Obama dismisses Netanyahu's flip

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said he takes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "at his word" that he cannot support a separate Palestinian state alongside of Israel, dismissing the idea that Netanyahu has softened his stance since winning re-election Tuesday.

Just days before Israelis went to the polls Netanyahu told voters he opposes a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has served as the cornerstone to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East for two decades. On Thursday, the prime minister stepped back from those comments, telling broadcasters he would still be open to the creation of a Palestinian state but that "circumstances have to change" before that would be possible.

But in an interview with the Huffington Post Saturday, Obama made it clear the U.S. was still reassessing its relationship with Israel based on Netanyahu's pre-election vow.

Obama emphasized that the U.S. still sees a two-state solution as the only way to alter a status quo he called "unsustainable."

A Section on 03/22/2015

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