White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough made it clear on Monday that the crisis in U.S.-Israel relations over the issue of a Palestinian state remains, despite efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to clarify remarks he made late in the election campaign that no such state would be established on his watch.
“We cannot simply pretend that those comments were never made,” McDonough told the J Street conference in Washington, whose left-leaning audience received his remarks enthusiastically.
“Israel cannot maintain military control of another people indefinitely,” he said. “An occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end.” He denied claims that the administration’s reevaluation of its approach to the peace process stemmed from U.S. President Barack Obama’s “personal pique” against Netanyahu, but he described Netanyahu’s remarks before the election “troubling.”
McDonough did not address the possibility that the focus of the peace process would move to the United Nations, but said that Obama would “never stop working for a two-state solution,” despite the difficulties.
He detailed what the U.S. believes the arrangements would be: Borders based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, security arrangements, and a “sovereign and sustainable” Palestinian state. McDonough also described J Street, which is ostracized by much of the American Jewish establishment, as a the White House’s “partner” in advancing the peace process and the two-state solution.
McDonough warned Israel’s next government against any unilateral annexation of lands in the West Bank, saying it “would be both wrong and illegal” and that America would strenuously oppose it.
Netanyahu's statements that a Palestinian state would not be created as long as he is the prime minister were viewed, coming as they did one day before the Israeli elections, as a last-minute attempt to pull right-wing voters back to his party, the Likud.
"I think that anyone who moves to establish a Palestinian state and evacuate territory gives territory away to radical Islamist attacks against Israel," Netanyahu said on March 16. "The left has buried its head in the sand time and after time and ignores this, but we are realistic and understand."
After the elections gave Netanyahu a plurality, he claimed in an interview with the American NBC TV channel that his support for the two-state solution hasn't changed, what has changed "is the reality."
Netanyahu's last retraction was not accepted by the White House, however, and President Obama told The Huffington Post that he is convinced that Netanyahu does not support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. "We take him at his word when he said that it wouldn't happen during his prime ministership," Obama said.
Obama said that in light of Netanyahu's stance, his administration would need to "evaluate what other options are available to make sure that we don't see a chaotic situation in the region."
Poster Comment:
Bibi stepped in deep doo-doo.
