US ‘deeply concerned’ over comments on Arab voters

The White House gives a tepid acknowledgement of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reelection on Wednesday, stressing that his election pledge to block the creation of a Palestinian state runs against US policy.

After an election campaign that was marked by open hostility between Obama and Netanyahu, the White House says the president had not yet called the prime minister to congratulate him.

Instead, that job was left to Secretary of State John Kerry. “The president in the coming days will also call Prime Minister Netanyahu,” says White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

The White House says that security cooperation between the US and Israel would continue, but Earnest adds that “it continues to be the view of the president that a two-state solution is the best way to address those tensions.”

“In the context of the recent election Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated a change in his position, based on those comments the United States will evaluate our approach to the situation.”

The White House also castigates Netanyahu’s Likud party for urging supporters to match a large turn out by Arab Israelis.

“The United States and this administration is deeply concerned by decisive rhetoric that seeks to marginalize Arab-Israeli citizens,” Earnest says.

“It undermines the values and democratic ideals that have been important to our democracy and an important part of what binds the United States and Israel together.

“And I can tell you that these are views the administration intends to communicate directly to the Israelis.”

— AFP