Special to WorldTribune.com

The White House has focused on comments made by victorious Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the final days of his campaign to criticize his electoral tactics and to put Israel on notice regarding it approach to a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Netanyahu’s warning that his political opponents were busing Arabs to vote “in droves” against him was a “cynical Election Day tactic.”

[Related: Netanyahu’s Facebook warning: ‘Left-wing organizations’ busing Arabs to the polls, March 17

He said the White House will “evaluate” Netanyahu’s policy on the Middle East peace process because the prime minister’s comments call into question his commitment to the pursuit of peace and have forced the administration to reassess the U.S. government’s stance.

“Certainly, the prime minister’s comments from a few days ago called into question his commitment to that,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

“We believe he changed his position,” she continued. “We can’t forget about those comments.”

“It’s not about showing our displeasure,” Psaki said in response to reports that the U.S. has already reconsidered its position at the United Nations. “It’s about finding a way forward.”

In an interview Thursday Netanyahu said his comments about Arab voters were in response to a “massive foreign funded effort” to try to get out votes for a specific party (the United List), which he called “an amalgamation of Islamists and other anti-Israel groups.

“I said when that happens, make sure we get out our vote,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to suppress a vote, I was trying to get something to counter a foreign funded effort to get votes that are intended to topple my party, and I was calling on our voters to come out.”

As to suggestions by administration officials that his comments were racist, Netanyahu said: “I’m not.”

  Obama administration sharpens its rhetoric in aftermath of Netanyahu victory, WorldTribune.com