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Obama, Netanyahu Meeting Focuses on Shared Goals
(New York Times) Julie Hirschfeld Davis - A meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel on Monday at the White House focused on their shared goals of confronting Iranian misbehavior, countering terrorism, bolstering Israel's security and strategizing over the crisis in Syria. Obama said it was time to put aside their disagreement over the Iran deal. "It's no secret that the prime minister and I have had a strong disagreement on this narrow issue, but we don't have a disagreement on the need for making sure that 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." The two leaders had a practical conversation about contingency planning should Tehran violate the terms of the Iran deal. Netanyahu said he shared Obama's goal of eventually resolving the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians with a two-state solution. "I want to make it clear that we have not given up our hope for peace - we'll never give up our hope for peace. And I remain committed to a vision of peace of two states for two peoples, a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state." Obama said, "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, it is my strong belief that Israel has not just the right, but the obligation, to protect itself."