“We take him at his word that it wouldn’t happen during his prime ministership, and so that’s why we’ve got to evaluate what other options are available to make sure that we don’t see a chaotic situation in the region,” Mr. Obama said.
Recounting the traditional congratulatory call on Thursday that Mr. Obama waited two full days to place, the president also described a strongly worded lecture that he gave Mr. Netanyahu about an Election Day Facebook posting in which the Israeli leader warned that Arab voters were going to the polls “in droves,” an assertion widely interpreted as an attempt to suppress the Arab vote.
“We indicated that that kind of rhetoric was contrary to what is the best ofIsrael’s traditions — that although Israel was founded based on the historic Jewish homeland and the need to have a Jewish homeland, Israeli democracy has been premised on everybody in the country being treated equally and fairly,” Mr. Obama said. “If that is lost, then I think that not only does it give ammunition to folks who don’t believe in a Jewish state, but it also, I think, starts to erode the meaning of democracy in the country.”
The president’s comments were the latest evidence that the toxic relationship with Mr. Netanyahu, for years a source of frustration and anger for both men, has reached a new low, and that the