WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a meeting on Monday at the White House, in which they agreed to put their previous disagreements on Iran’s nuclear deal aside in order to work together for Israel’s security.
Earlier this year during the debate concerning Iran’s nuclear deal, the clash between the two politicians became more evident, as the American president deemed it as an accomplishment in terms of foreign policies while Netanyahu described it as an historic mistake.
“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 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,” declared President Obama during the meeting.
On the occasion, Netanyahu stated that he agreed with Obama in trying to come up with a joint solution to solve the conflict between his country and Palestine.
The Israeli politician, who visited the White House in hopes of appeasing the Democrat party after creating controversy with his stance concerning Iran’s nuclear deal, said he wanted to thank the American mandatary for giving him an opportunity to strengthen their friendship and alliance. He assures that they haven’t given up in their hopes for peace and a demilitarized Palestinian state.
None of the leaders answered questions from reporters during the meeting. They would later hold a private session in which they would talk about whether or not to extend a 10 year deal for U.S military assistance to Israel that it’s supposed to expire by the year 2017. Netanyahu said he and people from Israel were grateful for United State’s cooperation with the defense of their country.
Not everyone is as optimistic about the deal, though. In a rather satiric remark, Daniel Seidemann, Israeli attorney and activist, compared both leaders’ attempt of agreement with trying to insert a floppy disk with Windows 95 into a contemporary device. “No matter how many times you poke it into the USB port, it’s not going to reboot your laptop,” he said. “The Palestinians are knee deep in despair, and Israelis are knee deep in denial.”
The attorney brought attention to the prevalence of violence in both Palestine and Iran and how oblivious both countries seem to be of each other’s despair.
Source: The New York Times