Netanyahu Visit to be Kinder, Gentler

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama will meet Monday with an agenda that includes little more than publicly showing they have put aside the animosity generated by the U.S.-brokered nuclear deal with Iran.

With a grudging acknowledgement from the White House that the biggest issue facing Israeli-American relations – a peace agreement with the Palestinians – will almost certainly be left unresolved by this administration, the two leaders will instead attempt to reaffirm their strategic relationship in an effort to demonstrate that a year of public spats has not permanently jeopardized the Jewish state’s relations with its strongest ally.

“There are all kinds of threats and challenges that we have a common interest in kind of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel to deal with. So now is an important time to sort of move forward and reaffirm the strategic value of the relationship,” said Michele Flournoy, a former senior Pentagon official and chief executive officer at the influential think tank Center for a New American Security.

Read the full article at U.S. News & World Report.