Obama pledges Israel security top priority
November 9, 2015, 5:50 pm

Despite a rocky year for American-Israeli relations, Obama told Netanyahu that he is committed to Israel’s security as a top priority [Xinhua]

Netanyahu and his government bitterly opposed the July Vienna agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for a lifting of debilitating sanctions.

The mood among leaders in Tel Aviv is now that the Iran agreement has been ratified, the only thing to do is capitalize on it by convincing Washington to boost military aid to Israel from more than $3 billion to possibly $5 billion a year.

But Israel is also under pressure to negotiate a final peace deal with the Palestinians and work toward the creation of an independent Palestinian state as part of a Washington-backed two-state solution to the 67-year Middle East conflict.

The two leaders – meeting for the first time in a year – are trying to find common ground on a number of issues which they have publicly disagreed on in what some have called cold American-Israeli relations.

In the past year, an existing disagreement between the two historic allies over Iran’s nuclear program was exacerbated on the eve of Israeli elections in March when Netanyahu pledged to increase the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

The settlements are considered illegal under international law and have been a major impediment to a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu had also said that he would prevent the creation of a Palestinian state, which has been a key provision of two decades of the peace process. He backed away from these statements less than a week later.

Netanyahu delivered a blistering speech critical of Obama’s Iran policy in Congress on March 3 during his visit to the US – without meeting Obama.

However, the two leaders appeared to quickly move past these differences on Monday.

“It’s no secret that the prime minister and I have had a strong disagreement on this narrow issue,” Obama said. But he quickly continued by saying “the security of Israel is my top priority. We want to make sure Israel can defend itself.”

Netanyahu had kind words for US President Barack Obama and Washington as he thanked America for its commitment to defend Israel.

“I want to thank you for strengthening the alliance between Israel and the US,” Netanyahu said, before adding that he remained committed to a two-state solution

“I want to make it clear we haven’t given up on our hope for peace,” he said.

Meanwhile, violence in Israel and Palestine, which surged after Jewish groups tried to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in late September, continues.

According to the BBC, six Israelis were wounded in Palestinian knife attacks on Sunday. A Palestinian woman was killed at a checkpoint when Israeli police say she failed to stop after drawing a knife.

As of Monday, at least 75 Arabs and 10 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks against settlers, police and soldiers. Netanyahu’s government has allowed heavy-handed response to any perceived threats.

Some rights groups say Israel’s response to Palestinian attacks amounts to extra-judicial killing.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies