--- title: Denis McDonough Criticizes Benjamin Netanyahu at J Street Conference description: White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told a group of liberal Israel supporters the solution was fundamental to U.S. foreign policy. canonical: https://time.com/3755334/denis-mcdonough-netanyahu-j-street/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-23T22:06:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T05:22:46.841Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House Pushes Netanyahu to 'Match Words with Action' og:description: A top official called for a two-state solution in a speech Monday. og:url: https://time.com/3755334/denis-mcdonough-netanyahu-j-street/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6196169f1dc60f3b/698784a1e20a873c2fa85b03/netanyahu-aipac.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-ISRAEL-AIPAC og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House Pushes Netanyahu to 'Match Words with Action' twitter:description: A top official called for a two-state solution in a speech Monday. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6196169f1dc60f3b/698784a1e20a873c2fa85b03/netanyahu-aipac.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Official Pushes Netanyahu to 'Match Words with Action' by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 23, 2015 10:06 PM UTC  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington, DC, on March 2, 2015. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington, DC, on March 2, 2015.Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 23, 2015 10:06 PM UTC A top White House official doubled down on criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a speech to an American Jewish organization Monday. Appearing before the annual conference for J Street, a pro-Israel liberal advocacy group, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said that Netanyahu’s new coalition needs to “match words with action” on the Israeli policy toward Palestine. “An occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end, and the Palestinian people must have the right to live in and govern themselves in their own sovereign state,” he said. On the eve of an election last week, Netanyahu had said that he [would not allow a Palestinian state](http://time.com/3746427/netanyahu-no-palestinian-state/) if he was re-elected, though he [walked back the comments](http://time.com/3751454/netanyahu-wants-two-state-solution/) in an interview on MSNBC after he won. In his remarks, McDonough argued that a two-state solution would benefit Israel too, allowing it to remain “both Jewish and democratic.” “I know that you are here because you care deeply about the cause of peace,” he told the crowd. “And your voices are important too – you can help remind people that there is a great constituency for peace; that there are people who believe, as President Obama does, that peace is necessary, peace is just, and – yes – peace is possible.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3755334/denis-mcdonough-netanyahu-j-street/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3755334/denis-mcdonough-netanyahu-j-street/"},"headline":"White House Official Pushes Netanyahu to 'Match Words with Action'","datePublished":"2015-03-23T22:06:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:22:46.841Z","description":"White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told a group of liberal, pro-Israel supporters the solution was fundamental to U.S. foreign policy","url":"https://time.com/3755334/denis-mcdonough-netanyahu-j-street/","keywords":["White House","Foreign Policy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6196169f1dc60f3b/698784a1e20a873c2fa85b03/netanyahu-aipac.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6196169f1dc60f3b/698784a1e20a873c2fa85b03/netanyahu-aipac.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-ISRAEL-AIPAC","caption":"US-ISRAEL-AIPAC","creditText":"Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3755334/denis-mcdonough-netanyahu-j-street/","name":"White House Official Pushes Netanyahu to 'Match Words with Action'"}}]}] ```