JERUSALEM // Both the US and Israel’s united Arab party have rejected the apology offered by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his warning last week that Israeli Arabs were “coming out in droves” to vote against him.
Mr Netanyahu’s election day comments were seen as stigmatising Israeli Arab citizens who comprise about 20 per cent of the population.
He tried to make amends on Monday at a gathering in his Jerusalem residence of representatives from Israel’s non-Jewish minorities.
“I know what I said a few days ago offended some of Israel’s citizens, offended Israeli Arabs,” Mr Netanyahu said. “I had no intention of doing so. I am sorry for this.”
His response was rejected as insufficient by the Joint List, a parliamentary coalition of four Arab parties that united on a single ticket before the March 17 election, and won 13 seats in Israel’s 120-member Knesset.
“The Joint List refuses to accept Netanyahu’s ‘sorry,’ and regards it merely as a meaningless act aiming to legitimise his racist reign,” the party said. “Inciting and marginalising legislation is Netanyahu’s political platform for the near future.”
US president Barack Obama’s chief of staff on Monday also rejected Mr Netanyahu’s attempts to distance himself from his comments rejecting Palestinian statehood.
In a speech to J Street, an Israel advocacy group that is sharply critical of Mr Netanyahu, Denis McDonough said, “We cannot simply pretend that these comments were never made.”
He also warned Israel against annexing the West Bank, where Palestinians hope to establish their future state.
He said Mr Netanyahu’s prediction that a Palestinian state would not come about on his watch was “so very troubling” and called into question the Israeli leader’s broader commitment to the two-state solution the US and Israel have officially supported for years.
Mr Obama has said the US must reevaluate its approach to pursuing Mideast peace because of Mr Netanyahu’s comments, and has entertained speculation the US will be less willing to come to Israel’s defence in the United Nations.
* Bloomberg and Associated Press
