Netanyahu- An appalling reversal of principles and capitulation to Obama/Kerry/Abbas
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to publicly minimize their longtime discord as they met Monday for the first time in more than a year.
Mr. Netanyahu, in a notably conciliatory remark, told Mr. Obama he is committed to a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians that includes a two-state solution. The Israeli leader’s statement was a sharp reversal from his rejection of a two-state solution earlier this year, which had angered the White House.
“I want to make clear we have not given up our hope for peace,” Mr. Netanyahu said, seated alongside Mr. Obama in the Oval Office.
The White House has given up on reaching a peace agreement before Mr. Obama leaves office in 14 months, a point the president’s top aides publicly underscored in advance of Mr. Netanyahu’s visit.
Mr. Obama said Monday he was instead seeking from Mr. Netanyahu ideas on “how we can lower the temperature between Israelis and Palestinians, how we can get back on a path towards peace, and how we can make sure that legitimate Palestinian aspirations are met through a political process, even as we make sure that Israel is able to secure itself.”
Fresh violence in the West Bank on Monday came as a sobering reminder of that challenge.
At a checkpoint crossing, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian woman after she pulled a knife out of her bag, Israel’s Ministry of Defense said. The attempted stabbing followed the death on Sunday of a 19-year-old border police officer who was run over by a Palestinian in the West Bank. Israeli police shot and killed the Palestinian assailant.
Palestinians have launched more than 70 attacks against Israeli civilians, police officers and soldiers since September. Israeli security forces have killed 46 of the alleged assailants.
Palestinian officials on Sunday said that Messrs. Netanyahu and Obama would have to address a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to quell the current violence in Israel and the West Bank.
The recent violence has tested already-strained ties between the U.S. and Israel.
The White House has tried to prod the two sides to take steps to reduce tensions. That effort has included criticism of Israel’s construction of settlements, which White House press secretary Josh Earnest said after the meeting Monday continues to be “counterproductive.”
Much of the 2½-hour meeting between the U.S. and Israeli leaders focused on increased security aid for Israel, Mr. Earnest said. The current memorandum of understanding expires in 2017, and Mr. Obama hopes to finalize a new one before leaving office. “It’s no secret that the security environment in the Middle East has deteriorated in many areas,” Mr. Obama said.
He said the annual $3 billion U.S. aid package to Israel is “not only an important part of our obligation to the security of the state of Israel, but also an important part of U.S. security infrastructure in the region, as we make sure that one of our closest allies cannot only protect itself but can also work with us in deterring terrorism and other security threats.”
Mr. Obama glossed over the deep disagreement between the two leaders over the Iran nuclear deal reached in July, making only a brief reference to the very public spat.
Messrs. Obama and Netanyahu directed their teams to move forward on a new security deal, Mr. Earnest said, starting with an analysis of the regional threats to Israel, a review of Israel’s military capabilities and a proposal for new U.S. military aid to bridge any gaps. Neither side commented on reports that the Israelis are seeking an increase in the U.S. aid level.
A U.S. team will travel to Israel early next month for talks on the new aid agreement, the White House said later Monday.
“The president’s view is … we should conduct this analysis first, and then we can start reviewing what sort of capabilities and equipment, and technology could be used to bridge those gaps,” Mr. Earnest said.
The effort has support in Congress. On Monday, 16 Democratic senators sent a letter to Mr. Obama urging him to provide new security measures to Israel “to deter Iran,” including “bunker buster” bomb capabilities.
Mr. Netanyahu thanked Mr. Obama for his commitment to Israel’s security, in another departure from his usually combative approach to the White House.
Mr. Obama reiterated the U.S. government’s support for Israel in ensuring its military edge over other countries in the Middle East. But a former Israeli diplomat said such public solidarity masked lingering private tension.
“The U.S. doesn’t want the areas in which there are settlements to expand to such an extent that it makes any possibility of a future Palestinian state much more difficult,” said Zalman Shoval, a former ambassador to the U.S.
Messrs. Obama and Netanyahu last met in October 2014. Their relationship, always rocky, was deeply strained by their disagreement over the nuclear deal. Mr. Obama refused to meet with Mr. Netanyahu in March while he was in Washington to lobby Congress to reject any Iran deal with speech before a joint meeting of the House and Senate.
Now that the Iran deal is in effect, the two leaders are seeking to shift focus onto areas where they might agree.
They displayed more congeniality Monday, talking and laughing as reporters entered the Oval Office for their statements, which lasted less than 10 minutes, and exchanged an extended handshake for the cameras.
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