Obama, Netanyahu display unity

Two in accord: Can’t let Iran join nuke club

President Barack Obama shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 20, 2013, (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 20, 2013, (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

JERUSALEM - Seeking a fresh start to a strained relationship, President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday demonstrated solidarity on the key issues that have stirred tensions between them. Obama vowed he would do “what is necessary” to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and Netanyahu reaffirmed that his newly formed government seeks a two-state solution to Israel’s decades-long dispute with the Palestinians.

Obama, in Israel for the first time in his presidency, also pledged to investigate reports that Syria had used chemical weapons for the first time in its two-year civil war. And he sternly warned Syrian leader Bashar Assad that use of such weapons would be a “game changer,” one that could potentially draw the U.S. military into the conflict for the first time.

“The Assad regime must understand that they will be held accountable for the use of chemical weapons or their transfer to terrorists,” Obama said, standing alongside Netanyahu at a nighttime news conference.

Expectations were low for a breakthrough during Obama’s visit on any of the major issues roiling the region. Instead, the president was focused on reassuring anxious Israelis that he is committed to their security and on resetting his rocky relationship with Netanyahu. The two leaders have been at odds over Israeli settlements and Iran’s disputed nuclear program, and Netanyahu once lectured Obama in front of the media in the Oval Office on Israel’s right to defend itself.

Wednesday marked the first time the two leaders have met publicly after both survived elections that will leave them stuck with each other for the foreseeable future.

They traded jokes throughout a day of side-byside appearances and repeatedly referred to each other by their first names, Obama calling his Israeli counterpart by his nickname, “Bibi.”

On Iran in particular, the two leaders sought to show they were united in their desire to prevent the Islamic republic from developing nuclear weapons.

“We will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining the world’s worst weapons,” Obama said, calling a nuclear-armed Iran a threat to Israel, the greater Middle East and the world.

Although preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon is a priority of both countries, Netanyahu and Obama have differed on precisely how to achieve that goal. Israel repeatedly has threatened to take military action should Iran appear to be on the verge of obtaining a bomb, while the U.S. has pushed for more time to allow diplomacy and economic penalties to run their course.

Obama said he continues to prefer a diplomatic solution and sees time to achieve it. Whether that works, he said, will depend on whetherIran’s leaders “seize that opportunity.”

Although Obama did not promise that the United States would act militarily against Iran if Israel decided that must be done, he offered an explicit endorsement for Israel to take whatever unilateral measures it deems necessary to guard against the threat.

“Each country has to make its own decisions when it comes to the awesome decision to engage in any kind of military action, and Israel is differently situated than the United States,” he said. “I would not expect that the prime minister would make adecision about his country’s security and defer that to ... another country any more than the United States would defer our decisions about what was important for our national security.”

Netanyahu strongly backed Obama’s efforts, saying he was “absolutely convinced” that the U.S. is determined to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

“I appreciate the fact that the president has reaffirmed, more than any other president, Israel’s right and duty to defend itself by itself against any threat,” he said.

The Israeli leader also said he and Obama agree that itwould take Iran about a year to manufacture a nuclear weapon. Obama said there is “not a lot of light, a lot of daylight” between the two leaders in intelligence assessments about Iran.

The two leaders also spoke firmly about the need to pursue a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, an effort that was stymied during Obama’s first term. The president, who arrived in Israel without a clear pathway for jump-starting talks between the two parties, acknowledged that in recent years, “we haven’t gone forward, we haven’t seen the kind of progress that we would like to see.”

Netanyahu, for his part, said he was willing to set aside preconditions in future talks with the Palestinians, adding that it was time to “turn a page in our relations.”

But they avoided tackling any of the intractable issuesthat have derailed the peace process, including Israeli settlement building and the status of Jerusalem. Obama promised to talk about peace efforts more expansively today during a speech to Israeli youth.

He also planned a quick trip to the West Bank today to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Obama was to visita youth center in Ramallah before heading back to Jerusalem to deliver a speech and attend a formal dinner with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

He also will travel to Jordan later in the week, a stop aimed at shoring up government changes by the important U.S. ally and pledging American support in dealing with the 450,000 Syrian refugees that have flooded across the border.

Obama was greeted warmly upon his arrival in Israel on Wednesday after an overnight flight from Washington. Netanyahu and Peres met him at the steps of Air Force One as U.S. and Israeli flags waved on a breezy, sun-splashed afternoon.

During an elaborate welcome ceremony at Tel Aviv’s airport, the Israeli leaders lavished praise on Obama, Netanyahu calling the U.S. president his “cherished guest” and Peres saying he was a “historic friend of Israel.” Obama responded in kind, saying he and his counterparts “share a vision of Israel at peace with its neighbors.”

Seeking to underscore U.S. military cooperation with Israel, Obama viewed an Iron Dome battery that was transported to the airport for his arrival. The U.S. has invested more than $275 million into the missile-defense system and plans to spend another $211 million on it this year. U.S. and Israeli officials credit the Iron Dome with preventing numerous rocket attacks from neighboring Palestinian territories.

Obama also announced Wednesday that the U.S. and Israel would start talks soon on a new, 10-year security-cooperation package to replace one that expires in 2017.

While Israel warmly greeted Obama, Palestinians heldseveral small protests. In Gaza, demonstrators burned Obama posters and U.S. flags, accusing the U.S. of being unfairly biased toward Israel. In the West Bank, about 200 activists erected tents in an area just outside Jerusalem to draw attention to Israel’s policy of settlement building in the West Bank.

Upon arrival at Netanyahu’s residence for a series of meetings, Obama invited the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, to stand between the two for a photo-op. “A rose between the thorns,” Obama joked.

He and Netanyahu, both appearing relaxed and jovial, then bantered while Obama signed a guest book. The prime minister complained about how hard it was to form a government in Israel’s multiparty system, telling Obama, “You have only one party” to compete with.

“The g rass is always greener, my friend,” Obama replied. “We have more moving parts,” Netanyahu added.

On the tarmac just after his arrival, Obama reportedly joked with Netanyahu - who went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a top diplomat at the Israeli Embassy in Washington and is highly savvy in U.S. politics - that “it’s good to get awayfrom Congress.” Information for this article was contributed by Julie Pace, Matthew Lee, Josef Federman, Mohammed Daraghmeh and Ibrahim Barzak of The Associated Press and by Scott Wilson of The Washington Post.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 03/21/2013

Upcoming Events