U.S.-Israel relations:
Leaders aim to move past rift over Iran arms deal.
President Barack Obama and Israel’s prime minister seek to move beyond the Iran nuclear deal.
President Barack Obama on Monday said it was time for him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move beyond their “strong disagreement” over the Iran nuclear deal and work together on confronting Iranian misbehavior and bolstering Israel’s security, as the two leaders had their first encounter since their feud over the agreement brought their relationship to a bitter low.
“It’s no secret that the prime minister and I have had a strong disagreement on this narrow issue,” said Obama, seated beside Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the start of the meeting, their first in more than a year. “But we don’t have a disagreement on the need to making sure Iran does not get a nuclear weapon, and we don’t have a disagreement about us blunting destabilizing activities in Iran that may be taking place. And so, we’re going to be looking to make sure we find common ground there.”
Netanyahu, who has choreographed his visit to Washington in part to mend fences with the Obama administration and Democrats who were alienated by his aggressive lobbying against the nuclear deal, did not mention the accord during a short appearance in which the two leaders did not take any questions from reporters. But he had warm words for the president and said he shared Obama’s goal of eventually resolving the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians with a two-state solution.
“We’re with each other in more ways than one, and I want to thank you for this opportunity to strengthen our friendship, which is strong, strengthen our alliance, which is strong,” Netanyahu said.
“I want to make it clear that we have not given up our hope for peace,” he added. “And I remain committed to a vision of peace of two states for two peoples, a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state.”