PM Netanyahu Welcomes President Obama
PM Netanyahu Welcomes President ObamaFlash 90

The upcoming visit to Israel by U.S. President Barack Obama was first on the list of items mentioned by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the opening of the weekly Sunday morning Cabinet meeting, "I welcome President Obama's intention to visit Israel," he said, and stated that the visit is very important and will "emphasize the strong alliance between Israel and the U.S."

"I think that the importance of this alliance stands out even more given what is happening, in light of the great revolutions, the earthquakes that are taking place around us throughout the Middle East, from the Atlantic Ocean and North Africa and eastwards to Iran," Netanyahu said. "The President and I have discussed this visit."

"We agreed that we will discuss three main subjects: Iran's arming itself, Iran's attempt to arm itself with nuclear weapons, the unstable situation in Syria and its consequences for the security of the region and, of course, for Israel and the U.S., and efforts to advance the peace process between us and the Palestinians. These issues and others that will come up are weighty concerns and require the most serious consideration on Israel's part," the prime minister continued.  

He reiterated, as he had a week earlier, that the nature of the challenge facing the nation was such that it requires as broad a coaltion government as possible, in order to ensure a unified stance when dealing with the struggles ahead.

"I also believe that they require as broad a national unity as possible; the harnessing of all forces in the State of Israel, and this is the nature of our efforts at this time to form a government," Netanyahu said.