Obama committed to Israeli security
BY DARLENE SUPERVILLEASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to soothe rocky relations Tuesday, declaring that any talk of a rift is unfounded. Obama said the U.S.-Israeli bond is unbreakable.
"The United States is committed to Israel's security," Obama said as the two leaders addressed reporters in the Oval Office. "We are committed to that special bond. And we are going to do what's required to back that up, not just with words, but with actions."
For the Israeli leader's part, Netanyahu said of solving years of strife with Palestinians: "We're committed to that peace. I'm committed to that peace." And he said that reports of the demise of the U.S.-Israel relationship are "flat wrong."
"There's a depth and richness of this relationship that is expressed every day," Netanyahu said before the two leaders headed into a working lunch.
Trying to add a sense of urgency, Netanyahu said he and Obama discussed specific steps that could be taken in the coming weeks to move the peace process forward, without elaborating. "When I say the next few weeks, that's what I mean," he said. "The president means that, too."
Obama hailed Israel's decision to greatly ease its three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip as "real progress." And he said he believes Netanyahu wants peace with the Palestinians and is serious about resuming the face-to-face Mideast peace talks that broke off in December 2008.
Netanyahu and Obama spoke as protesters gathered across the street in Lafayette Park and chanted, "No more aid, end the blockade," referring to Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.
After heavy international pressure, including from Obama and other top U.S. officials, Israel's decision to ease its Gaza blockade will let in most consumer goods. The ban on exports from Gaza and limits on shipments of construction material remain.
Obama and Netanyahu also spoke about efforts to end Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, including sanctions that Obama signed into law last week. That legislation followed a fourth round of United Nations Security Council sanctions against Iran.
Netanyahu said the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran is the most prominent danger to peace, and called on other nations to follow the U.S. example and adopt their own unilateral sanctions on Iran.
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