US President Barack Obama said new efforts are needed to tackle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “We have to find ways to change the status quo so that both Israeli citizens are safe in their own homes, and schoolchildren in their schools … but also that we don’t have the tragedy of Palestinian children being killed as well,” he said at a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Wednesday.
The meeting was the first between the two leaders since the collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and Israel’s Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in Gaza.
At a brief press briefing before their formal meeting, marked by warm body language, smiles and firm handshakes, Obama said the US was proud of its role in saving Israeli lives via the Iron Dome rocket defense sytem, as rockets from Gaza poured into Israel.
The Israeli Prime Minister reaffirmed his commitment to a two-state solution in a brief statement he made alongside Obama before their two-hour meeting in the White House.
“I remain committed to the vision of peace of two states for two peoples, based on mutual recognition and rock solid security arrangements,” Netanyahu said.
At the same time, he indicated that the path to two states might be different from the one tried for the last 20 years, saying he believes “we should make use of the new opportunities in the Middle East, think outside of the box, and see how we can include the Arab countries to advance this very hopeful agenda.”
He stressed that the “enormous challenges facing the United States and Israel in the Middle East” pose new threats but also new opportunities.
“There is something that is changing in the Middle East,” he said. “Out of the new situation there is a commonality of interests between Israel and the leading Arab states, and I think that we should work very hard together to seize upon the common interests and build positive progress to advance a more secure, prosperous and peaceful Middle East.”
He also emphasized the need ‘’to prevent Iran becoming a military nuclear power.” ‘‘Neither should Iran be left as a threshold nuclear power,’’ he said. “Iran seeks a deal that would lift the tough sanctions that you worked so hard to put in place and leave it as a threshold nuclear power. I fervently hope that under your leadership that would not happen,” Netanyahu said.