Obama Acknowledges Israel's Defense right on Iran
JERUSALEM: President Barack Obama Wednesday accepted Israel would not cede its right to confront Iran's nuclear threat to the United States, seeking to assuage anxiety over his commitment to the Jewish state.
Obama, on his debut trip to Israel as president, also warned Syria would face international action if it used chemical weapons in its civil war and admitted he could have been more "deft" in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
All the tension and apparent mistrust that stained some previous encounters between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to have dissolved when the leaders emerged from two hours of talks.
"Each country has to make its own decisions when it comes to the awesome decision to engage in any kind of military action," Obama said, when asked if he had told Netanyahu to be more patient before striking Iran.
"Israel is differently situated than the United States, and I would not expect that the prime minister would make a decision about his country's security and defer that to any other country."
Washington has worried that Netanyahu's hawkish rhetoric on Iran and warnings it could get most of the way to a nuclear bomb within months -- a shorter timeline than Washington's -- has sparked fears of an Israeli strike.
Netanyahu appeared moved by Obama's remarks, and delighted when the president also said Washington would enter talks to renew a multi-billion dollar military aid package for Israel after it expires in 2017.
"I appreciate the fact that the president has reaffirmed, more than any other president, Israel's right and duty to defend itself, by itself, against any threat," Netanyahu said.
Still, it did not appear that the men, who called one another "Barack" and "Bibi," managed to reconcile differing timelines over the point at which Iran would reach the point of no return and build a nuclear weapon.
Obama also insisted there was more time for diplomacy, backed by stringent sanctions to make Iran forgo its nuclear program, saying it was important to test the proposition that non-military means could work.
"The question is, will Iranian leadership seize that opportunity? Will they walk through that door?"
Earlier, Obama, who worried many Israelis when he told the Muslim world in his first term that he wanted a "new beginning" with Islam, went out of his way to affirm respect for the Jewish state and its defense.
After Air Force One touched down in Tel Aviv, Obama said the US-Israel alliance was "eternal, it is for ever," as hundreds of US and Israeli flags snapped in the wind.
"It's good to be back in The Land (Israel)," Obama said in Hebrew after being greeted on the red carpet by Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.
AFP
Obama, on his debut trip to Israel as president, also warned Syria would face international action if it used chemical weapons in its civil war and admitted he could have been more "deft" in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
All the tension and apparent mistrust that stained some previous encounters between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to have dissolved when the leaders emerged from two hours of talks.
"Each country has to make its own decisions when it comes to the awesome decision to engage in any kind of military action," Obama said, when asked if he had told Netanyahu to be more patient before striking Iran.
"Israel is differently situated than the United States, and I would not expect that the prime minister would make a decision about his country's security and defer that to any other country."
Washington has worried that Netanyahu's hawkish rhetoric on Iran and warnings it could get most of the way to a nuclear bomb within months -- a shorter timeline than Washington's -- has sparked fears of an Israeli strike.
Netanyahu appeared moved by Obama's remarks, and delighted when the president also said Washington would enter talks to renew a multi-billion dollar military aid package for Israel after it expires in 2017.
"I appreciate the fact that the president has reaffirmed, more than any other president, Israel's right and duty to defend itself, by itself, against any threat," Netanyahu said.
Still, it did not appear that the men, who called one another "Barack" and "Bibi," managed to reconcile differing timelines over the point at which Iran would reach the point of no return and build a nuclear weapon.
Obama also insisted there was more time for diplomacy, backed by stringent sanctions to make Iran forgo its nuclear program, saying it was important to test the proposition that non-military means could work.
"The question is, will Iranian leadership seize that opportunity? Will they walk through that door?"
Earlier, Obama, who worried many Israelis when he told the Muslim world in his first term that he wanted a "new beginning" with Islam, went out of his way to affirm respect for the Jewish state and its defense.
After Air Force One touched down in Tel Aviv, Obama said the US-Israel alliance was "eternal, it is for ever," as hundreds of US and Israeli flags snapped in the wind.
"It's good to be back in The Land (Israel)," Obama said in Hebrew after being greeted on the red carpet by Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.
World News
AFP
