Obama: Netanyahu's comments 'erode the name of democracy'

President Obama issued tough criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu, saying in an interview published Saturday that the Israeli prime minister’s campaign rhetoric “starts to erode the name of democracy.”…

Following Netanyahu’s pre-election statement that there would be no Palestinian state if he were re-elected, Obama “indicated to him that given his statements prior to the election, it is going to be hard to find a path” forward on negotiations, Obama said.

Obama also said that he took issue with Netanyahu’s campaign trail warning that Israeli Arabs were headed to the polls “in droves.” The White House “indicated that that kind of rhetoric was contrary to what is the best of Israel’s traditions,” Obama said.