Netanyahu’s Likud Party triumphs after Obama’s slurs failed to sway voters

Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States failed to exert influence in Israeli
parliamentary elections.

Analysts said President Barack Obama, despite leaks meant to damage
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, did not succeed in swaying Israeli voters
in Jan. 22 elections for the Knesset. The analysts said Netanyahu’s ruling Likud
Party won easily as candidates deemed as close to the Obama administration
did poorly.

An Israeli flag is seen in the background as a man casts his ballot for the parliamentary election at the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ofra on Jan. 22. /Baz Ratner/Reuters

“Obama’s ability to influence the outcome of the Israeli elections has
been negligible,” Shibley Telhami, a fellow at the Brookings Institution,
said.

The assessment contrasted with open U.S. efforts to influence previous
Israeli elections. Then-Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton welcomed challengers to the Likud in 1992 and 1998 in which the rival Labor Party won.

Telhami said remarks by Obama on the eve of the elections that termed
Netanyahu a political coward who was leading Israel into isolation did not influence voters. He said Obama could face a right-wing ruling coalition that would bolster the Jewish presence in the West Bank, which Washington wants to turn into a Palestinian state.

“The Obama administration’s situation underscores the need for a quick
decision about its policy toward whatever type of governing coalition
emerges in Israel after the election,” Telhami, regarded as close to the
State Department, said.

“If Netanyahu forges a government with parties to
his right, the White House should drop the pretense of possible peace
negotiations and formulate policy accordingly: It can either produce a
detailed peace plan or fall back on highlighting international law and human
rights and the obligations of the parties that they entail.”

Analysts said the White House and State Department signaled their
support for the new political party of former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
But Ms. Livni did poorly in the elections and was not regarded as being a
candidate for any major ministerial post.

Instead, another new party led by a former television host became the
second largest faction in the Knesset. The analysts said that neither Obama
nor his supporter provided significant support for the so-called “There is a
Future” party of Yair Lapid.

The next government was also expected not to include Defense Minister
Ehud Barak, regarded as the leading supporter of the United States. In late
2012, Barak announced his resignation and asserted that he would not
consider a return politics for the next five years.

“Ideally, it [Washington] wants to see a broad-based government that
gives Netanyahu maximum room on the Palestinian issue,” David Makovsky, a
researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said. “It is
therefore quietly glad that the size of the right-wing bloc has hit a limit.
At a time when Israel is frequently asking the United States to intercede
with Egypt on its behalf, Washington is no doubt hoping for a government
that makes such mediation easier amid ongoing regional turmoil.”

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