Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Barack Obama in New York City on Wednesday – most likely the final time they will get together in their current official capacities.
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White House officials claimed Obama had raised other concerns behind closed doors, but didn’t want to make them publicly, while Israeli officials claimed Netanyahu had told Obama that the settlements were totally no big deal and that the Palestinians were the real problem.
Obama and Netanyahu met for a short time on the sidelines at the United Nations General Assembly and discussed various issues.
“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. “It is a very hard and risky 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”, he said.
Palestinian officials have decried an increased Israeli security presence, saying there have been new checkpoints, with more villages closed off.
“As you conclude your presidency, I know you’re going to be busy with many, many things, much more than improving what I hear is a terrific golf game”, Netanyahu said to laughter from the pool of reporters.
Netanyahu will address the General Assembly on Thursday.
Netanyahu said the Jewish state has “no greater friend than the United States of America”. The long-term aid agreement allows Israel “certainty in a moment when there’s enormous uncertainty in the region”, Obama said. “We’ll set up a tee time”, Obama joked.
In private, Obama was more pointed, senior Obama administration officials said, and raised “profound USA concerns” that settlement-building was eroding prospects for peace.
Mr. Obama doesn’t plan to try to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which broke down in 2014, but is considering outlining a framework for talks before leaving office in January, White House officials have said.
The CIA Factbook online says about 371,000 Israelis live in settlements scattered among an estimated 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Israel has been accused by Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups of using excessive force and killing people who posed no threat.
Netanyahu lauded the U.S.’s “extensive security and intelligence” cooperation with Israel. “One says Obama is ready to do something, another says “no way”; one says a resolution is the way forward, another says ‘in your dreams, ‘” said a senior Western diplomat.
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The American president entered office hoping to do what has proven elusive for successive American presidents: broker a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine.
