Obama Not Convinced By Netanyahu’s Backtracking On Palestine

President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 20, 2015, during the second-annual White House Student Film Festival. This year’s competition was an opportunity for K... President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 20, 2015, during the second-annual White House Student Film Festival. This year’s competition was an opportunity for K-12 students to produce short films on the idea of service and helping your community. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) MORE LESS
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President Barack Obama signaled that he isn’t convinced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeming to backtrack on hardline comments opposing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Shortly after Netanyahu won re-election he seemed to backtrack on earlier hardline statements during the run-up to the election saying that he was committed to Palestinian statehood.

Obama, in an interview with The Huffington Post published on Saturday, said his administration is operating with the view that Netanyahu still doesn’t support the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“We take him at his word when he said that it wouldn’t happen during his prime ministership, and so that’s why we’ve got to evaluate what other options are available to make sure that we don’t see a chaotic situation in the region,” Obama said in the interview conducted Friday.

Obama, in the same interview, said Iran has not made the offers needed to get to a final nuclear weapons deal, but talks are getting closer to a compromise.

“Frankly,” Obama also said, “they have not yet made the kind of concessions that are I think going to be needed for a final deal to get done. But they have moved, and so there’s the possibility.”

Earlier in the day Secretary of State John Kerry said that the U.S. had made progress with Iran on a nuclear deal.

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  1. Avatar for enon enon says:

    judging by the hysteria exhibited by scarbro on friday (edit: panel included al hunt& mark halperin), the wdc/nyc media/political worlds are flipping out over obama’s very public anger with netanyahu… how undiplomatic of obama to reject those private calls instead of what he’s doing – that i suspect is more related to highlighting an issue that most americans don’t really pay attention to, other than a reflexive support for israel. but that support does appear to be lessening, and obama’s continuing criticism brings unwanted attention – esp how untrustworthy netanyahu is…

    i’m delighted to see him doing this. any mention of boehner’s victory visit…

  2. In addition, enon, I believe that, if any “anger” is in the house, it’s that of the Europeans (whom the MSM don’t cover unless Prince Charlie drops by), who are paying close attention to Mr. Netanyahu’s election weather-vane.

  3. Net and the Israeli government clearly cannot be trusted about anything. So they blame Obama, of course!

  4. Avatar for meta meta says:

    Netanyahu the NeoConservative Reverses On His Orwellianism. He has destroyed his credibility. Big time. His actions always pointed to undermining Palestinian statehood. Finally, he said it. He should also tell us the truth about his wish to undermine the Iranian talks.

  5. Bibi to Israeli voters he needed to bring back in order to secure victory: No 2-state solution while he is PM.

    Bibi to the US once he’d won and needs the gravy train to keep running: 2-state solution is a definite possibility.

    Yeah, I wouldn’t trust him either.

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