BICOM

The Israeli and international media are covering Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks in television interviews in the United States yesterday, in which he seemed to retreat from a controversial rejection of the two-state solution during the last days of the election campaign.

In an interview on the US’s MSNBC, Netanyahu said: “I don’t want a one-state solution. I want a sustainable, peaceful two-state solution. But for that, circumstances have to change.” He repeated the sentiments in a later interview on Fox News.

This follows in interview on the campaign trail, the day before the election, in which he answered “indeed” when asked to confirm that no Palestinian state would be established under his leadership.”

Netanyahu originally broke with the Likud Party’s traditional ambivalence towards a Palestinian state in a speech at Bar-Ilan University, shortly after his election as Prime Minister for the second time in 2009. There he looked forward to: “two free peoples living side by side in this small land, with good neighbourly relations and mutual respect, each with its flag, anthem and government, with neither one threatening its neighbour’s security and existence.” He also qualified that any Palestinian state would have to be demilitarised and would have to formally recognise Israel as a Jewish state.

The international community, including the US, is committed to a two-state solution to the conflict and any Israeli move away from that path could have serious consequences for Israel in the international arena. The Times and the Telegraph both covered undisguised American displeasure at Netanyahu’s pre-election comments and reported on threats by the White House to withdraw US support for Israel at the UN and to “re-evaluate” its policy of vetoing Security Council resolutions calling for a Palestinian state.

It remains to be seen how Netanyahu’s attempts at clarification will pacify Washington – and what the reaction will be from his right-wing coalition partners in the new government.