Obama and Netanyahu: In Israel, a show of warmth as region as heats up

President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called each other by first names in their press conference Wednesday. Syria and Iran appeared to figure prominently in their discussions.

By Howard LaFranchi,?Staff writer / March 20, 2013

President Barack Obama hugs Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport Airport in Tel Aviv March 20.

Jason Reed/Reuters

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Syria?s destabilizing civil war and unconfirmed reports of a chemical-weapons attack in the fighting leapfrogged to the top of the agenda for President Obama?s trip to Israel Wednesday.

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Mr. Obama, standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an evening press conference in Jerusalem, asserted that verification of use of chemical weapons would be ?a game-changer? and would prompt a new level of US involvement in the 2-year-old war.

The United States is currently investigating ?exactly what happened? in the attack Tuesday in northern Syria, where both sides in the conflict claim chemical weapons were used, Obama said. The confirmed use of the weapons, he said, would ?let the genie out of the bottle? for even worse mass killings and the possible transfer of the weapons to terrorists.

Obama said he was aware of the mutual accusations by the opposition and the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, but he said he is ?deeply skeptical of any claim that it was in fact the opposition that used chemical weapons.?

Obama and Mr. Netanyahu emerged from several hours of talks at the prime minister?s residence with little hint of the generally cool and even tense relations that characterized the past four years.

Iran?s nuclear program and the possibilities of reviving the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process were clearly also key issues in the two leaders? discussions. But the prevailing theme, based on the comments each offered at their press conference, was Israel?s security in what Obama called a ?tough neighborhood that has only gotten tougher? ? and the ?unbreakable? US commitment to that security.

Netanyahu, who opened his comments by addressing Obama as ?Barack,? said he is ?absolutely convinced the president is determined to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.?

Even as he addressed serious issues, Obama returned Netanyahu?s favor by repeatedly referring to him by his nickname, ?Bibi.?

In answer to a question about differences between the two leaders about Iran, the Israeli leader referred to what he said is a public ?misunderstanding about time? as it relates to Iran?s nuclear program.

Netanyahu called ?correct? Obama?s recent statement to Israeli television that Iran would need a year or so to build a nuclear weapon if it decided to do so. But he also said, as he has in the past, that Iran could reach what Israel sees as an unacceptable ?immunity zone? before it actually built a nuclear bomb.

Iran ?has not yet reached the red line I described in my speech? at the United Nations last September, he said, adding that Iran is still getting closer. At the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu said Iran was on track to cross Israel?s ?red line? this spring or early summer.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/sgjw7jQ0Ndc/Obama-and-Netanyahu-In-Israel-a-show-of-warmth-as-region-as-heats-up

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