Netanyahu White House Visit: Obama, Israel Prime Minister Emphasize Commitment
KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS President Barack Obama (r.) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House Monday.
“The security of Israel remains a top priority”, Obama said.
But Obama and Netanyahu are expected to discuss commitments that could see Israel get more than the 33 hi-tech F-35 jets already ordered, precision munitions and a chance to buy V-22 Ospreys and other weapons systems created to ensure Israel’s military edge over its neighbors.
Netanyahu has called the agreement between Tehran and world powers an “historic mistake”, arguing that the Islamic republic would use it to covertly acquire a nuclear bomb.
The two largely avoided talking about the Iran nuclear deal – Netanyahu, who railed against it for months, didn’t mention it at all, while Obama made a brief reference to their “narrow” differences on the issue.
“The American-Israeli alliance can help assure the security of Israel, the well-being of the Palestinians, and bring us all closer to peace”, Lauder added.
Obama said he would discussed with Netanyahu on how they can “lower the temperature” between Israeli and Palestinians, and how they can get back on a path toward peace. He also emphasized his preference for a two-state solution, but did not give any ground on the Israelis’ long-standing conditions for achieving that solution.
Netanyahu reciprocated by trying to bury suggestions – fuelled by his own election campaign comments – that he does not support the creation of a Palestinian state.
A few of Obama’s aides believe, however, that beyond working to firm up security cooperation, Netanyahu is content to wait out the final stretch of Obama’s presidency, hoping for a better reception for his hardline approach from the next occupant of the White House.
There is now no Middle East peace process following the failure of Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts past year.
“We take this very seriously and will be working closely with the Jordanians to determine exactly what happened”, Obama said during a previously scheduled meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Tensions between the long-time allies boiled over earlier this year as Obama and worldwide partners finalized the Iranian nuclear accord, a high-stakes agreement Netanyahu furiously tried to stop, even delivering a speech to Congress to urge lawmakers to block its implementation.
Obama and Netanyahu will attempt to improve relations, but the often-contentions relationship between the leaders comes as one of Netanyahu’s recently appointed spokespeople, Ran Baratz, suggested on Facebook that Obama was “anti-Semitic”.
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”.