U.S. rebukes Israel's victorious Netanyahu on Mideast policy

Baku. 19 March. REPORT.AZ/ The White House on Wednesday scolded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following his re-election victory for abandoning his commitment to negotiate for a Palestinian state and for what it called "divisive" campaign rhetoric toward Israel’s minority Arab voters.

Even as President Barack Obama's administration congratulated Netanyahu for his party's decisive win, the White House signaled its deep disagreements – and thorny relationship - with Netanyahu will persist on issues ranging from Middle East peacemaking to Iran nuclear diplomacy.

Report informs referring the information given by the Reuters, in a hard-right shift in the final days of campaigning, Netanyahu backtracked on his support for eventual creation of a Palestinian state - the cornerstone of more than two decades of peace efforts - and promised to continue building Jewish settlements on occupied land.

Such policies could put him on a new collision course with the Obama administration. Some Obama aides had privately left little doubt during the Israeli election campaign of their preference for Netanyahu's center-left challenger, Isaac Herzog.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest reaffirmed Obama’s commitment to a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict and said that based on Netanyahu’s comments, "the United States will evaluate our approach to this situation moving forward."