Election Over, Netanyahu Claims He’s Back to Supporting Two-State Solution

Insists He Is America's Greatest Ally

Over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly disavowed support for a two-state solution, and promised that if reelected he would build tens of thousands of new settlement homes to ensure Palestine could never be independent.

The hawkish shift appeared to pay off, and got Netanyahu a strong plurality. With continued rule all but assured, he’s trying to press the rewind button on his campaigning, today declaring that he’s once again super in favor of a two-state solution.

Netanyahu appears to be trying to tamp down a US backlash against him for disavowing any peace deal, but simultaneously seems to think no one outside of Israel really heard what he said, trying to insist in interviews that he’s always been in favor of Palestinian statehood, and that he’s America’s greatest ally.

Netanyahu has a long history of being able to have his cake and eat it too, but his overt confrontation of the US means that it’s going to be difficult for him to take back the last week.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.