 |
| Netanyahu and Obama |
The White House has denied reports of a rift with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he and President Barack Obama
reaffirmed the two countries' commitment to prevent Iran from obtaining a
nuclear weapon.
Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu spoke for an hour and the White
House said later that the two men agreed to continue "close consultations
going forward" regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions.
The White House denied reports that Mr Obama had rejected Mr
Netanyahu's request to meet him in Washington next week. No such request was
made or rejected, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
The unusual late-night announcement from the White House
comes after Mr Netanyahu criticised what he called the world's failure to spell
out what would provoke a US-led military strike against Iranian nuclear
facilities.
Mr Netanyahu has urged the US to set "red lines"
for Tehran, but the Obama administration has refused.
"Those in the international community who refuse to put
red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before
Israel," Mr Netanyahu said yesterday.
His strong words risk antagonising Mr Obama in the midst of
a closely fought a re-election campaign and could strain relations with the US,
Israel's closest and most important ally. Relations between the two leaders
have often been tense in the past.
Differences between the two counties over how to deal with
Iran have boiled over into palpable tensions in recent weeks.
On Monday State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said
"it is not useful" to set deadlines or declare "red lines".
She and White House press secretary Jay Carney also noted
that Mr Obama has stated unequivocally that the United States will not allow
Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
Yesterday Ms Nuland said the Iranian situation was a matter
of "intense discussion" with Israel. She declined to elaborate,
saying she did not want to conduct diplomacy in public.
Some US officials have bristled at what they see is Mr
Netanyahu's attempts to exploit the US campaign season to push Mr Obama into a
difficult position.
The US officials stopped short of accusing Mr Netanyahu of
taking sides in the election, but the Israeli Prime Minister has a long-time
relationship with Republican candidate Mitt Romney and with Sheldon Adelson, a
casino magnate and top donor to the Republican Party.
Mr Romney, who visited Israel in July, has repeatedly criticised
Mr Obama's handling of the nuclear issue.
Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu have long had a rocky relationship
because of policy differences and a lack of personal chemistry. In one notable
incident, a frustrated Mr Obama left a White House meeting with Mr Netanyahu to
have dinner with his family.
US and Israeli officials confirmed yesterday that Mr Obama
would not meet Mr Netanyahu when the Israeli leader goes to New York for the
United Nations General Assembly later this month.
Both sides cited scheduling issues and rejected suggestions
that Mr Netanyahu had been snubbed.
No comments:
Post a Comment