It seems that for the first time in a long while, US President Barack Obama believes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The interview with Obama published March 21 by the Huffington Post indicates that Obama believes Netanyahu told the truth when he pledged during the election campaign, on March 16, that if elected to another term, an independent Palestinian state will not be established on his watch.
True, after his election victory Netanyahu tried to minimize the damage and claimed that his stance vis-a-vis a Palestinian state had not changed, and that “what has changed is reality,” but Washington doesn’t seem to be impressed. A day before the Huffington Post interview, in response to a question about whether the Israeli prime minister had clarified his position in the phone conversation he had with Obama, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said with an undisguised, ironic smile: “It’s unclear which of Netanyahu’s pronouncements about a Palestinian state should be believed.”
