanyahu's lies and racist comments are just too much for some to add Some Obama bashing.

Using analogy from a certain poster with serious issues....hope Obama grows some balls and bombs Israel. Would put a stop to the illegal settlements.

[Linky]

It sure put a stop to those terrorist rockets.

What a disgraceful comment. Giving the thumbs up to thousands of people killed just to stop a few rockets falling in a field.

What an ignorant remark. 11,000 rockets from Gaza since 2005. The majority of those rockets struck Israel, damaging homes, schools and other civilian areas. If Palestinian terrorists stopped firing them, there would be no reason to strike back.

How many rockets in the week before Israel slaughtered innocents. I do believe they were down to a trickle.

But I'm sure you are wide eyed in the belief that stopping the all but harmless rockets was the reason for the mass slaughter.