Netanyahu: No Crisis With Obama Administration

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on May 20.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has denied there is any crisis between his government and U.S. President Barack Obama's administration.


Netanyahu was quoted by his spokesman as saying reports of a disagreement with Obama have been "blown way out of proportion."

Netanyahu added that while there are differences of opinion between his government and the Obama administration, "they are differences among friends."


After meeting May 20 with Obama at the White House in Washington, Netanyahu rejected Obama's call for Israel to base future negotiations on a Palestinian state on territorial lines that were in place before Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Netanyahu described those territorial lines as "indefensible" for present-day Israel, and said Middle East peace cannot be "based on illusions."


compiled from agency reports