President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have finally put their differences aside and have started to mend the ties between U.S. and Israel.
In a meeting that took place Monday, Obama and Netanyahu both showed a willingness to work together despite a series of previous frosty meetings where the tension between the two was apparent.
Although in the past Obama has commented on his disagreements with Netanyahu, the two men were able to put these aside and discuss how to best resolve the conflict in the Middle East and the differences in opinion over the U.S. led nuclear program in Iran.
The display of cordiality between the two men most likely has something to do with Netanyahu’s decision to commit to the two-state-solution, the foundation of U.S. diplomacy, just days after the White House admitted that they did not think he would.
Just before yesterday’s meeting with Obama, Netanyahu demonstrated his willingness to explore other means of resolution rather than resorting to nuclear weapons and stated:
“I want to make it clear that we have not given up our hope for peace.”
Netanyahu made it clear that he backed the two-state-solution and that he was more than happy to work with Obama in order to smooth over previous disagreements between U.S. and Israel, claiming:
“we have a common interest in preventing Iran violating the deal that was signed.”
The mending of the U.S.-Israeli ties could secure plans for a new 10-year U.S.military aid package to be put in place over the next few years and sources indicate that talks will be held in Israel next month to discuss this.
Although Obama is prepared to provide the military aid package and has backed Israel’s right to defend itself, he has made it clear that lessening tensions and a peaceful resolution to issues in the Middle East is his preferred outcome.
Although there is still a long way to go in mending the ties between the U.S. and Israel, the meeting between Obama and Netanyahu has shown they are both willing to cooperate in order to reach a common goal.
White House Spokesman Josh Earnest stated that the success of the meeting has demonstrated that the two men:
“are able to work effectively together to advance the interests of the citizens of their countries.”
Image by The Israel Project via Flickr under this Creative Commons License.
