Disagreements behind them, Obama and Netanyahu get down to business

Another assessment leaked to the press predicted that the compensation package that Israel will receive from the United States will not be as big as it would have been had Netanyahu responded to all the appeals and laid down his arms after the signing of the agreement with Iran.

Protestors demonstrate against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s talks with President Barack Obama outside the White House, calling for an end to US aid to Israel, November 9, 2015.

 Each leader made a pre-meeting statement created to publicly address the other’s concerns. President Obama condemned Palestinian violence against Israelis, while Prime Minister Netanyahu stated his commitment to a two-nation solution to Israel’s dispute with Palestine. The meeting was described as chilly, reflecting the strained relationship between the two leaders.

Netanyahu’s new diplomacy chief also suggested on social media that President Obama was anti-Semitic and that Secretary of State John Kerry had the intellect of a preteen, at a time when the Israeli leader will be discussing billions of dollars’ worth of new US military aid with Obama. The acceptance of the award, which has previously gone to, among others, Dick Cheney and Antonin Scalia, led The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg to conclude that “Netanyahu has made a decision to troll Obama”.

On Monday, however, White House officials said Obama focused more on getting Netanyahu to outline ways to keep confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians to a minimum in the absence of a long-term solution.

“I want to thank you for your commitment to further bolstering Israel’s security in the memorandum of understanding that we’re discussing”.

“This is democracy. This is intense, robust democracy”, Netanyahu said, adding, “What is truly remarkable is that Israel upholds these values in the darkest and most oppressive region on Earth”. These things are no longer transparent, but one suspects that Hillary Clinton is deeply dependent for campaign funds on Israeli-American billionaire Haim Saban.

“And we don’t have a disagreement about us blunting destabilizing activities that Iran may be taking”, he continued. Netanyahu said he appreciated what Obama has done.

“We greatly appreciate the American aid”, said Netanyahu, “But it is also a good investment for the US”.

“We have not given up our hope for peace”, Netanyahu said. Although the European Union is Israel’s largest trade partner, settlement products make up a tiny portion of Israeli exports. “Obama said: “.as I’ve said repeatedly, the security of Israel is one my top foreign policy priorities and that has expressed itself not only in words but in deeds…I want to be very clear that we condemn in the strongest terms Palestinian violence against innocent Israeli citizens and I want to repeat once again that it is my strong belief that Israel has not just the right but an obligation to protect itself. Regardless of the propriety of CAP’s hosting Netanyahu, the fact that the Prime Minister is speaking and answering questions from the think tank is an opportunity for the CAP staffer tasked with engaging with him to ask him a few tough, revealing questions. A recent congressional report estimates the total USA military assistance to Israel since it was founded at $124.3 billion.

“The United States is giving indispensable help to Israel”, Netanyahu said in a speech at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly conference.