To the contrary, the military assistance allows Israel to develop expertise in the fields of intelligence, homeland security, missile defense and anti-terrorism, which is shared with the USA and helps the U.S.to meet its own security challenges.
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“We urge you to continue longstanding USA policy and make it clear that you will veto any one-sided UNSC resolution that may be offered in the coming months”, said the letter sent Monday and spearheaded by Sens. The president rarely opens his golf game up to anyone beyond close friends and aides, and he has had a cool relationship with Mr. Netanyahu since his first term.
President Barack Obama shakes hands with USA troops at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Sunday, May 25, 2014.
Frustrated after years of fraught diplomacy, President Barack Obama will seek Wednesday to cast the US partnership with Israel as on solid footing, even as he openly weighs using the final stretch of his presidency to ramp up pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to finally make peace with the Palestinians.
The American president entered office hoping to do what has proven elusive for successive American presidents: broker a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine. “These are challenging times”.
President Barack Obama speaks to media during a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016.
Yet Iran wasn’t once mentioned during today’s press briefing.
The President told Netanyahu that he plans to visit Israel many times after he leaves office, where Netanyahu said he would be “a welcome guest”. The two have had a notoriously hard relationship over the course of Obama’s presidency, stemming from a clash of both ideologies and personalities.
Obama made reference to a $38 billion military assistance agreement signed by the two allies on September 14.
“It allows the Iraelis to have some kind of certainty in a moment when there’s enormous uncertainty in the region”, the president said.
“It is a very risky and hard time in the Middle East and we want to make sure that Israel has the full capabilities it needs in order to keep the Israeli people safe”, Mr Obama said.
President Barack Obama expressed concern about settlement activity and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called America Israel’s best friend as the two leaders sat down for what is likely their final meeting.
“Clearly there is great danger of not just terrorism but also flare-ups of violence”, he said.
Obama tells Netanyahu of US concern on settlements, urges peace was posted in World of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on September 22, 2016 and was last updated on September 22, 2016.
The US president said both sides would benefit if Israel recognised it can not permanently occupy the land and if Palestinians rejected incitement and recognised Israel’s legitimacy.
Hours before Messrs. Obama and Netanyahu met, Israeli security forces shot and wounded a Palestinian teenager after she refused to stop at a checkpoint between the West Bank and Israel.
In the meeting Wednesday Obama raised “profound USA concerns about the corrosive effect that that is having on the prospects of two states”.
“They’ve never papered over their differences”, a second senior administration official told reporters.
The White House is hoping the unprecedented aid will curb the perception among Israel’s supporters that Mr Obama has been insufficiently supportive of Israel’s security.
“I’m sure President Obama will do so tomorrow [Wednesday] as well”, he added.
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Israel has long relied on United States vetoes to avoid criticism at the Security Council for crimes commited in the occupied territories.
