Obama and Netanyahu to meet in D.C., looking for a way past the ugliness of the Iran deal

President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will seek to move beyond the nasty public clash over the Iran nuclear deal and restore a more transactional approach to the U.S.-Israeli relationship — including delicate conversations about possible expansion of military aid — when they meet in Washington on Monday.

 

Though they have sharply differing views on how to handle the current geopolitics of the Middle East and a history of sour relations, Obama and Netanyahu both are looking to set a course for the last year of the Obama presidency, which will also represent another critical period for Israeli security.

 

The leaders plan to discuss how to counter Iranian aid to Hezbollah and Hamas; the Russian and Iranian efforts to prop up Syrian President Bashar ­al-Assad; and steps that might demonstrate Netanyahu’s commitment to a two-state solution even in the absence of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

 

The most tangible piece of the agenda, however, is a 10-year memorandum of understanding on military cooperation between the two countries that would budget aid and lock in a plan for new weaponry to deal with what the administration agrees is a “dangerous neighborhood.”

 

Read More: Obama and Netanyahu to meet in D.C., looking for a way past the ugliness of the Iran deal – The Washington Post