Obama Calls Bibi, Promotes 'Sovereign and Viable Palestine'

Just in from the White House:

President Obama spoke today by telephone with Prime Minister Netanyahu to congratulate the Prime Minister on his party’s success in winning a plurality of Knesset seats. The President emphasized the importance the United States places on our close military, intelligence, and security cooperation with Israel, which reflects the deep and abiding partnership between both countries. The President and the Prime Minister agreed to continue consultations on a range of regional issues, including the difficult path forward to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The President reaffirmed the United States’ long-standing commitment to a two-state solution that results in a secure Israel alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine. On Iran, the President reiterated that the United States is focused on reaching a comprehensive deal with Iran that prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and verifiably assures the international community of the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program.

Just before the administration sent out this readout, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was on the Senate floor noting that Obama made calls to Putin, Morsi, Xi, Rouhani, Erdogan, etc., to quickly congratulate those rulers on their victories.”Time and again the president has made a pattern of quickly calling these leaders when they win,” Rubio said.

Netanyahu was quickly congratulated by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and British Prime Minister David Cameron. Modi even sent a special tweet in Hebrew to his “friend” Bibi recalling their “cozy” New York meeting in September.