Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has apologized to the country's Arab minority for remarks he made during last week's parliamentary election.
Netanyahu drew criticism in Israel and in the United States when, just hours before polls closed, he warned that Arab citizens were voting "in droves."
U.S. President Barack Obama's chief of staff, Denis McDonough, rejected Netanyahu's attempt to distance himself from his comments.
He told an Israel advocacy group on March 23 that Washington cannot just overlook what Netanyahu said on the eve of his re-election.
Netanyahu, whose Likud Party won reelection in the vote, met with members of the Arab community at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on March 23 and apologized.
