“It fortifies the principle that you’ve enunciated many times that Israel should be able to defend itself, by itself, against any threat”, Netanyahu said of the deal that will give the Israeli military US$38 billion from fiscal year 2019 to 2028.
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On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, and following President Obama’s comments warning that Israel could not just keep occupying Palestinian territory forever, the president met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and by all accounts avoided all things Palestine.
The bilateral meeting in NY on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, likely the last between the leaders while Obama is in the White House, came amid soured relations between the countries following the Iran nuclear deal signed in 2015.
The official said the talks also included “continuing Israeli settlement activity as Israel enters the 50th year of its occupation and profound USA concerns about the corrosive effect that that is having on the prospect for two states”.
“We do have concerns around settlement activity”, Obama said, adding that the USA wanted to help Israel pursue peace.
During their meeting in NY on the sidelines of the annual convening of the United Nations General Assembly, the two leaders also spent a considerable amount of time discussing the crisis in Syria.
“They’ve never papered over their differences”, another senior administration official said.
Whatever happened behind the scenes, it was clear both sides were eager to put on a show of getting along really well in the wake of signing a record military aid deal last week, in which the USA will be giving Israel $38 billion in arms over the next decade. “It’s a very hard and unsafe time in the Middle East”, Obama said.
Obama said U.S. -Israeli relations are “unbreakable”, and the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding “allows Israeli planners the kind of certainty in a moment where there’s enormous uncertainty in the region”.
“Extrajudicial street killings are the direct effect of inflammatory remarks made by Israeli ministers and officials, augmented by the general public atmosphere of dehumanization”, the Israel-based human rights group B’Tselem group has said.
“We don’t expect much from Abu Mazen”, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told reporters on Monday, referring to the Palestinian leader by his nickname. He also raised US concerns about Israeli settlements, a sore spot between the two leaders.
The two leaders also touched on other topics, including the health of former PM Shimon Peres and Obama’s golf game. Netanyahu thanked the president for the financial help.
“I don’t think people at large understand the breadth and depth of the cooperation, but I know”, Netanyahu said.
In December 1988, weeks before leaving office, President Ronald Reagan broke with Israel to authorize the start of talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization.
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And in March 2015 during a re-election battle, Netanyahu defied decades of US Middle East policy by rejecting the idea of a Palestinian state, only to reverse his own position a few days later once he was back in office. “Our hope is that we can continue to be an effective partner with Israel in finding a path to peace”.
