{UAH} Pojim/WBK: Bibi bounces back - Michael Crowley - POLITICO
|
6:38 PM |
No comments |
Bibi bounces back - Michael Crowley
After a hard lurch to the right that may have further poisoned his relationship with the Obama administration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu staved off a potential election defeat on Tuesday, according to Israeli exit polls.
Hours before complete results were tallied, Netanyahu was claiming a comeback victory — even though his conservative Likud party must still assemble a governing coalition that would allow the prime minster to keep his job.
Story Continued Below
"Against all odds: A great victory for the Likud. A major victory for the Israeli people," Netanyahu posted on Facebook.
At a minimum, the result disappointed many Democrats long exasperated with an Israeli leader they consider tantamount to a partisan rival, particularly after Netanyahu's controversial March 3 speech to Congress arranged by Speaker John Boehner behind the Obama White House's back. Pre-election polling had shown Netanyahu's Likud trailing the center-left Zionist Union party led by his chief rival, Isaac Herzog.
Obama officials consider Herzog a far more promising partner on issues like the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Iran's nuclear program.
Now, if Netanyahu does outmaneuver Herzog to form and lead a majority coalition in the Israeli Knesset, his long-troubled relations with President Obama may reopen at their lowest point yet.
Rallying his conservative base in the election's final days, Netanyahu seemed to reject his previous support for a Palestinian state, long a staple of U.S. policy. He also cast himself as the target of foreign enemies, something many observers interpreted as an accusation that Obama was, in effect, working to depose him. And he put a racial spin on the election, ominously warning supporters that Israeli Arabs were turning out in large numbers against him.
Netanyahu's "scare tactics made the difference," said Danny Ayalon, who served as Israel's ambassador to Washington from 2002 to 2006 under a Likud government. "He now holds all the cards," Ayalon said, adding that the question is whether Netanyahu will lead a narrow "right wing" coalition or a broader national unity government.
Even with such details unsettled, some Washington conservatives expressed relief at the preliminary results.
"Sure loser: Obama," Tweeted Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, a major Netanyahu booster.
In particular, defending a nuclear deal with Iran might be easier for Obama absent the protests of Netanyahu, who warned Congress that Obama is striving for "a very bad deal" with Iran. Herzog has also questioned the pending deal with Iran, but in more muted tones, and he has promised better relations with the Obama White House.
"Isaac Herzog has serious concerns about Iran's intentions, but he supports the U.S. effort to negotiate a rollback of their nuclear program," says Joe Cirincione, president of Ploughshares Fund, a non-profit foundation that has supported the nuclear talks.
Perhaps the biggest question looming over a possible Netanyahu victory is how the Obama administration would react to the Israeli leader's rejection of a Palestinian state. When an interviewer asked whether he would oppose the creation of such a state while prime minister, Netanyahu said yes.
That would be a reversal of Netanyahu's own stated position, as well a challenge to U.S. policy set in 2002 by President George W. Bush.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki seemed to downplay the remark Monday, saying that "there are many things said leading up to elections." The White House had no immediate comment on Tuesday.
Ayalon predicted that "Bibi will retract" the statement.
"He made the remarks as a candidate representing Likud," he added. "As a prime minister he represents the government. And that depends on the coalition he builds."
0 comments:
Post a Comment