After over a year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama are finally meeting face-to-face on November 9, in an attempt to fix their fractured relationship. “I look forward to discussing with you practical ways in which we can lower the tension, increase stability and move forward for peace”.
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The President did acknowledge his public clashes with Netanyahu over the Iran nuclear deal – which the Israeli leader has branded a historic mistake – but emphasized where they agree on the strategically crucial concern.
That stance softened slightly following the meeting, with Netanyahu saying “we have a common interest in preventing Iran violating the deal that was signed”.
Despite the two leaders’ optimistic tone, United States officials made clear before Mr Netanyahu’s arrival in Washington that the White House does not expect any peace deal before Mr Obama leaves office next year.
“We condemn in the strongest terms Palestinian violence against innocent Israeli citizens”, Obama declared, noting the recent flareup of violence.
Israeli Cabinet Minister Silvan Shalom, Netanyahu’s designated negotiator with the Palestinians, said in a radio interview before the White House meeting that the Israeli Prime Minister would offer a number of confidence-building gestures toward the Palestinians, including easing restrictions on communications, water usage, work permits in Israel and Palestinian development in the West Bank.
“We have been quite candid about the fact that given the dynamic on both sides, that it’s unlikely that that two-state solution will be reached in the next 14 months”.
Hoffman says the high point of that skirmish was Mr. Netanyahu addressing a joint session of Congress in March trying to sway lawmakers to reject Mr. Obama’s Iran nuclear deal. “But we don’t have a disagreement on the need to make sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon, and we don’t have a disagreement about the importance of us blunting the destabilizing activities in Iran that may be taking place”. “We want to make sure Israel can defend itself”.
The Israeli leader has stressed, however, that Palestinians in turn must recognize Israel as a Jewish state, a condition he claims they have repeatedly rejected. Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry briefed the prime minister on the Vienna conference conducted two weeks ago on a political resolution of the Syrian crisis.
Seeking to reassure right-wingers in Israel who oppose any such overtures amid ongoing Palestinian attacks, Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom insisted Israel’s security would not be affected.
“We’ll never give up the hope for peace”.
Netanyahu was quick to say he hadn’t known about the new spokesman’s comments and disagreed with them, froze his hiring and plans to make a final decision on the hire when he returns to Israel.
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The mood among leaders in Tel Aviv is now that the Iran agreement has been ratified, the only thing to do is capitalize on it by convincing Washington to boost military aid to Israel from more than $3 billion to possibly $5 billion a year.
