U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday in New York.
The meeting is set to take place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, which both men are to address.
The two leaders are expected to discuss the recently signed defense Memorandum of Understanding in which Israel is to receive $3.8 billion per year for a ten-year period, beginning in 2018, including the issues surrounding the agreement — such as intelligence sharing, the joint fight against terrorism and the common goals between the two countries in Syria.
Netanyahu scolded critics who claimed Israel would have received more if he had withheld his pressure over the Iranian nuclear deal last year, and also aimed at critics who condemned the size of the assistance package. In opening remarks at Sunday’s cabinet meeting, the prime minister said “support for Israel in the United States is stronger than ever; it crosses political parties and embraces the length and breadth of the United States and finds expression in this agreement.”
The prime minister added that Israel was never offered more from the Obama administration, not in dollars, nor in special technologies. He slammed “the saddest thing of all, ingratitude to our greatest and best friend, the United States.”
Netanyahu’s contention was confirmed by a senior U.S. official quoted by journalist Barak Ravid, writing for Haaretz. “Obama didn’t say or even hint to Netanyahu that he will get more aid if he comes to the talks now [while the Iran deal was taking shape],” the official told Ravid.
Israeli National Security Council Acting Head Yaakov Nagel also said, as had Netanyahu, that there was no connection between the military assistance total and the dispute between Obama and Netanyahu over the Iran nuclear program deal.
“Is this military aid deal compensation for Israel because of the Iran nuclear deal?” the White House said in a statement. “The answer is no. We started this negotiation long before the Iran deal and even before [Hassan] Rohani was elected president.”
The Reuters news agency quoted White House spokesperson Josh Earnest as saying “the meeting also will be an opportunity to discuss the need for genuine advancement of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the face of deeply troubling trends on the ground.”