BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday hosted US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro at his Jerusalem office. Both reiterated the close cooperation and strength of ties between the two countries and their leaders.

Addressing Shapiro, Netanyahu said “The security relationship between the United States and Israel is rock solid… I look forward to working with President Obama to further strengthen this relationship and I look forward to working with him to advance our goals of peace and security.”

Shapiro responded by thanking Netanyahu on behalf of Obama and the American people and said, “The president has enjoyed close security cooperation with you and your government in his first term and we look forward to continuing it in the second term.”

Speaking later in the day to reporters in Tel Aviv, according to the Jerusalem Post, Shapiro continued in a similar vein saying, “The relationship between the president and the prime minister is a good relationship… They work very well together. They meet frequently. They met nine or 10 times. They spoke on the phone regularly. Their teams work extremely well together. I know that President Obama looks forward to an opportunity to visit Israel.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, struck a similar tone in an interview with Kol Yisrael, saying “President Obama said that he spent more hours on the phone with Israel’s prime minister than with any other leader in the world, and I am sure that this will continue.”

President Obama’s foreign agenda during his second term is likely to include a variety of Middle East issues of common concern to Israel. Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, peace talks with the Palestinians and cooperation over missile defence are set to be of immediate mutual interest. However, the ongoing violence in Syria and relations with Egypt’s recently elected government led by the Muslim Brotherhood are also likely to be pressing concerns for the Obama administration.