Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called US President Barack Obama to congratulate him on his unprecedented second election win Thursday, confirmed the premier’s office in the third US election-related statement since Tuesday election, as Netanyahu appeared to turn to damage control to salvage his damaged relationship with the President.
According to the brief statement, Netanyahu offered his personal congratulations to Obama on his second mandate, which he said demonstrated “a vote of confidence in your leadership”. He further added that he “looked forward to continuing to work with the President to address the great challenges facing the US and Israel and to advance peace and security in our region”.
Netanyahu was widely criticised domestically for appearing to favour the defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney throughout the election campaign period, with former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert telling New York Jewish representatives Wednesday it was uncertain “whether or not Netanyahu has a friend in the White House”.
Refuting the legitimacy of such claims Thursday, Netanyahu alluded to “those among us who are trying to instigate strife between Israel and the US”, insisting they would “not get away with it”.
“The alliance between the countries is strong and cooperation exists in all fields, especially when it comes to security,” he added, in an echo of comments made to US envoy Dan Shapiro Wednesday following the news of Obama’s election victory.
There was notable criticism of Netanyahu’s seemingly partisan interest in the US elections amongst Israeli media, with Netanyahu having recently entered the campaign period for Israel’s own early elections on January 22, three days after what will now be a second inauguration for Obama.
Whilst Yediot Aharonot maintained that “the US will not hold Israel hostage o Netanyahu’s actions as far as the existence of Israel is concerned”, it adding that “beyond that – there will be a cold shoulder”.
Fellow daily Ma’ariv insisted it was time for Israel to turn its focus inwards to domestic concerns. "While we are all asking ourselves how relations between Obama and Netanyahu will affect relations between the two peoples, perhaps we should be asking ourselves another question that starts here. Will whoever we elect in another two-and-a-half months remember the fact that we are all Israelis," it questioned.
Yisrael Hayom meanwhile insisted that Netanyahu’s haranguing the US administration over the necessity of drawing red lines on the consequences of the Iranian nuclear threat had been an error on the Premier’s part, but maintained that when it mattered he “saw fit to quiet things down”.
Dismissing the suggesting of any lasting fallout, it concluded: “The concern that Obama will take revenge on him, and hurt Israel, over this is childish. The network of diplomatic interests is much more significant than this or that anger. While it is likely there will be disagreements between the two countries, the friendship and the brave alliance will remain in place.”
Elsewhere, Ha’aretz called on the newly re-elected president to take courage from the freedom of entering his second and necessarily final mandate to push the issue of the peace process, effectively intervening in stalled negotiation, arguing “he must press this issue, even if the Israeli elections results once again in government led by peace refuseniks”.
Netanyahu’s positive rhetoric has notably fallen short of the glowing endorsement offered by Obama’s Israeli counterpart and close ally Shimon Peres, who expressed his “heartfelt” congratulations to the American leader on what he said constituted “a triumph for the American democracy”.
Speaking from Moscow, where he is currently on an official state visit, in the immediate aftermath of the election results, Peres welcomed the news of Obama’s victory, insisting that “everything he has promised, he has delivered”. He continued to pay tribute to his American ally, for whom he said he had the “utmost respect” as he challenged Obama’s critics on his policy towards Israel, insisting “President Obama has proven his commitment to the security of the state of Israel”.