In meeting with Obama, Netanyahu says Israel wants peace

People gathered outside of the White House Monday to protest the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama.

164-a-15-(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to reporters during meeting with President Barack Obama)-“peace with her”-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says if Palestinians really want to make peace, Israel is ready”.

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.

Netanyahu is looking to use the trip to fix frayed relationships with Democrats after many expressed resentment over his approach to the Iran deal and what they viewed as his meddling in USA politics.

Obama said the USA condemns “in the strongest terms Palestinian violence against innocent Israeli citizens”, but also hopes to find ways to “lower the temperature” to get peace talks back on track.

He assured US President Barack Obama that he remained committed to a two state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict as the two leaders sought to mend ties strained by acrimony over Middle East diplomacy and Iran.

The NY Times reported that the two leaders emphasized their common goals in a joint appearance prior to their meeting, including “work[ing] together on confronting Iranian misbehavior and bolstering Israel’s security”.

But the snarky remarks from White House spokesman Josh Earnest weren’t good at all.

Brookings Institution Fellow Natan Sachs says now that the Iran deal is being implemented, the interests of the two countries are aligned again. We will never give up on our hope for peace. Netanyahu objected to the deal and called it a historic mistake that threatens Israel’s security. He instantly responded to Netanyahu’s reassurance that he supported a two-state solution with the Palestinians with the crack that “actions will be as important as words”.

“I don’t think anyone should doubt Israel’s determination to defend itself against terrorism and destruction, but neither should anyone doubt Israel’s willingness to make peace with any of its neighbors”, Netanyahu said.

At the start of the meeting, Obama told Netanyahu that “it is not secret” that the security in the Middle East has deteriorated and stressed that “the security of Israel is my top priority”.

“They will not fall in love with each other”, said Zvi Rafiah, a longtime consultant on USA affairs and former congressional specialist at Israel’s Washington embassy.

“With the savagery of ISIS, with the aggression in terror by Iran’s proxies, and by Iran itself… the combination of turbulence has now displaced millions of people, has butchered hundreds of thousands, and we don’t know what will transpire”, Netanyahu said.

“A strong US-Israeli relationship is critical for Israel and for Jews around the world”, Lauder said.

Although the apology was accepted by the White House, Vice President Joe Biden spoke harshly on Saturday at the Union for Reform Judaism convention in Orlando, Fla.

Last week, Netanyahu was forced to distance himself from his newly appointed head of public diplomacy after the discovery that the aide, Ran Baratz, suggested Obama was an anti-Semite in a March Facebook post.

USA and Israeli officials are thought to have broadly agreed what weapons systems Israel may obtain under the so-called memorandum of understanding but are still discussing Israeli requests to increase the overall size of the existing $30-billion commitment – reportedly from $3-billion to around $4.5-billion per year.