Netanyahu leaves for US ahead of meeting with Obama

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed for Washington, DC, on Sunday afternoon for his first meeting with US President Barack Obama in more than a year, also scheduling appearances at right- and left-leaning think tanks as well as with one of the only Democratic senators to go against Obama on the nuclear deal with Iran.

Netanyahu was mum as he boarded the plane, but said earlier he planned to focus on requesting a decade of American aid to Israel.

During their meeting Monday, Netanyahu and Obama will discuss “recent events in the Middle East, including the civil war in Syria, and possible progress with the Palestinians, or at least stabilizing the situation with them,” Netanyahu said earlier Sunday during the weekly cabinet meeting.

The two leaders will also talk about “maintaining the State of Israel’s comparative advantage in the face of a changing Middle East,” he said.

The prime minister is expected to ask for a significant increase in US military assistance to Israel, especially in light of increasing security threats as a result of Washington’s landmark nuclear pact with Iran.

“I believe that this meeting is important in order to clarify the continuation of American aid to Israel in the coming decade. It will be another step toward realizing an understanding in this direction,” Netanyahu said.

Obama is widely expected to ask Netanyahu about steps Israel could take to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution, even if a final-status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians seems currently out of reach.

The prime minister is reportedly planning to present a series of goodwill gestures to the Palestinians that Israel has been preparing ahead of the two leaders’ meeting.

Preparations for the trip were overshadowed by Netanyahu’s choice as a key media adviser of Ran Baratz, who turned out to have insulted Obama as “anti-Semitic” and Secretary of State John Kerry as childish in various Facebook posts. Netanyahu has distanced himself from the comments, but has not canceled the appointment. In an address to Reforms Jews, Vice President Joe Biden became the most senior US figure to castigate the “terrible” comments.

Netanyahu is scheduled to meet the president on Monday morning Washington time. Later that day, he will meet Senator Chuck Schumer, one of the few Democratic lawmakers who voted against the Iran nuclear deal. Afterwards, he will visit the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, where he will deliver a speech and receive the 2015 Irving Kristol Award.

On Tuesday, the prime minister will address the annual General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. Opposition leader Isaac Herzog and White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough will also speak at the convention.

Later that day, Netanyahu will appear at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, where he will be interviewed by the think tank’s president, Neera Tanden.

Netanyahu’s appearances at both left- and right-leaning institutions are likely intended to demonstrate the bipartisan nature of the Israel-US alliance.

On Tuesday evening, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with the Senate leadership.

On Wednesday, the prime minister is scheduled to visit the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, before heading back to Israel.