As Netanyahu visits, White House insists ‘no rift’ between Israel, U.S.

Senior White House officials say there is “absolutely no rift” between
the United States and Israel as President Barack Obama prepares to host
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday.

Obama has been meeting with Netanyahu and other key players in the
Middle East in hopes of reopening direct peace talks between
Palestinians and Israelis, but Obama’s relationship with the Israelis
is fraught with tension.

{mosads}A recent Israeli raid on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza has only
exacerbated those tensions, as the United States was put in the
position of having to sign on to a United Nations statement condemning
the attack.

This heightened the concern of many in Congress, as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) led a letter signed by 85 members of the upper chamber in June asking that the U.S. support Israel at the U.N.

“The United States has traditionally stood with Israel because it is in
our national security interest and must continue to do so,” the letter stated. “We ask you to stand firm in the future at the United Nations Security
Council and to use your veto power, if necessary, to prevent any
similar biased or one-sided resolutions from passing.”

But aides to Obama say there is no rift between Israel and the U.S.,
despite the concerns of many in the U.S. that Obama is more focused on a
two-state Middle East peace solution than America’s longstanding
relationship with Israel.

“We view the prime minister as our partner in the effort to pursue
peace with the Palestinians, peace — comprehensive peace in the
region — and deal with all of the security threats, many of which are
threats that we both face — the same threats,” said Daniel Shapiro,
Obama’s senior director for the Middle East and North Africa. “So in no
way do we perceive a rift; quite the contrary, we perceive — and I
believe our friends in Israel perceive a strong, close relationship —
a partnership.”

This will be the fifth meeting between Obama and Netanyahu and the
third at the White House. The Israeli prime minister canceled a visit
in late May to return to Israel following the flotilla raid.

Netanyahu’s visit at the end of March was clouded by reports that the prime minister had been left on his own while Obama left to eat dinner, the two leaders having reached an impasse over a freeze in settlement growth and building in east Jerusalem. The two leaders did not pose publicly for pictures.

This time around, the prime minister is expected to get a warmer public welcome. Netanyahu will be staying at Blair House instead of a hotel, and the two leaders will hold a joint photo-op.

White
House officials say they are hopeful that Obama and Netanyahu will make
progress toward bringing Israeli and Palestinian
leaders to the table directly to negotiate peace.

Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic
communications, said last week that the U.S. has been using proximity
talks in the region, “which are focused on the full range of
substantive issues between Israelis and Palestinians,” to “narrow gaps
and create the best conditions possible to move toward direct
negotiations.”

Rhodes said there is “absolutely no rift” between the U.S. and
Israel, adding that the administration thinks the meeting “comes at a
time of some momentum on a number of fronts.”

Rhodes said the
White House has made great progress in working with Israelis to lessen
the tension over aid shipments to Gaza, met with Palestinian leaders
and taken great strides in dealing with the Iranian threat by
implementing new sanctions on the country.

Israel on Monday announced an easing of the Gaza blockade, annoucing it would publish a firm list of prohibited items instead of an ever-changing list of permitted items. Quartet envoy Tony Blair hailed the move as a change that “should have a dramatic influence on the daily lives of the people of Gaza and on the private sector.” The White House had no immediate comment.

Netanyahu also addressed the Middle East peace process Wednesday with envoy George Mitchell, who visited one of the Gaza border crossings.

“I think it’s time to put
aside posturing,” Netanyahu said. “It’s time to put aside preconditions. It’s time to
get on with direct talks — formal direct talks for peace. And I call on
President Abu Mazen to come to Jerusalem. I’m prepared to go to
Ramallah.” (Abu Mazen is an honorific name for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.)

“I hope and I believe that a
main part of our — my conversations with President Obama in Washington
next week will be focused on how to start direct peace talks between
Israel and the Palestinians right away,” Netanyahu added. “I hope we get on with it.”