Obama, Netanyahu look to mend fractured relationship
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will try to mend their fractured relationship when they meet at the White House today.
It'll be the first time they will have spoken face to face in more than a year.
Tensions over the U.S.-backed nuclear deal with Iran continue to strain ties between the longtime allies. And U.S. officials are downplaying the chance of a breakthrough in ongoing security talks and ruling out the prospect of a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians before Obama leaves office in 14 months.
Today's meeting will also be clouded by the controversy following Netanyahu's appointment of a new spokesman who has spoken derisively about Obama. Ran Baratz, a conservative commentator, has suggested in Facebook posts that Obama is anti-Semitic and that Secretary of State John Kerry cannot be taken seriously.
Even still, today's meeting between the two leaders is seen as an important step.
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%@AP Links
015-w-36-(Mark Smith, AP White House correspondent, with Josh Earnest, White House press secretary)--President Obama meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today for the first time since the U.S. closed a nuclear deal with Iran despite Israel's angry objections. AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports. (9 Nov 2015)
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016-c-22-(Mark Smith, AP White House correspondent)-"clashes in Jerusalem"-AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports the president and Benjamin Netanyahu are hoping to put bitter divisions over the Iran nuclear deal behind them. (9 Nov 2015)
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017-c-22-(Mark Smith, AP White House correspondent)-"Jerusalem's holy sites"-AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports one thing that won't be on the table is a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. (9 Nov 2015)
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018-a-14-(Josh Earnest, White House press secretary, at news conference)-"our two countries"-White House press secretary Josh Earnest says despite their major policy disputes, Obama and Netanyahu are able to work together. ((Longer version of cut in wrap)) (9 Nov 2015)
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019-a-11-(Josh Earnest, White House press secretary, at news conference)-"in the region"-White House press secretary Josh Earnest says expect the two leaders to talk today about beefing up Israel's defenses. (9 Nov 2015)
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020-a-09-(Josh Earnest, White House press secretary, at news conference)-"a Palestinian state"-White House press secretary Josh Earnest says the president has reluctantly concluded a two-state peace deal cannot be concluded before he leaves office. (9 Nov 2015)
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