Playing down tensions, Netanyahu says Israel and the US are ‘allies and friends’
By APSunday, March 28, 2010
Netanyahu tries to play down tensions with US
JERUSALEM — Israel’s leader is trying to play down tensions with the U.S. after a rocky meeting at the White House last week.
In his first public comments on the matter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday that Israel and the U.S. are “allies and friends” and can work out their differences.
Relations between the two allies have been marred by disagreements over Israeli settlement construction. Netanyahu has rejected U.S. calls to stop building homes for Jews in disputed east Jerusalem.
Netanyahu says those are “disagreements between friends, and that is how they will stay.”
Netanyahu’s Cabinet was expected to discuss U.S. demands for gestures to the Palestinians as the Obama administration tries to get peace talks started.
