US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put aside past differences on Wednesday in their first meeting since the United States promised its ally a $38bn military aid package.
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A Palestinian girl was shot and injured by Israeli forces at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday morning, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Obama is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH’-hoo) in NY.
Their private half-hour meeting saw Obama raise “profound US concerns about the corrosive effect that that settlement activity, that is continuing when the occupation enters its 50th year, is having on the prospects of two states solution”, a senior USA official told Haaretz.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give his speech today, Thursday, September 22 at the United Nations’ General Assembly’s 71st session between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET based on the average time taken by preceding leaders giving their address.
Yet that has not stopped the president from publicly flirting with the possibility that, in his final months in office, he’ll seek to influence the future debate by laying out what he sees as the contours of any viable deal.
“I don’t think people at large understand the breadth and depth of the cooperation, but I know and I want to thank you on behalf of all of the people of Israel”, Netanyahu told Obama in remarks the leaders shared before the press at the Palace Hotel in Manhattan.
“The greatest challenge is of course the unremitting fanaticism”.
Ayrault said several countries, including Egypt, Russia and the United States, are trying to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
The White House is hoping the unprecedented aid will curb the perception among Israel’s supporters that Obama has been insufficiently supportive of Israel’s security.
After its failure to convince Israel to participate in a regional summit earlier this year, the French Foreign Ministry is looking to organize an global Middle East peace conference, and is prepared to offer Israel and the Palestinian Authority benefits packages if the two can conclude a final status agreement.
According media reports Netanyahu pushed back on this.
“I want you to know Barack that you will always be a welcome guest in Israel”, Netanyahu said. “I’m sure President Obama will do so tomorrow as well”.
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Speaking before their session, Obama said he was aiming to ascertain the prospects for peace in the region as he prepares to end his presidency. He is also apparently undecided on whether the U.S. would support, or veto, a new UN Security Council resolution on the issue. The American leader told Netanyahu that continued settlement construction threatens the two-state solution.
