--- 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: 2026-10-01T09:03:11.891Z 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Official Pushes Netanyahu to 'Match Words with Action' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=10796c2e-c5d0-4c57-a8cb-19833e2e41b1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough - Occupation Must End [Watch (HLS stream): White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough - Occupation Must End](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hoyusAJI.m3u8) (1:14)  _Published 2015-03-24. A top White House official doubled down on criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a speech to an American Jewish organization Monday._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 23, 2015 10:06 PM UTC 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.” ## Transcript An occupation that has lasted more, for almost 50 years must end. And the Palestinian people [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] And the Palestinian people must have the right to live in and govern themselves in their own sovereign state. That's why the Prime Minister's comments on the eve of the election. In which he first intimated and then med, made very clear in response to a follow- up question that a Palestinian state will not be established while he is Prime Minister were so very troubling. We cannot simply pretend that these comments were never made. [ APPLAUSE ]. No nation has done more to stand with Israel in the the world including at the United Nation as the United States. So as difficult as it is the United States will never stop working for a two state solution and a lasting peace that Israelis and Palestinians so richly deserve. ```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":"2026-10-01T09:03:11.891Z","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'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough - Occupation Must End","description":"A top White House official doubled down on criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a speech to an American Jewish organization Monday.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/hoyusAJI/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-24T05:35:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hoyusAJI.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3755334/denis-mcdonough-netanyahu-j-street/","duration":"PT1M14S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3755334/denis-mcdonough-netanyahu-j-street/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```