In US, Netanyahu will seek a decade of US aid from Obama

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he hopes to lay down groundwork for the next decade of US aid to Israel when he meets with US President Barack Obama the next day.

“I believe that this meeting is important in order to clarify the continuation of American aid to Israel in the coming decade,” Netanyahu said before the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

“It will be another step toward realizing an understanding in this direction,” he added.

Netanyahu is slated to meet Obama on Monday morning in Washington. The sit-down will be the first meeting between the two leaders in over a year, during which already shaky ties between the leaders became further frayed over the Palestinian issue and disagreement over how to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“My conversation with the president will center on recent events in the Middle East, including in Syria, possible progress with the Palestinians, or at least stabilizing the situation with them, and, of course, strengthening the security of the State of Israel, which the US has always been committed to, while maintaining the State of Israel’s comparative advantage in the face of a changing Middle East,” Netanyahu said.

The prime minister made no mention of the July nuclear deal between world powers and Iran, aimed at preventing Iranian possession of nuclear weapons, which was the source of a bitter war of words between Obama and Netanyahu.

The new American defense package has been described as “compensation” to Israel for the Iran deal.

According to Israeli officials, in Washington Netanyahu will unveil a series of goodwill gestures aimed at the Palestinians.

The moves, which have still not been finalized, were detailed by national security adviser Yossi Cohen to American counterpart Susan Rice last week, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Sunday.

The confidence-building steps will be aimed at stemming an ongoing wave of violence in the West Bank, and will include easing restrictions on movement and okaying Palestinian infrastructure projects, the report said.

In his remarks Sunday, Netanyahu noted that he would also meet with representatives of US Jewish communities during the annual General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, as well as hold talks with other American public figures.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.