Following his speech, the president will raise concerns about Israeli settlement activity in Arab lands during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in NY on Wednesday.
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Obama made only a passing reference to his opposition to the uptick in Israeli settlement construction in occupied lands as reporters were allowed in briefly for the start of the meeting.
Israel can not permanently occupy and settle on Palestinian land, US President Barack Obama said in a speech at the United Nations yesterday.
At the start of his remarks, Natanyahu thanked the United States for signing a military aid package earlier this month to provide Israel with almost $40 billion over the next decade.
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.
Netanyahu thanked the president for the financial help.
Mr. Obama stated that “the bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable”, and that it it important to American national security “to make sure we have a safe and secure Israel”.
“Any such resolution, whether focused on settlements or other final status issues, will ultimately make it more hard for Israelis and Palestinians to resolve the conflict”, said the letter, which was backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
The Obama administration, meanwhile, has been dismayed by periodic comments by the Israeli leader suggesting he was less than serious about the two-state solution that has been the basis of all serious peace efforts for decades.
The pair’s relationship has often been frosty, but they exchanged warm words as they met for what will be the last time before Obama leaves office in January.
But both sides still recognise the other as a close ally, and Obama’s offer of $38bn over ten years is the biggest military assistance pact in USA history.
“It is important the USA and Israel find common ground in advancing the Palestinian issue even if the leadership between the parties on the ground makes it unlikely it will be solved soon”, said David Makovsky, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
The two leaders have had a hard and often frosty relationship during Mr. Obama’s presidency. He says that since taking office in 2009, Netanyahu hasn’t managed to convince a single world leader, let alone Obama, that settlements are not an obstacle to finding a way to a two-state solution. “The prime minister will be there quite a bit longer, and our hope will be that in these conversations, we can get a sense of how Israel sees the next few years, what the opportunities are and what the challenges are”, Mr. Obama said.
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“It greatly enhances Israel’s security”, the Israeli PM said. Following previous failed attempts to broker peace, the Obama administration has opted against a new major diplomatic push.
