TENSION IS MOUNTING
Netanyahu’s victory, election rhetoric add strain to alliance
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory in Tuesday’s Israeli elections leaves the vital relationship with the United States under strain unlike any time in the country’s history.
Netanyahu made opposition to U. S. negotiations with Iran a centerpiece of his re- election effort. Then, in the closing days of the campaign, he went further, repudiating the idea of a sovereign Palestinian state, which has been a key element of U. S. policy under both Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
While senior American officials said the administration was still evaluating options, they suggested the U. S. could ease its staunch opposition to Palestinians turning to the U. N. Security Council to create a state.
“There are policy ramifications for what he said,” one official said of Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric rejecting the creation of a Palestinian
state. “This is a position of record.”
Now, Obama administration officials, who have been increasingly open in their distaste for Netanyahu, face the likelihood of having to deal with him for the remainder of the president’s tenure.
Whether the two governments can find a way to step back from an increasingly angry conflict — or even want to — will start to become apparent as Netanyahu negotiates to form a new governing coalition and U. S. officials decide how to respond to him.
For now, U. S. officials are working to play down the conflict.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said before the votes were counted that Obama “remains committed to working” with the Israeli government and “whomever the Israeli people choose.”
Frustrated by both Israel and the U. S., Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has become increasingly aggressive in efforts to secure a Palestinian state through other means, including the U. N. Security Council. The U. S. has veto power on the council and has repeatedly warned Abbas it would block his efforts to use that avenue.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Netanyahu’s repudiation of the two- state solution may have been only campaign bluster.
“A lot of things are said during election campaigns,” Psaki said. “We’ll wait to see the policies of the new government.”
But on Wednesday, a senior administration official said only that the administration was evaluating its options on Security Council action and other possible responses, notably not repeating administration threats to block the Palestinians. A second official confirmed the U. S. could decide not to veto Security Council action.
Supporters of Netanyahu emphasized that the prime minister’s record has been more pragmatic than his campaign rhetoric.
But privately, officials said the battles of recent weeks will unquestionably damage the two countries’ ties on security issues.
Israel has often brought its influence to bear quietly, in private conversations with top U. S. officials about security threats. Israeli officials could get to U. S. policymakers early, using assessments from their intelligence agencies to help steer American decisions.
Some of that trust and access will now be lost, former U. S. officials said.
Informal contacts have “been one of the most effective ways Israel has gotten what it wants,” one former official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss relations with a key ally. “It won’t be the same.”
Already, in recent weeks, U. S. officials announced publicly that they were limiting how much information on the nuclear negotiations with Iran they shared with Israel. Netanyahu’s government was using the data to denounce the American bargaining position in the talks, they said, accusing the Israelis of selective and misleading leaks that were impeding the negotiations.
Some analysts worry that the White House may now part ways with Israel on some issues before the United Nations and other international bodies.
Israel may need American diplomatic support now more than ever. European governments are increasingly impatient with Israel over what they see as the Netanyahu government’s continuing efforts to expand illegal Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.
The two countries are also likely to collide in the next few months if negotiators from the U. S. and five other major powers reach an agreement with Iran to set limits on its nuclear program.
Netanyahu made clear in his speech to Congress earlier this month that he would oppose any likely agreement.