“We have not given up our hope for peace”, Netanyahu told reporters before the two world leaders held a private meeting at the White House Monday morning, the first time they’ve met face-to-face in more than a year.
Advertisement
Indeed, Netanyahu claimed there were no disagreements between the two nations on any matters, and that the United States agreed to take unspecified measures against Iran, along with agreeing to expedite a dramatic increase in USA military aid to Israel.
Obama insisted at the start of the meeting that Israel’s security is one of his “top foreign policy priorities” as USA president. Netanyahu objected to the deal and called it a historic mistake that threatens Israel’s security.
“We want to make sure Israel can defend itself”, the U.S. president said.
On Monday Obama said that while it is “no secret the PM and I had a disagreement on the nuclear deal, we have no disagreement on need to prevent Iran from a nuclear bomb”.
In his remarks, Netanyahu expressed to Obama his commitment to a solution consisting of “two states for two peoples”, namely a “demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state”, as a means to achieving peace in the Middle East.
Officials said Obama would instead press Netanyahu on what could be done to avoid confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians in the absence of a peace deal. Israel has accused Palestinian political and religious leaders of inciting the violence, while Palestinians say it’s due to a lack of hope for gaining independence after years of failed peace efforts.
The White House has sought to downplay personal feelings, with spokesman Josh Earnest saying they were “not almost as important as their ability to work together to advance the national security interests of the two countries that they lead”.
He condemned Palestinian violence, though he didn’t raise the question of official “incitement” of those attacks, which would have pleased Israeli officials.
A close associate said on Monday that Netanyahu planned to present a package of “gestures” to the Palestinians in the areas of employment, communication, water and construction.
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.
The White House cited the impending election as the official reason, however, it was clear the White House was upset at Netanyahu’s address, which was planned without first consulting President Obama.
On Facebook, Mr Baratz accused Mr Obama of anti-Semitism and described US Secretary of State John Kerry as having a “mental age” of no more than 12.
Advertisement
According to Jonathan Rynhold, a senior researcher at the Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies (BESA) at Bar-Ilan University, for Mr Obama, “as far as Netanyahu and Palestinian President Abbas go it’s “a plague on both your houses”.
