Obama and Netanyahu
Obama and NetanyahuReuters

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is highly interested in meeting with US President Barack Obama during his visit in the United States set for September.

Netanyahu is planning to address the UN General Assembly in September. Meanwhile, the prime minister's office is humming with the effort of organizing a meeting on the sidelines with the American president.

As of now, such a meeting has not been set, but US officials are not against the idea. No official response has yet been made to the overtures of the Israeli staff.

A US administration official clarified that the American side is highly interested in meeting with Netanyahu, which would likely wrap up the details of the memorandum of understanding which would grant US military aid to Israel over the next decade.

The Obama administration is pleased that Netanyahu has brought the memorandum to the table during Obama's term, despite hints that Netanyahu would prefer to wait until the next US president is sworn in, in order to achieve better terms for Israel.

Netanyahu is interested in meeting Obama, among other reasons, in order to prevent the president from making any move which would damage the political situation between the Palestinian Authority and Israel when Obama is a "lame duck" president - that is, after the US elections take place in November, but before January, when the incoming president is sworn in.

As of now, there is no clear initiative on the matter, yet Israel is deeply worried by such a possibility - and is working to cut it off at the outset.