White House: No High-Level Israel Meetings on Agenda

YERUSHALAYIM (Hamodia Staff) —

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that after a phone conversation between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, no face-to-face meetings were in the offing.

Earnest said, however, that the U.S. will keep Israel updated on Iran talks and the president “wants to keep open a line of communication” with Netanyahu as his newly forming government begins to make policy decisions.

When asked by reporters at a briefing on Friday if Obama had misspoken when he described his relationship with Netanyahu as businesslike, given that he described his relationship with Russian President Putin the same way, Earnest said that he was “not aware” of any misstatement on the president’s part.

“I’m not going to be in a position to try to dissect the relationship between the leaders of the United States and Israel,” Earnest said, adding that bilateral relations remain “open communication” and close security ties.

When pressed as to whether there might be a high-level meeting at the White House, Earnest replied: “I’m just saying that … there’s nothing like that that’s been scheduled at this point, but I wouldn’t rule out additional high-level conversations.”

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