(IsraelNN.com) Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said after his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama that the importance of his visit in Washington "will become clear in the future” and added that reports about a negative atmosphere in his relations with Obama are "garbage." The atmosphere in his meeting with Obama was “very open and very warm," he said, and reports to the contrary are false. "To put it mildly," he said, "they are grossly inaccurate and don't reflect the truth."

"The discussions dealt with the complex of issues vital for Israel's security and our joint efforts to advance the peace process. We discussed these issues in detail, practically and in a friendly manner. I really appreciated the professional and positive approach I discovered," he summed up.

News media in Israel and the U.S. speculated Tuesday on the nature of the meeting between Obama and Netanyahu in the White House, with some reports claiming that the meeting was a positive one that centered on the Iran problem, others stating that it was a tense meeting on the stalled diplomatic process and continued construction in Judea and Samaria. Some of the speculation about a crisis was fueled by the cancellation of a press briefing initially planned by Netanyahu to take place after the meeting.

Shoval: No crisis
Former ambassador to the United States Zalman Shoval told Arutz Sheva Tuesday that the fact that no news conference was held by Obama and Netanyahu means nothing. “They announced in advance that there would not be a news conference,” he noted. “I was not there, but there is certainly a possibility that they discussed the subject of Iran and in that case, it is no wonder that there was no news conference.” He added: "I do not want to paint too rosy a picture but today it is clear that the attempt to paint a [picture of] a crisis between us and the Americans is far from the truth.”

Regarding the analysts who noted that the meeting between Netanyahu and Obama was only scheduled at the last minute, Shoval said, “First of all we need to remember that Netanyahu's initial purpose in this visit was to meet the Jewish federations because the contact with the Jewish communities is very important.” In any case, he added, “the White House press secretary said that there were scheduling problems and this version need not be ruled out.”