America
Obama will work with whoever wins Israile elections: White House
Washington, March 18
Hours after the first
exit polls showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party set to
retain the leadership, US President Barack Obama indicated he would
work with any future Israeli premier.
Obama "remains committed to
working very closely with the winner of the ongoing elections to cement
and further deepen the strong relationship between the Us and Israel,
and the president is confident that he can do that with whomever the
Israeli people choose," said White House press secretary Josh Earnest on
Tuesday, according to Times of Israile.
The White House comment
came after a bitter Israeli elections campaign and months of tensions
between Netanyahu and Obama that culminated in a speech the prime
minister gave before a joint session of Congress two weeks ago.
The timing, content and lack of coordination with the Obama administration infuriated the White House.
Netanyahu's
declaration in the lead-up to Tuesday's election that he wouldn't allow
the formation of a Palestinian state may further exacerbate strained
relations with Washington should he end up as prime minister for a
fourth term, as he seems likely.
On Israel's Channel 2,
diplomatic reporter Udi Segal predicted that a Netanyahu-led right-wing
government could run into heavy difficulties with the Obama
administration.
He said the recent appointment by Obama of
officials such as new Middle East coordinator Robert Malley, who has
often been critical of Israel's approach to the Palestinian peace
process, underlined that possibility. Segal even intimated that the US
might seek to impose peace terms on the sides.
US Senator Ted
Cruz, a Texas Republican, congratulated Netanyahu on "what appears to be
a victory today" in a statement issued late Tuesday evening. Echoing
claims made in the run-up to the elections by Netanyahu himself, Cruz
said his "electoral success is all the more impressive given the
powerful forces that tried to undermine him, including, sadly, the full
weight of the Obama political team."
In an interview with The
Times of Israel before the elections, Netanyahu said that it was "not a
tremendous leap of imagination" to claim that Obama wanted to see him
out of office.
Cruz added that Netanyahu's "heroic -- even
Churchillian -- opposition to a nuclear Iran has done such tremendous
service to US national security."
Exit polls indicated that
Netanyahu's Likud party was set to win 27 or 28 seats in the Knesset,
with the performance of other right-wing putting the incumbent prime
minister in a solid position to form a so-called "national camp"
government.