Obama: US may abandon Israel at UN
United States President Barack Obama threatened to walk away from Israel at the United Nations yesterday during an attack on Benjamin Netanyahu which brought relations between the men to a new low.
Obama told Israel’s Channel 2 television that he ‘‘doesn’t see the likelihood’’ of a Middle East peace agreement before he leaves office in early 2017 and warned that Israel was heading for increasing diplomatic censure if it continued its current policies.
In particular, he raised the prospect of America’s longstanding support for Israel at the UN being curtailed. France is drafting a resolution that would set a deadline for ending the Israeli occupation and creating a Palestinian state.
‘‘Up until this point we have pushed away against European efforts,’’ Obama said during the primetime interview.
‘‘[But] if nobody believes there’s a peace process, then it becomes more difficult to argue with those who are concerned about the current situation.’’
The last round of US-brokered peace talks collapsed more than a year ago. Critics of Obama say he has little interest in trying to rekindle them while in nuclear talks with the country’s archenemy, Iran.
Netanyahu’s Right-wing coalition is Israel’s most hawkish in two decades. He promised not to create a Palestinian state in a newspaper interview on the eve of the election in March and, although he has back-pedalled, Obama said it was ‘‘difficult’’ to take the prime minister’s retraction at face value.
‘‘The danger here is that Israel as a whole loses credibility,’’ he said. ‘‘Already the international community does not believe that Israel is serious about a two-state solution. The statement the prime minister made compounded that belief.’’
Netanyahu’s office did not comment on the interview.
The two leaders have never had a warm relationship, but it turned openly hostile after the US and other world powers began negotiating the nuclear deal, which Israel opposes.
Netanyahu flew to Washington just before his re-election and delivered a critical speech before Congress, having been invited by the Republicans behind Obama’s back.