Middle East peace: Never before have the US and Israel been so close, Barack Obama tells Benjamin Netanyahu

Barack Obama meets Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House (AP)

The leaders of the United States and Israel underplayed past differences and jointly insisted today that they remained committed to achieving Middle East peace in their first face-to-face talks in a year.

“We have not given up our hope for peace,” Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, declared, even as he and President Barack Obama conceded that for now their focus was on ending new spasms of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

The meeting came just eight months after Mr Netanyahu delivered a speech to Congress scolding the US and other Western nations for pursuing the nuclear deal with Iran. Today he appeared intent on using this week’s visit to mend fences with Mr Obama, including re-embracing the vision of “two states for two peoples” to end the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Mr Obama said while it was “no secret” the two leaders had diverged on the contents of the deal, they had the shared the goal of keeping nuclear arms out of Iran’s hands. He added: “The security of Israel is one of my top foreign policy priorities, and that has expressed itself not only in words, but in deeds.”

As they moved to put their disputes behind them, the two leaders were to discuss plans for a new $30bn (£20bn) military aid deal with Israel. The current pact is set to expire in two years. Protecting his country against prospective threats from Iran and its allies, including Hezbollah, is a top priority for the Israeli leader.

The White House made it clear ahead of the visit that it now believes there is no real prospect of reaching a Middle East peace deal before Mr Obama leaves office at the end of next year. But the US will take heart from Mr Netanyahu restating his support for a two-state solution, which has been the bedrock of the US approach to ending the conflict.

Israel has been unsettled by new wave of Palestinian violence, including stabbings and shootings. Today, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian woman at a West Bank checkpoint after she allegedly pulled a knife.

Mr Obama condemned those attacks. Mr Netanyahu said he expected with Mr Obama to “discuss practical ways in which we can lower the tension, encourage stablity and move towards peace”.

In a carefully orchestrated show of amity, Mr Obama said that never before in history had the US and Israel been so close. “The military support we provide we consider not only an important part of our obligation... but also an important element of the US security infrastructure in the region,” he said.