Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he’s dedicated to finding a solution to the violence in the Gaza Strip and West Bank that includes a Palestinian nation.
“We have not given up our hope for peace,” he said sitting next to President Obama in the Oval Office on Monday. “I remain committed to a vision of two states for two peoples, a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state,” he said, tamping down the conventional wisdom that he had given up on the so-called “two-state” solution to the violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
“I don’t think that anyone should doubt Israel’s determination to protect itself and defend itself against terror and destruction,” he continued. “But neither should anyone doubt Israel’s willingness to make peace with any of its neighbors who want to make peace with it.”
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Obama condemned the recent uptick in violence and said that in their private, closed-door meeting that will also include Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, he will ask Netanyahu how to get stalled peace talks restarted.
“I want to be very clear that we condemn in the strongest terms Palestinian violence against innocent Israeli citizens; and I want to express once again my strong belief that Israel has not just the right, but the obligation, to defend itself,” Obama said.
“I also want to talk to the prime minister about his thoughts about how we can lower the temperature between Israelis and Palestinians and how we can get back on track toward peace; and how we can make sure that legitimate Palestinian aspirations are met through a political process, even as we make sure that Israel is able to secure itself,” Obama said.
Obama administration officials were skeptical before Netanyahu’s arrival that the Israeli leader was still open to the formation of a separate Palestinian state.
The National Security Council’s Rob Malley said last week that the administration concluded a comprehensive peace plan, including moving ahead with forming the Palestinian state, would not be reached before Obama leaves office.
Obama wanted to ask Netanyahu, “How does the prime minister himself see Israel going forward, given its own interests in stabilizing the situation in preventing the emergence of a one-state solution?” Malley told reporters on Thursday.
“So what ideas is he going to be putting through to the president so they can discuss what can be done in the absence of negotiations between the parties to help stabilize the situation on the ground and to signal — both Palestinians and Israelis — to signal that they are still committed to and moving towards a two-state solution, even if they’re not in a position today to talk to one another about it,” he said.
Obama and Netanyahu were also expected to talk about how to restart bilateral security talks that stalled when Obama finalized the Iran nuclear agreement, which Israel opposes.
Obama opened his remarks by trying to repair the rift between the two leaders over the Iran nuclear agreement.
“There’s no foreign leader who I’ve met with more frequently, and I think that’s a testimony to the extraordinary bond between the United States and Israel,” Obama said. “It’s no secret that the prime minister and I have had a strong disagreement on this narrow issue, but we don’t have a disagreement on the need to making sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon. And we don’t have a disagreement about the importance of us blunting and destabilizing activities that Iran may be taking place. And so we’re going to be looking to make sure that we find common ground there.”
Obama also took the opportunity to address the terrorist attack in Jordan on Monday that claimed the lives of two American contractors. They were reportedly gunned down at the U.S.-funded police training center in Amman by a Jordanian police officer.
“We take this very seriously,” Obama said. “And we’ll be working closely with the Jordanians to determine exactly what happened. But at this stage, I want to just let everyone know that this is something we’re paying close attention to.” Netanyahu also offered his condolences to the families of the Americans and their South African colleague who was killed with them.
