article_snippet: Benjamin Netanyahu also earned universal condemnation for Benjamin Netanyahu panicked warning to Benjamin Netanyahu followers on election day that Arabs were "voting in droves" -- a comment that will resound to Benjamin Netanyahu shame and can neither be forgiven nor forgotten unless Benjamin Netanyahu apologizes clearly, sincerely and without reservation.
article_snippet: And now, facing international uproar and a stern U.S. response, Israeli officials have started backing away from his statements.
article_snippet: The Israeli ambassador to Canada, Rafael Barak, said Wednesday on CBC TV, "This is an election campaign and you have to take with a grain of salt what was said at the last minute when the polls say you are going to lose.
article_snippet: his knows that stance is totally unacceptable to Israel's chief ally, the United States, and to the rest of the international community.
article_snippet: Indeed, far from taking this statement with a grain of salt, the world is likely to look back at his previously stated support for a two-state solution and take that with more than a grain of salt.
article_snippet: Also helping Netanyahu was the presence in Netanyahu Cabinet of Israeli politicians who actually do believe in a two-state solution and worked hard to make it happen -- Livni.
article_snippet: Livni wanted to move forward in the talks, but found Livni hemmed in and frustrated by Netanyahu's aides -- and apparently by the prime minister himself -- at every turn.
article_snippet: Now, as Livni constructs a coalition of ultranationalists and ultra-Orthodox, those shields have been stripped away.
article_snippet: Netanyahu must now face the world having bared Netanyahu true face and exposed Netanyahu true beliefs -- and the international community, led by the United States, must respond accordingly.
article_snippet: the next Netanyahu government is on that basis that he and he administration should be diplomatically isolated and condemned.
article_snippet: his campaign statement was a moment of truth for Netanyahu, for Israel and for the world.
article_snippet: Netanyahu was admirably blunt and concise.
article_snippet: Now, the world must hold Netanyahu to account.
highlights_snippet: Alan Elsner: Israeli officials have started backing away from Alan Elsner statements .