U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet on Monday for the first time since the Israeli leader lost his battle against the Iran nuclear deal, with Washington seeking his re-commitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians. For his part, Mr Obama did address the issue, saying that it’s “no secret” that Netanyahu and him had “a strong disagreement on this narrow issue”. After their sharp disagreement over the deal between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program, both men appeared ready to find common ground.
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Netanyahu didn’t mention the Iran matter at all in his public comments.
The deal, which limited Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, was called “a bad mistake” by Mr Netanyahu, who said it was “a sure path to nuclear weapons”.
Obama said the leaders would discuss “how we can lower the temperature between the Israelis and Palestinians”.
“Equally, I want to make it clear that we have not given up our hope for peace”.
Regarding this, the Obama administration has already shown its frustration over Netanyahu promising Israeli voters there wouldn’t be a Palestinian state if he was reelected, and went on the air election day to warn people that massive numbers of Arab voters were coming out to vote.
The Israeli prime minister was not shy while the Iranian nuclear deal was being negotiated and, after it was signed, to let his feelings be made known.
“I want to thank you for this opportunity to strengthen our friendship, which is strong”, Netanyahu said.
However, White House officials said ahead of the talks that the administration no longer believed a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be possible before the end of Obama’s term in office in January 2017.
While that issue will be on the agenda of Netanyahu’s talks with Obama, USA officials said the president would also press Netanyahu for steps to keep alive the possibility of a future Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Netanyahu said the US and Israel have a “shared destiny” that assures a strong alliance. Most nations, including the USA, view Israeli settlements there as illegal or illegitimate and hindering efforts for Palestinian statehood.
A new round of violence broke out in the region about two months ago.
Pounding his belief that Israel does not only have the right but also the duty to defend, the President explained. He said Israel’s security is something the US has always been committed to, with the goal of maintaining Israel’s comparative advantage in the face of a changing Middle East. He told Netanyahu that “the security of Israel is my top priority”.
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Israel’s prime minister on Sunday departed for Washington on a trip that has become clouded in controversy following his appointment of a new spokesman who has spoken derisively about President Barack Obama.
