Obama and Netanyahu Will Meet To Mend Fences in November
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet in November to discuss the Iran nuclear deal as well as other regional security issues, the White House said on Wednesday.
The Nov. 9 White House meeting will be the first for the two leaders since U.S.-led diplomacy resulted in an Iran nuclear deal that Israel fiercely opposed.
The dispute over the agreement, which calls for curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief, drove a deeper wedge in already tense relations between the Obama and Netanyahu governments.
The meeting was announced a week after Obama’s Democrats in the U.S. Senate blocked a Republican bid to derail the landmark Iran agreement.
Obama and Netanyahu also will discuss Israel-Palestinian relations, the situation in Gaza and the West Bank and “the need for the genuine advancement of a two-state solution,” the White House said.
Obama refused to see Netanyahu in March when the Israeli leader accepted an invitation from Republican leaders, without consulting the White House, and gave a speech to Congress in which he harshly criticized Obama’s negotiations with Iran, Israel’s regional enemy.
The two have since spoken by phone but have not seen each other face-to-face since last year.
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