AP, Washington :President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday insisted they had not given up on the pursuit of Middle East peace, even as the prospect of an elusive agreement between Israelis and Palestinians appears further out of reach.Obama and Netanyahu’s meeting at the White House marked the first time the two leaders have talked face to face in more than a year. Their relationship has long been marred by tension, with the most recent being the US-backed nuclear deal with Iran.Ahead of Netanyahu’s arrival in Washington, US officials made clear the White House does not expect peace to be achieved before Obama leaves office in January 2017.Speaking to reporters ahead of their private meeting, Obama said he would instead seek Netanyahu’s thoughts on ways to lower tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and get the parties “back on a path towards peace.”Netanyahu declared, “We have not given up our hope for peace.”He emphasised that his preference was for a two-state solution, but gave no ground on the Israelis’ long-standing conditions for achieving that outcome.Monday’s meeting comes amid a fresh burst of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel has accused Palestinian political and religious leaders of inciting the violence, while Palestinians say the violence is due to a lack of hope for gaining independence after years of failed peace efforts.Even with no chance of significant progress on Mideast peace, the fact that Obama and Netanyahu met at all is seen as an important step. Tensions between the long-time allies boiled over earlier this year as Obama and international partners finalised the Iranian nuclear accord, a high-stakes agreement Netanyahu furiously tried to stop, even delivering a speech to Congress to urge lawmakers to block its implementation.Netanyahu views Iran’s nuclear programme as an existential threat to Israel and argued that the international agreement leaves Tehran within reach of a bomb.Monday’s meeting was an attempt to reset ties for the final year of Obama’s presidency.In comments to reporters before their private talks, they sidestepped their disagreement on Iran, with Obama calling it a “narrow issue.””We don’t have a disagreement on the need to making sure Iran does not get a nuclear weapon, and we don’t have a disagreement about us blunting destabilizing activities in Iran that may be taking place,” Obama said. “So we’re going to be looking to make sure we find common ground there.”Netanyahu didn’t mention the Iran matter at all in his public comments. But in their two-hour-long private session, Obama and Netanyahu discussed ways to cooperate to ensure Iran lives up to its commitments under the deal, said a senior Obama administration official, who wasn’t authorized to comment by name and requested anonymity.In public, the leaders emphasized areas of shared interest, including negotiations on a new security arrangement and the goal of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, even as the two sides grapple with fresh outbreaks of violence.Obama said he was focused on “how we can get back on a path 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.”Netanyahu declared, “We have not given up our hope for peace.” He reaffirmed his support for a two-state solution, though he gave no ground on the Israelis’ longstanding conditions for achieving that outcome.The prime minister’s statement followed his apparent backtracking during Israeli elections earlier this year. At the time, U.S. officials said there would be policy ramifications for a Netanyahu shift on statehood, including potentially easing opposition to Palestinians turning to the U.N. Security Council to create a state.On Monday, however, White House officials said Obama focused more on getting Netanyahu to outline ways to keep confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians to a minimum in the absence of a long-term solution.
